Why I hate intimidation

Have you ever noticed how many people use intimidation, wielding it like a prized possession? Any given Saturday or Sunday you can watch football players tackle one another and add nice little post scripts as they use their opponent’s face to get up off of the ground. Serena Williams was called for a foot-fault over the weekend and literally threatened bodily harm to the line judge which cost her the match and $10,000. Switch to the entertainment world and you’ll see Kanye West storm the stage to steal country singer Taylor Swift’s thunder by grabbing the mic during her Video Music Award acceptance speech and saying that “…Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time.” Kanye intimidated a 19-year old girl who was just glad to be in the building

I hate intimidation for two major reasons. #1 Simply put, I hate bullies and I would hate to be thought of as one. You can be 8 or 68 and if intimidation is the tactic by which you control environments, it’s definitely a sign of gross dysfunction because people allow you to control situations thus enabling destructive behavior. #2 I hate intimidation because I’m especially sensitive to the fact that I have been an inadvertent intimidator.

In the same way that people are self-conscious about weight, acne, baldness, etc. I’ve always been a little insecure about being a 6’5″ African American male because I’ve sensed that I can inadvertently intimidate people. Friends would read this post in bewilderment but I cross the street if I think I’m going to make the woman walking toward me uncomfortable. I do not raise my voice when my wife and I disagree. I abstain from the trash talking in pick-up basketball games and all because I don’t want false reactions from people based in fear. Intimidation is a cheap method of manipulating others and it robs them of the freedom to do their jobs and answer questions honestly. I’d love for someone to weigh in statistically and post a comment about how many people DON’T FEEL comfortable in confrontations. I’m pretty clueless on this one from a scientific standpoint. But I wonder if the bullies of the world are verbally and physically exploiting the masses through intimidation?