Written By: Robert D. Sollars
Any expletives that you read in this post is intentional and indicative of what you have heard thousands of times before. Whether you were actually targeted with these tirades or not, isn’t the issue.
I will reiterate a statistic that I’ve used for 16 years, and been ridiculed for it by a number of the media & law enforcement. All they know and count are the incidents where people are killed or wounded via a firearm. To that end let me enlighten you to the fact that 15 million people a year in the business/educational organizations we’re in are verbally or physically assaulted every…single…year. It also means that 50 million people are bullied, harassed, & threatened every…single…year.
By anyone’s standards, this is incredibly short-sighted of us and needs to be resolved…immediately. We’re upset that more than 25 million people are infected with the coronavirus…so far, yet with this plague of workplace & school violence (WPV/SV) occurring every year…the crickets are not even chirping at the idiocy of it all.
These expletives are examples of verbal assaults incurred by millions of people every single year, while YOU & YOUR CO-WORKERS/COLLEAGUES/CLIENTS work.
I don’t know a single security person, officer, supervisors, manager, or consultant that hasn’t had a verbal tirade thrown at them by an irate officer in the field. I endured it more than a hundred times (I’ve revised that upward since I first wrote it), at least, during my years as an officer, working strikes and other such events.
Additionally, this post will show you other ways that you can be assaulted while at work without being punctured by a knife, firearm, or other similar instruments.
Everything listed in this, and subsequent, posts are examples of workplace & school violence. Have no doubt that those of us in the field of WPV/SV know them well, but many don’t recognize them as such. Not the media, law enforcement, supposed security professionals (who don’t really want to recognize it far too many times), and certainly not others who aren’t tied to it as closely as some of us are. So, as you read on, you’ll discover what some of these tirades are and how they are considered violent, even just words and…other things.
“Hey, you fucking dickheaded motherfucking son of a bitch! Eat shit & die motherfucker! I’m gonna kick your fucking ass out in the parking lot son-of-a-bitchin bastard!”
Verbal assaults in this fashion, when not meant jokingly, which is in the ear of the beholder, are, or should be, considered a threat of violence. Why you may ask? Because of the threatening tone of the message being thrown at one person, and sometimes a group.
If the assault is thrown jokingly, which in these days shouldn’t be done, it will be plainly obvious that it isn’t a threat, but a good-natured jibe thrown to a friend. I’ve seen these interactions amongst friends & co-workers, especially in blue-collar jobs doing manual labor or manufacturing plants for nearly 40 years.
These places are hard, hot, sweaty, and not always the best environments to be working in. Therefore, if a friend throws one of these ‘bombs at another friend…everyone knows it doesn’t mean much. It’s a way to blow off the frustrations, stress, & anger of the shift. I’ve seen and heard these hundreds of times when I worked in the field and for a fact, I can tell you it still happens.
The kind of verbal assault that wouldn’t be a friendly jibe or joke is something like this:
“Hey, you fucking dickheaded motherfucking son of a bitch! Eat shit & die motherfucker! I’m gonna kick your ever-lovin ass once your sorry assed motherfucking body is in the parking lot, you stupid donkey shit-eating bastard!”
All the while jabbing a finger or hand into someone else’s chest and screaming the verbiage of anger.
Do those types of issues still exist? Of course, they do! Just like people are racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, and any other number of phobes you wish to name. There are biases against, blacks, Hispanics, whites, Asians, gay/lesbian, disabled, and any other group you can think of out there.
In this age of supposed equality & non-discriminatory ‘lifestyles’ the idea that these rants against a group still exist shock many. As a security officer, I’ve been deluged with these the entire time I worked in the field as an officer or manager. Whether you believe it or not, these are assaults against a person and should be taken seriously…no matter what.
Someone who is this angry at the counter clerk at the local C-Store must be observed closely as they pay for or walk around the store. These people may have their anger over-flow and strike out at whoever may be closest to them…and it may not be the person they’re originally upset with.
Let’s try the man who is fuming over being cut-off in traffic and then throws a large 48oz soda and hot French fries in a fast-food counter person’s face? Is it an assault? Of course, it is. What about if all he does is scream and yell over the incompetence of the clerk? You’d better believe it is true too.
Similarly, there many things that thrust these types of mental aberrations onto others. Mental illness, illegal drug use, stress, and more than I can name here (read my book for the warning signs Murder at Work: A Practical Guide for Prevention ). A recent example of this is the man who shot at a federal Security Officer in downtown Phoenix on September 16, 2020. He was on 3 or 4 anti-psychotic medications and was talking to himself while isolated in jail.
The overall truth that is ignored by most media and law enforcement people is the fact that verbal assaults like these are in fact WPV if they occur at a worksite, which can be anywhere. It’s usually dismissed as a friendly ‘disagreement’ and nothing more. But it can turn out to be so much more than a disagreement, like the incident in Peoria, AZ. between 2 employees of a school district, one tried to injure/kill another while they were both off duty but because of work.
Want more examples of what could be considered WPV/SV from recent days? How about these:
Ogdensburg, NY. A firefighter was charged with violating the WPV policies of the city…by shoving the city manager.
How about fistfights between 7-year-olds?
If it happens because of or at work/school it’s WPV/SV.
It happens to Anyone…Any Time… Anywhere… For any Reason
I May Be Blind, but My Vision Is Crystal Clear
Permission to share? Of course, with full attribution.
Want to unsubscribe? Sorry to see you go and not learn how to protect yourself but…
Send a blank e-mail with unsubscribe in the subject line to robert@sollarsviolencePrevention.com
Copyright 2021 Robert D. Sollars
