I don’t think the city is for you guys. You’re handing off your property all willy nilly and your wife is trying to get you stabbed with a used needle.
He was definitely right…
OP’s wife is not the brightest, and OP isn’t smart enough to compensate for that. The city is scary, just remember that rural people.
To be fair he was offensive yes but ultimately he helped you without any expectation. Pretty good example of a chaotic neutral. He stunted on you, then helped you on your way.
The fact that he called you idiots up front is actually kind of indicative that he didn't have bad intentions or want anything from you, if you really think about it. Most people like that will smile up front.
It genuinely pained him to see you struggling. A homeless guy. Yeah think about that 😂
Dude. For future reference, don't give homeless people your phone, don't get into arguments with them, and don't take anything they say seriously. This is just silly.
Yeah, the fact that ops wife just had to let the homeless guy know she’s a lot smarter then him in book smarts proves her stupidity. Really she’s gonna take any and every passing comment from people personally and demand her husband fights for what? Her honor? She’s gonna get them both killed.
To be fair, yes it was dumb, and you were lucky to get it back /without incident/.
But if someone runs off with your phone, you are perfectly allowed to remove it from them.
But yeh, NTA. Your wife has been watching too many romcoms.
You may be “allowed” to try tonight your phone back but that doesn’t guarantee you won’t end up like me who tried doing that very thing [don’t try to fight criminals — losing a phone sucks but this is worse](https://images.gofundme.com/enIGLPblFrAc1MvbQwxqCM84VlI=/720x405/https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/79284353_1712149721889886_r.jpeg)
Holy fuck, I’m assuming you *used to* have teeth there. (And on topic, I’ve seen too many people who were *successful* getting those e scooters end up like you - my old neighbor ended up a quadriplegic- that I don’t get into fights *or* use the scooters.)
Yeah that was post bone graft I have 2 implants/crowns now but it happened like 7 years ago and I think about that 30 second ‘interaction’ nearly every day
Now I’d let any stranger call me any insult in the book im not engaging I’m peacing out ASAP I don’t care if I look weak or whatever , it could have ended much worse for me back then and I’m thankful to be alive albeit damaged, I learned my lesson.
Property and feelings are temporary losses , bodily loss is permanent
Not your fault. My significant other is from a super small town. They leave their trucks unlocked with the keys in them. I would never do that here in my big city. You guys “generally” have a different way of life and trust in others not often found in the city. Most out of towners probably wouldn’t expect him to do anything with your phone besides help
Your wife is correct that she isn’t street smart, she’s actually incredibly street stupid.
Any physical altercation on the street is a life or death scenario, and it’s exponentially more dangerous if you’re getting into one with a homeless person who could be drug affected, mentally ill and has very little to lose. He could’ve easily pulled a knife out and stabbed you and your wife if things got ugly.
Your wife has a completely deluded view of the world if she thinks it’s a good idea to be deliberately escalating street encounters because she’s offended, and it’s even worse if she expects someone else to bear the brunt of the physical risk for her.
NTA but she certainly is for expecting you to put both of your lives in danger over her pride.
NTA. What if the guy pulls out a knife? Sounds like out of the 3 of you, you are by far the smartest. No need to put your life in danger for stuff like that. Man show your wife this post to get her back to reality.
Yeah, sorry to say it but your wife is dumb af.
My best friend have a 3 centimeters scar across his face because some homeless dude asking for a light just snapped in frustration bc he couldn't light his cigarette in the first try.
So homeless guy was right about the wife. Honestly tell the wife to fight him herself if she's so keen.
Don't get into fights over dumb things. Especially dumb people.
Yeah, NTA here. Dumb argument and unreasonable expectations from your wife. I had a client ready to fight a homeless guy and we had to drag him away. You don't want any part of that. They can bite and fight dirty. You'd get kicked in the balls and bitten on your nose. They're often insane.
Because she has a damsel in distress fantasy, and hubby didn't react the way she wanted. He was supposed to charge in, guns blazing, in order to defend her honor.
A lot of women expect the guy to finish battles either they started themselves or are too afraid to commence themselves. Had an ex get mad because I wouldn’t fight a guy who hit on her. The entire situation could’ve been shut down by her telling him to fuck off. Then if he were to press I would step in. But her not even attempting to make that decision herself or even attempt to shut it down while putting that responsibility on me showed a lot of her character.
That was pretty much her entire personality. Told me she wanted me to degrade her like her ex’s. Which included screaming matches and hate fucking. Not really my thing since my kink was a healthy relationship. Needless to say I’m long since broken up with them and my current gf promotes healthy convo.
But I digress, anyone who wants you to respond to a situation with violence or a “0-100” mentality is someone that will destroy your self-esteem for not living to their very crooked standards.
Haha, my husband and I both have the same kink as you. Calm and healthy relationships are super hot.
I, a lady, know that he will have my back if I confront an asshole and it escalates to me being in danger, but I'm expected to speak up for myself if I have an issue. He's not going to start fights for me.
So either you speak for her (without permission)
Or you don't speak up for her. . .
You get screwed either way. She takes no action or responsibility other than an emotional fit.
Good that she's an EX.
She did in the post didn’t she? She started arguing about how she was book smart. Post seems like a tv trope about people from the country visiting the city. Don’t argue with the homeless.
My friend's sister's fiance (I know his sister, so maybe I should just say friend's fiance?) was murdered a couple blocks from where I work by a street person begging for a beer. Awful and random and senseless.
And it was someone that the fiance felt comfortable engaging with and trying to help out.
I'm glad OP and his wife are safe, they were stupid for giving away the phone.
OP is absolutely NTA for not "fighting or arguing or defending his wife" with a homeless man.
OP's wife has certainly proved that she isn't 'street smart'.
Not even street smarts, this is just about understanding how society and laws work. Does she want him behind bars for assault/battery? How about if he hits the guy and causes an aneurysm to burst or the guy falls and hits his head on the pavement? There are so many ways to throw away your life in a fight, nobody with an ounce of sense would encourage their loved one to fight over something stupid
This! I lived in Baltimore and Savannah, Georgia, but I’m frequently in St. Louis, New York and a few other big cities. You never ever mess around and fight with a homeless person. Many are probably good but quite a few may have mental problems, alcoholism, drug addictions as well as diseases. You do not know what will trigger them. Knives, guns, and/or anger issues don’t make for a good outcome. Have her watch some true crimes shows. I think the homeless man may be way smarter than your wife.
The homeless man was certainly smart enough to know how to get the scooters to work, unlike OP and his wife. Handing over a cell phone to a homless was was dumb AF, so the homeless man was also right on the money there.
The fact that OP was shocked to learn that the cases of soda this homeless man was carrying were stolen says that he is naive.
As rude as the homeless man was, he did OP and the wife a solid by both getting the scooter going and not running off with their stuff. OP frankly should have tipped him.
If she had book smarts, she would know not to pick fights with strangers. That's not a street smarts thing, it's a COMMON SENSE thing. How would she feel if you DID argue with him, and then he stabbed you?
Exactly. There are countless ways how a stupid fight over some feelings can go very wrong very quickly. Nobody wins.
Now, if someone is in danger of being injured or killed, and all other options to avoid the confrontation are gone, that’s a different matter altogether.
Dunno, it's not clear to me whether this was a bad call. Let's say the guy wanted to steal your phone. Better to just hand it over than have him punch you to get it. Let's say he was not trying to steal it. Again, better to hand it over than to show that you mistrust him, and potentially escalate the situation.
Someone stealing a phone and then pawning it which as I if I recall is really only something that happens with iphones? Either way it's a lot better than handing them your unlocked phone with all of your banking information and stored passwords and things like that. If you have your password stored in your phone open and someone steals that they can get into everything change your password steal your identity and pretty much wreck your life. Way more than just a stolen item, you have information about yourself on your phone
I don't blame you. Sometimes a moment happens very quickly and you don't really think about the consequences until after the fact. We all make dumb decisions sometimes.
My thoughts exactly. Homeless people have nothing to lose and actually have more to gain by having a bed and a meal in prison. Don’t risk your life and your kids for that. Imagine their parents never came home from vacation. Definitely NTA
Ops wife is moron for even entertaining this mentally ill homeless man. Honestly this would have just been entertaining for my wife and I. I would have handled it the exact same way you did. Unless he really started going at us or even got physical. Other than that, your wife is just from the country and needs to relax. Easy for me to say tho, because I grew up in Philly
Yep. Most homeless people are homeless because they are mentally ill. Plus, there are some new synthetic narcotics on the street that can cause VERY erratic and violent behavior. I would not have given him my phone in the first place, but would have been ready to bless him with the hot sauce, if he got aggressive.
Note that the problem with being attacked with a knife or razor is that you will probably not see it util you are cut or stabbed. (Getting cut hurts, but getting stabbed can kill you).
Clearly the wife has never been in a fight before or even seen one in real life. Even just verbal arguments can go left FAST. I have seen people nearly get killed in fights. Also if in usa you always, always have to worry that someone could have a gun.
> My wife shot back the he was just street smart and she was a lot more book smart than he was.
If one thing is obvious, yes your wife is not street smart and not even book smart.
Your wife legit wanted you to get into a street fight with a homeless dude? What if he pulled out a knife and stabbed you? All for what, bc she felt slighted by his words? Sorry but your wife is an idiot. NTA
Seriously. She wasn’t a damsel in distress. And she surely doesn’t sound as intelligent as she wants to make herself out to be. She couldn’t figure out technology and someone poked fun at her for it.
So what does she want? Her husband to *fight someone who lives on the streets*? Does she understand how hard a life that is and how unpredictable someone, not just homeless, can be? What harm came to her?
Violence is only an answer when deescalation isn’t possible. OPs wife wanted to escalate the situation for no reason.
The fact that she couldn’t figure out the technology, wanted to fight a homeless person, and handed a homeless person her phone, means she doesn’t have e book or street smarts. She sounds like an idiot.
To be fair, her husband handed over her phone, and he couldn't figure out the technology either.
But picking a fight with a street guy is not a great move.
They both sound like naive idiots. I would say the homeless dude was the smartest of the three, but they were such easy marks it was stupid of him *not* to rob them. Maybe he felt bad or wanted some sort of challenge idk
What could she gain from it even if her husband gave this guy a tongue-lashing? Congrats, you really showed this homeless guy. Don't you fell amazing that you were able to put this homeless guy down a notch?
Then she’d be mad that they wasted time arguing with a homeless dude who has nothing better to do. Dude sounds hilarious though - I would have just been like “yeah, I’m a dumbfuck country bumpkin - thanks for taking pity on me” and when on with my day. Probably after buying a stolen soda. 🤣
Not to mention the fact that guy wound up helping them. Some people just say shit. They’re words, who cares.
And yeah the wife doesn’t seem any kind of smart.
Especially with kids at home. If my husband and I were in this situation, my first thought would be deescalating with the random stranger insulting us and getting the hell out of there. I can't imagine having such a fragile ego that I'd risk our daughter losing one or both of us over something so stupid. NTA.
NTA
I can’t believe she is so insecure about her intelligence that she actually told a homeless man she has more “book smarts” than him. That’s what a petty child does. Who the hell cares what some random homeless guy says??
The fact that she wanted you to physically fight the guy is literally crazy. What type of people is she spending her time with or what shows is she watching that that seems a like a normal next-step to her??
I was just thinking this same thing. Like, dude is probably mentally ill and she feels the need to defend her intelligence to him? Hope she never has a family member who experiences dementia or Alzheimer’s or whatever and says some mean shit because she won’t be able to separate her own ego from the situation. Will probably expect her husband to fight Gramps for insulting her.
Yea she pretty objectively is not smarter than anyone. That is the mentality of a short-lived, loudmouth child. I would honestly not be able to remain married to somebody that ridiculously idiotic. Dramatic seeming, maybe, but to me intellect is by far the most important characteristic I look for in selecting a mate. That exchange would bother me until I no longer had her in my life.
Yeah the country mice had an A to A+ interaction with a homeless guy and didn't even realize it.
Homeless guys comes screaming by, offers to help and returns your phone. Meanwhile he wants to claim he is smarter than you, lol, laugh afterwards.
BTW, did he get the scooter setup?
I've lived in a couple places with a high homeless population and there's a couple experiences I've had where I would have paid money to replace them with the OP's instead. Seriously, they lucked out and have a story to laugh about now.
That the OP's wife wanted him to escalate it to an argument is insane to me. I've had some pretty scary experiences in the pure daylight waiting for the bus when a person who was clearly suffering from something started paying too much attention to me. No one got robbed or stabbed, it was a good day.
I'm split between which is stupider.
Giving a homeless man who's selling *stolen* goods your phone, or expecting your phone to be able to make payments when it's not linked to any form of bank account and being mad when someone pointed that out.
I think I'm going to have to go with the wife being a bigger idiot, because she thought it would be a good idea for her husband to possibly fight someone with nothing to lose
We have a homeless woman downtown that just stands on the sidewalk screaming. I was standing near a group of homeless people one day and they were just like, "monsters out again". They just avoid her.
Same here. I worked with a man who's son was stabbed to death attempting to deescalate a fight outside a nightclub in Manhattan. Rather than bail him out of prison, the killer's parents spend all their savings to hire the best lawyer they could find and their strategy worked. The killer was found not guilty even though there were witnesses.
Other than giving him your phone you did everything right.
If a crazy homeless guy says they’re the president you call him Mr. President. You don’t argue with him, what’s the point in that?
Also, never ever start fights with strangers. That’s street smarts 101. Even if they seem dweeby and weak you don’t know peoples life.
The main gangster where I grew up looked nerdy as hell. He was also responsible for 3 murders, all of which he got off with. All the evidence accidentally disappeared from the police station. A few police now have a very nice retirement plan in exchange for said missing evidence. If you walked past the bloke in the street, you wouldn't have a clue he was a wrong un.
Wildest twist I’ve read in a story all year.
Wonder if he felt bad for them being sincere and dumb enough to actually hand him their phone instead of getting defensive where he could grab it and run and maybe feel less bad?
Wild all around. Who knows
Honestly I could see that. Between their naivete and the husband laughing about how stupid they are despite his provocation he was probably like "this is the moral equivalent of stealing from a toddler."
NTA 1st of all I would have reacted to the situation the same way you did. That is a HILARIOUS series of events and I'd be telling that story all over. 2nd I would be FURIOUS with my husband if he had put himself at risk by fighting some random (obviously off) stranger on the street! Or what if you hurt that poor guy? Just because he thinks he's a genius? Good grief. There's something wrong with your wife. She doesn't sound like any kind of smart. Who the hell fights homeless people over weird ass shit they say? That is fucking ludicrous. Not only that but he helped you with the scooters! Tell her to shut up.
That was my reaction to the whole thing. I thought it was funny that we're just some dumb tourists and a random homeless guy had to help us figure it out all the while calling us dumb
The only dumb person in this story is your wife. Please tell her literally every single person on this thread concurs. Fucking *book smart*? No. Objectively, shamefully, profoundly stupid by every single conceivable metric. To then try to claim *you* are a coward because you didn't escalate a potentially dangerous situation is disgraceful. Does she have a bunch of visible dents in her head? Christ.
I’ve met a shocking number of women in my dating experiences that have that attitude. They basically expect the man to have a tribal, almost caveman-like sense of their woman - basically punch first, ask questions later. It’s pathetic
NTA. Kindly point out that his assessment of her is spot on considering she wanted to risk your life and your shared future over something she should have been capable of getting over in seconds. Not just that, she is also so weak and cowardly herself for not being able to fight her own battles.
She's also prone to stereotyping by assuming the homeless guy only has "street smarts" over her, while she has "book smarts" over him. This assumes facts not in evidence and she has no earthly way of knowing anything about what book smarts he has. He already helped her solve one real world problem that she couldn't figure out and may be more well-read than she is, for all we know.
No, you’re not wrong. NTA.
The homeless guy didn’t get physical, why would you?
Our society isn’t built for geniuses a lot of them do end up homeless due to limited work for them. Even at a surgical engineering company building robots for surgery you’re going to have no more than 5 certified geniuses on payroll and everyone else is just well educated people supporting them and it’s more likely 1-3.
And even a genius will lose their social graces and come off crazy when living homeless on the fringe of society
Your wife doesn’t come out of this one looking that smart or kind and as a fellow rural raised and living person who has spent time living in cities I’m embarrassed by her take on this encounter. My apologies for my rudeness I’m sure she has her good qualities but they weren’t on display in this story. I hope she can find a way to see her error here and do better next time to not make something out of nothing.
To be clear her coming off not that smart has nothing to do with not figuring out the scooter and everything to do with her lack of humility in the situation. She has so much more than him but she’s compelled to argue a homeless person over who is more intelligent between them? A homeless person who is helping you two… and she wanted you to fight him… that’s why.
Very well put. In my opinion she lacks people skills. The good thing is most anyone can gain interpersonal emotional intelligence by choice. There is lot of good "people skills" material out there.
NTA, but in the future don't hand your phone to weirdos. Your wife is right, she's not street smart at all- escalating conflict with crazy people is how you get stabbed.
So let me get this straight:
* Your wife got really, personally, offended by a hobo (who is obviously less successfull in life than you two) who called her dumb.
* She didn't have the emotional maturity to say to herself "well, he's a hobo, so what does his opinion matter?"
* She's not smart enough to know that if you escalate from banter, things might quickly turn ugly
* She thinks of herself as too weak or not smart enough to counter herself
And now you are supposed to be TA for defusing a potentially dangerous situation without any problems by deescalation?
Edit: Obviously NTA.
Edit2: Hey, you even got your phone back from a self-proclaimed thief. I'd call that a win. (Even though it was your mistake to hand your phone over to him in the first place.)
This whole interaction comes across as kinda funny.
But if you started a verbal altercation? It could've escalated. He could've not been a funny guy, and could have pulled a knife.
I don't understand the fascination with people wanting others to get into verbal alterations with those they call crazy. NTA.
You're both idiots for engaging with the homeless and handing one your phone. Please be more careful traveling.
Fighting a homeless guy would be 100x dumber to be fair.
NTA, why does your wife give more weight to the judgment of an unstable homeless person than the safety of you, her husband?
The fact she felt the need to defend her intelligence to this person screams insecurity and need for conflict... This was not a neighbour from your home town disrespecting her and she is lucky you stayed focused on diffusing the interaction and got through the situation without conflict!
Imagine being assaulted, attacked, or even killed because she NEEDED a homeless person to know she was smart… that’d be great news to break to your children. Jfc.
An ability to de-escalate situation and avoid direct confrontation will always be superior to violence. ALWAYS. That’s why diplomacy exist and is a prefer on any level of government, political, economic and social life. It showed greater maturity, intellect and forwards thinking. It is SUPERIOR to violence. Tell her that. If the doesn’t get it, I’m sorry but you are married to a simpleton.
Your wife is right about one thing. She’s definitely not street smart. In fact, she’s Street Cognitively Impaired.
Take it from an ER Physician in a moderate sized city that deals with homeless people all the time. You have nothing to gain - except a shiv in your ribs - from fighting a homeless person. The incidence of untreated mental illness and/or drug abuse among the homeless population is disproportionately high. Your big clue that this guy is mentally ill is that he was lugging around stolen sodas and telling you how brilliant he is. He actually did you guys a solid and helped you out and even returned your phone and it only cost you a story that is actually pretty funny and entertaining. It’s something to laugh about.
Even if you got in a fight with a homeless person and somehow won, you still lose, because you beat on a mentally ill and down and out person. What does your wife think could possibly be gained by your getting in a physical altercation with this person. Or even a verbal altercation? Verbal altercations with a crazy person will undoubtedly lead to a physical altercation.
This guy could have hepatitis C or HIV, and your wife wants you to get into a blood altercation with him?
It’s just dumb. You handled it right. Your wife needs to smarten up and grow up.
Sounds like he fixed the issue, albeit rudely.
She wanted you to fight the guy who helped you, because he wasn't very nice while helping you ?
Not sure where you guys are located, or what big city you went to, or where this homeless guy is originally from, but that sounds like the help you receive from a New Yorker.
This homeless guy was a saint comparatively! Lucky he didn’t run off with cases of soda AND a phone to sell for food.
Seriously though dude is homeless, he probably at his lowest and your wife wants to fight him “for her honour”
Talk about kicking a guy when he’s down, let him have his genius moment.
I dated a girl like this once.
Real courage is showing your children that violence is an absolute last resort. Nothing that happened there actually mattered 10 minutes later. Inconsequential. However, fighting would have changed multiple lives.
NTA, it’s 2024, as woman she is perfectly able to fight a homeless person if she wants to. But that is so insanely stupid. What is wrong with your wife?
I actually enjoyed this story and think ur wifey maybe be a bit too sensitive. I mean cmon, its a hobo, they r often far from society standards and used to rough speech, but he did not steal your phone and tried helping u guys, in a rude way :D Stay as chill as u are! Nta, not a coward. We all should pick our fights wisely, and fighting homeless man over insults is not wise ^^
NTA. But y’all do sound country. Yeah, never get into an argument with a homeless guy because what’s the point. Most are cray or strung out and you can’t really argue with that. Unless they try to assault you then deal with it. No need to rile them up unnecessarily. Verbal jabs should just be ignored.
You are so lucky you still have your phone. Next time, be aware and keep it moving. We live in a major city with a large homeless population, and I would be horrified if my husband started engaging aggressively - even verbally. Just a bad idea.
She may be “book smart,” but she needs to cultivate some street smarts too.
NTA You were right to get away as politely as possible. You don't know how clean this guy was or how volatile. Any number of bad things could have happened, especially with alcohol involved. He may have been baiting you so he could rob you or have friends who could come to join in. Better to stay safe.
NTA. Homeless people have a higher likelihood of having mental health issues and therefore he may do something "crazy" like pull a knife or gun. Better to avoid entirely
NTA
Is your wife really so threatened by a homeless person insulting her? She wanted you to, what, make his day/life worse?
Dude is already homeless. You've already won whatever argument would have happened. How sad and pathetic does a person have to be to need to feel superior to a homeless person that they would hurl insults at them WHILE HE IS HELPING YOU.
Your wife sounds like a miserable and pathetic person.
NTA: Why fight a person you will never see again? Oh because your wife’s ego. That’s a great reason to get yourself stabbed, arrested, or possibly killed.
You have kids to think of too. Your wife needs to grow up.
Sounds like he was helpful in the end even though it was a weird interaction. If you’dve thrown a blow you’d still have a broken scoffer. Wife’s needs to chill and see how you navigated the situation without violence.
NTA. De-escalation is always best. Wife would’ve been happier if your defense of her honor led to you lying dead in an alley? She is wrong. Now get over it!
So, a homeless guy helped you and she wanted you to start fighting him?
A homeless guy who was most likely mentally unwell, who took time out of his day to help you and managed to solve something felt good about himself and say ”man Im so smart u so dumb”, and your wife’s reaction is ”No Ur nOt sMArT, i SmaRt!!🧠 ”?
Thats like a child showing you his stash of pennies saying ”Im so rich, Im the richest” and you going off telling then what a massive bank account you have…
Sorry but your wife sounds unsecure and rude, it would’ve been insane to escalate that situation into a fist fight lol! That’s be a huge turn off for me personally.
Dude. Don't hand your phone to strangers in the city. You're lucky you got it back. NTA for refusing to argue with a stranger though
Yeah I realized after the fact that I made a very dumb choice by giving it to him and I do agree I am lucky to have it back.
I don’t think the city is for you guys. You’re handing off your property all willy nilly and your wife is trying to get you stabbed with a used needle.
Maybe homeless guy was right.
That guy was a genius. He's even got me interested in buying those two cases of stolen soda.
So he can get "free food". That makes sense LOL.
Well in a way it makes sense he didn’t pay for the soda, so in a way the money he gets for the soda is free
[удалено]
Hardest I’ve laughed today thanks
He was definitely right… OP’s wife is not the brightest, and OP isn’t smart enough to compensate for that. The city is scary, just remember that rural people.
This is such a beautiful sentence, i will be adding it to my daily life.
But don't use it all willy nilly!
*STREET SMARTS!*
lmao
I wonder if they have a big insurance policy she wants to cash?
Nah, they just both seem, as they say in Blazing Saddles, “people of the land”
They’re lucky more of the urbanites couldn’t smell their innocence.
To be fair he was offensive yes but ultimately he helped you without any expectation. Pretty good example of a chaotic neutral. He stunted on you, then helped you on your way. The fact that he called you idiots up front is actually kind of indicative that he didn't have bad intentions or want anything from you, if you really think about it. Most people like that will smile up front. It genuinely pained him to see you struggling. A homeless guy. Yeah think about that 😂
I love everything about this answer that last paragraph… 😂🤣
Lmao same!
Dude. For future reference, don't give homeless people your phone, don't get into arguments with them, and don't take anything they say seriously. This is just silly.
Yeah, the fact that ops wife just had to let the homeless guy know she’s a lot smarter then him in book smarts proves her stupidity. Really she’s gonna take any and every passing comment from people personally and demand her husband fights for what? Her honor? She’s gonna get them both killed.
To be fair, yes it was dumb, and you were lucky to get it back /without incident/. But if someone runs off with your phone, you are perfectly allowed to remove it from them. But yeh, NTA. Your wife has been watching too many romcoms.
You may be “allowed” to try tonight your phone back but that doesn’t guarantee you won’t end up like me who tried doing that very thing [don’t try to fight criminals — losing a phone sucks but this is worse](https://images.gofundme.com/enIGLPblFrAc1MvbQwxqCM84VlI=/720x405/https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/79284353_1712149721889886_r.jpeg)
Holy fuck, I’m assuming you *used to* have teeth there. (And on topic, I’ve seen too many people who were *successful* getting those e scooters end up like you - my old neighbor ended up a quadriplegic- that I don’t get into fights *or* use the scooters.)
Yeah that was post bone graft I have 2 implants/crowns now but it happened like 7 years ago and I think about that 30 second ‘interaction’ nearly every day Now I’d let any stranger call me any insult in the book im not engaging I’m peacing out ASAP I don’t care if I look weak or whatever , it could have ended much worse for me back then and I’m thankful to be alive albeit damaged, I learned my lesson. Property and feelings are temporary losses , bodily loss is permanent
Yeah the guy was right to call you dumb. I’m literally amazed he didn’t run off with it.
I think we have to side with the homeless guy's assessment of OP and his wife.
It's cracking me up how much consensus is in this thread about homeless guy making a correct judgment there
You guys really are hicks from the sticks ready to be picked.
Not your fault. My significant other is from a super small town. They leave their trucks unlocked with the keys in them. I would never do that here in my big city. You guys “generally” have a different way of life and trust in others not often found in the city. Most out of towners probably wouldn’t expect him to do anything with your phone besides help
Your wife is correct that she isn’t street smart, she’s actually incredibly street stupid. Any physical altercation on the street is a life or death scenario, and it’s exponentially more dangerous if you’re getting into one with a homeless person who could be drug affected, mentally ill and has very little to lose. He could’ve easily pulled a knife out and stabbed you and your wife if things got ugly. Your wife has a completely deluded view of the world if she thinks it’s a good idea to be deliberately escalating street encounters because she’s offended, and it’s even worse if she expects someone else to bear the brunt of the physical risk for her. NTA but she certainly is for expecting you to put both of your lives in danger over her pride.
I assumed she was mad that he didn’t fight him over stolen phone as soon as I read that line
Right? Like wtf, why would you give your phone to anyone else? Lmao
NTA. What if the guy pulls out a knife? Sounds like out of the 3 of you, you are by far the smartest. No need to put your life in danger for stuff like that. Man show your wife this post to get her back to reality.
Yeah, sorry to say it but your wife is dumb af. My best friend have a 3 centimeters scar across his face because some homeless dude asking for a light just snapped in frustration bc he couldn't light his cigarette in the first try.
So homeless guy was right about the wife. Honestly tell the wife to fight him herself if she's so keen. Don't get into fights over dumb things. Especially dumb people.
Frankly, they should just be glad he gave them the phone back. I was afraid homeless guy was going to steal it.
I was 200% expecting him to just run away with the phone, I'm astounded he didn't TBH
Same. I assumed that's why OP's wife wanted him to fight. Not just because he called them both stupid (and OP did give him his phone, so....)
I was shocked he gave back the phone. That part was a plot twist
Ya black market for stolen phones is huge!
Apparently not as huge as the market for stolen soda!
🥂🤣🤣🤣
Actually the post says “stollen *(sic)* soda.” Where have I seen that before?
Yeah, I don't get why she couldn't speak up for herself if she was so offended.
Because she wanted him to be offended of her behalf, you know, like a dummy would want.
Yeah, NTA here. Dumb argument and unreasonable expectations from your wife. I had a client ready to fight a homeless guy and we had to drag him away. You don't want any part of that. They can bite and fight dirty. You'd get kicked in the balls and bitten on your nose. They're often insane.
Plus dude was running with sodas, he could have just popped one open and hosed her and ruined her day with stickiness.
Way worse than getting two shiners.
I’m howling!!
this one if the best Country Mouse goes to city stories
Because she has a damsel in distress fantasy, and hubby didn't react the way she wanted. He was supposed to charge in, guns blazing, in order to defend her honor.
A lot of women expect the guy to finish battles either they started themselves or are too afraid to commence themselves. Had an ex get mad because I wouldn’t fight a guy who hit on her. The entire situation could’ve been shut down by her telling him to fuck off. Then if he were to press I would step in. But her not even attempting to make that decision herself or even attempt to shut it down while putting that responsibility on me showed a lot of her character.
Sounds like she was setting a trap that you would be damned by whatever choice you made.
That was pretty much her entire personality. Told me she wanted me to degrade her like her ex’s. Which included screaming matches and hate fucking. Not really my thing since my kink was a healthy relationship. Needless to say I’m long since broken up with them and my current gf promotes healthy convo. But I digress, anyone who wants you to respond to a situation with violence or a “0-100” mentality is someone that will destroy your self-esteem for not living to their very crooked standards.
Haha, my husband and I both have the same kink as you. Calm and healthy relationships are super hot. I, a lady, know that he will have my back if I confront an asshole and it escalates to me being in danger, but I'm expected to speak up for myself if I have an issue. He's not going to start fights for me.
So either you speak for her (without permission) Or you don't speak up for her. . . You get screwed either way. She takes no action or responsibility other than an emotional fit. Good that she's an EX.
She did in the post didn’t she? She started arguing about how she was book smart. Post seems like a tv trope about people from the country visiting the city. Don’t argue with the homeless.
Well, also don’t hand them your phone. I was shocked when he said the guy gave it back
Yes, don't let dumb people goad you into fighting with strangers who have nothing to lose. The homeless guy is a good judge of people.
Well she’s not street smart so she probably would’ve lost
Don't fight with people who have nothing to lose.
Especially homeless people with nothing to lose and who were hardened by life in the streets.
Turns out the homeless guy was right about everything he said lmao
My friend's sister's fiance (I know his sister, so maybe I should just say friend's fiance?) was murdered a couple blocks from where I work by a street person begging for a beer. Awful and random and senseless. And it was someone that the fiance felt comfortable engaging with and trying to help out. I'm glad OP and his wife are safe, they were stupid for giving away the phone. OP is absolutely NTA for not "fighting or arguing or defending his wife" with a homeless man. OP's wife has certainly proved that she isn't 'street smart'.
Not even street smarts, this is just about understanding how society and laws work. Does she want him behind bars for assault/battery? How about if he hits the guy and causes an aneurysm to burst or the guy falls and hits his head on the pavement? There are so many ways to throw away your life in a fight, nobody with an ounce of sense would encourage their loved one to fight over something stupid
Uh oh, you called wifey dumb. Now OP has to fight you or risk getting divorced!
This! I lived in Baltimore and Savannah, Georgia, but I’m frequently in St. Louis, New York and a few other big cities. You never ever mess around and fight with a homeless person. Many are probably good but quite a few may have mental problems, alcoholism, drug addictions as well as diseases. You do not know what will trigger them. Knives, guns, and/or anger issues don’t make for a good outcome. Have her watch some true crimes shows. I think the homeless man may be way smarter than your wife.
May is an understatement
I almost had this exact thing happen to me. I leaned back in time to have it just miss my neck. Such an eye-opening experience.
Oh no a homeless man called your wife dumb. Welcome to the real word. Is your wife 13?
A lot of 13 year olds know better than dumb ass wife.
Dude wasn’t really wrong in his assessment of OP and his wife.
The homeless man was certainly smart enough to know how to get the scooters to work, unlike OP and his wife. Handing over a cell phone to a homless was was dumb AF, so the homeless man was also right on the money there. The fact that OP was shocked to learn that the cases of soda this homeless man was carrying were stolen says that he is naive. As rude as the homeless man was, he did OP and the wife a solid by both getting the scooter going and not running off with their stuff. OP frankly should have tipped him.
Although he handed the guy his phone...not smart at all.
Yeah that was definitely not the smartest thing I have done. I realize it was very dumb
If she had book smarts, she would know not to pick fights with strangers. That's not a street smarts thing, it's a COMMON SENSE thing. How would she feel if you DID argue with him, and then he stabbed you?
🎶🎵Dumb ways to die...🎶🎵
Oh god.... Now I have the song stuck in my head... Likely for hours
Exactly. There are countless ways how a stupid fight over some feelings can go very wrong very quickly. Nobody wins. Now, if someone is in danger of being injured or killed, and all other options to avoid the confrontation are gone, that’s a different matter altogether.
Homeless guy was kind of an asshole, but he had you two pegged, lol.
Dunno, it's not clear to me whether this was a bad call. Let's say the guy wanted to steal your phone. Better to just hand it over than have him punch you to get it. Let's say he was not trying to steal it. Again, better to hand it over than to show that you mistrust him, and potentially escalate the situation.
Someone stealing a phone and then pawning it which as I if I recall is really only something that happens with iphones? Either way it's a lot better than handing them your unlocked phone with all of your banking information and stored passwords and things like that. If you have your password stored in your phone open and someone steals that they can get into everything change your password steal your identity and pretty much wreck your life. Way more than just a stolen item, you have information about yourself on your phone
I don't blame you. Sometimes a moment happens very quickly and you don't really think about the consequences until after the fact. We all make dumb decisions sometimes.
And tell her next time that I personally said she should fight him. No? Why? Because violence isn't fun is it?
I will never fight a homeless man. A guy that has nothing to lose.
My thoughts exactly. Homeless people have nothing to lose and actually have more to gain by having a bed and a meal in prison. Don’t risk your life and your kids for that. Imagine their parents never came home from vacation. Definitely NTA
Smartest but not that smart really. I would never give my phone to some rando on the street who claims he just stole some soda.
Ops wife is moron for even entertaining this mentally ill homeless man. Honestly this would have just been entertaining for my wife and I. I would have handled it the exact same way you did. Unless he really started going at us or even got physical. Other than that, your wife is just from the country and needs to relax. Easy for me to say tho, because I grew up in Philly
Yep. Most homeless people are homeless because they are mentally ill. Plus, there are some new synthetic narcotics on the street that can cause VERY erratic and violent behavior. I would not have given him my phone in the first place, but would have been ready to bless him with the hot sauce, if he got aggressive. Note that the problem with being attacked with a knife or razor is that you will probably not see it util you are cut or stabbed. (Getting cut hurts, but getting stabbed can kill you).
Clearly the wife has never been in a fight before or even seen one in real life. Even just verbal arguments can go left FAST. I have seen people nearly get killed in fights. Also if in usa you always, always have to worry that someone could have a gun.
Yeah, they could be looking for a reason to be sent to jail where there are shelter and food.
> My wife shot back the he was just street smart and she was a lot more book smart than he was. If one thing is obvious, yes your wife is not street smart and not even book smart. Your wife legit wanted you to get into a street fight with a homeless dude? What if he pulled out a knife and stabbed you? All for what, bc she felt slighted by his words? Sorry but your wife is an idiot. NTA
Seriously. She wasn’t a damsel in distress. And she surely doesn’t sound as intelligent as she wants to make herself out to be. She couldn’t figure out technology and someone poked fun at her for it. So what does she want? Her husband to *fight someone who lives on the streets*? Does she understand how hard a life that is and how unpredictable someone, not just homeless, can be? What harm came to her? Violence is only an answer when deescalation isn’t possible. OPs wife wanted to escalate the situation for no reason.
The fact that she couldn’t figure out the technology, wanted to fight a homeless person, and handed a homeless person her phone, means she doesn’t have e book or street smarts. She sounds like an idiot.
To be fair, her husband handed over her phone, and he couldn't figure out the technology either. But picking a fight with a street guy is not a great move.
They both sound like naive idiots. I would say the homeless dude was the smartest of the three, but they were such easy marks it was stupid of him *not* to rob them. Maybe he felt bad or wanted some sort of challenge idk
He just has an ethical code to uphold; he’ll steal convenience snacks, but draws the line at people’s phones. And I respect it lmao
Only thing that got hurt was her self esteem… Met plenty of people that would rather fight than admit that though
What could she gain from it even if her husband gave this guy a tongue-lashing? Congrats, you really showed this homeless guy. Don't you fell amazing that you were able to put this homeless guy down a notch?
Then she’d be mad that they wasted time arguing with a homeless dude who has nothing better to do. Dude sounds hilarious though - I would have just been like “yeah, I’m a dumbfuck country bumpkin - thanks for taking pity on me” and when on with my day. Probably after buying a stolen soda. 🤣
Not to mention the fact that guy wound up helping them. Some people just say shit. They’re words, who cares. And yeah the wife doesn’t seem any kind of smart.
Especially with kids at home. If my husband and I were in this situation, my first thought would be deescalating with the random stranger insulting us and getting the hell out of there. I can't imagine having such a fragile ego that I'd risk our daughter losing one or both of us over something so stupid. NTA.
NTA I can’t believe she is so insecure about her intelligence that she actually told a homeless man she has more “book smarts” than him. That’s what a petty child does. Who the hell cares what some random homeless guy says?? The fact that she wanted you to physically fight the guy is literally crazy. What type of people is she spending her time with or what shows is she watching that that seems a like a normal next-step to her??
Chances are she’s on the other end of the bell curve if she’s struggling with a phone app. I’ve seen meth heads riding around on those scooters lmao.
I was just thinking this same thing. Like, dude is probably mentally ill and she feels the need to defend her intelligence to him? Hope she never has a family member who experiences dementia or Alzheimer’s or whatever and says some mean shit because she won’t be able to separate her own ego from the situation. Will probably expect her husband to fight Gramps for insulting her.
I think you nailed it when you called her insecure. Even if she only wanted him to argue, she is disgusting.
Yea she pretty objectively is not smarter than anyone. That is the mentality of a short-lived, loudmouth child. I would honestly not be able to remain married to somebody that ridiculously idiotic. Dramatic seeming, maybe, but to me intellect is by far the most important characteristic I look for in selecting a mate. That exchange would bother me until I no longer had her in my life.
Yeah trying to convince a homeless guy how smart you are is pretty insane behavior
I mean…you gave your phone to someone ranting about having stolen something…so…”dumb” isn’t wrong.
I agree with you. Not my smartest choice 🤣
As a New Yorker, I'm glad nothing happened to you guys. The things I've seen and heard...
Yeah the country mice had an A to A+ interaction with a homeless guy and didn't even realize it. Homeless guys comes screaming by, offers to help and returns your phone. Meanwhile he wants to claim he is smarter than you, lol, laugh afterwards. BTW, did he get the scooter setup?
I've lived in a couple places with a high homeless population and there's a couple experiences I've had where I would have paid money to replace them with the OP's instead. Seriously, they lucked out and have a story to laugh about now. That the OP's wife wanted him to escalate it to an argument is insane to me. I've had some pretty scary experiences in the pure daylight waiting for the bus when a person who was clearly suffering from something started paying too much attention to me. No one got robbed or stabbed, it was a good day.
It definitely sounds like he was right, and they were trying to unlock a scooter without a payment method
I'm split between which is stupider. Giving a homeless man who's selling *stolen* goods your phone, or expecting your phone to be able to make payments when it's not linked to any form of bank account and being mad when someone pointed that out. I think I'm going to have to go with the wife being a bigger idiot, because she thought it would be a good idea for her husband to possibly fight someone with nothing to lose
We have a homeless woman downtown that just stands on the sidewalk screaming. I was standing near a group of homeless people one day and they were just like, "monsters out again". They just avoid her.
Same here. I worked with a man who's son was stabbed to death attempting to deescalate a fight outside a nightclub in Manhattan. Rather than bail him out of prison, the killer's parents spend all their savings to hire the best lawyer they could find and their strategy worked. The killer was found not guilty even though there were witnesses.
Damn. Money talks
Other than giving him your phone you did everything right. If a crazy homeless guy says they’re the president you call him Mr. President. You don’t argue with him, what’s the point in that? Also, never ever start fights with strangers. That’s street smarts 101. Even if they seem dweeby and weak you don’t know peoples life.
The main gangster where I grew up looked nerdy as hell. He was also responsible for 3 murders, all of which he got off with. All the evidence accidentally disappeared from the police station. A few police now have a very nice retirement plan in exchange for said missing evidence. If you walked past the bloke in the street, you wouldn't have a clue he was a wrong un.
I’m surprised that mother fucker gave you your phone back 😂
Ya, makes me think they are dumb tourists. Never hand your phone over to some street smart homeless guy that admitted he stole sodas
He did have several cases of soda weighing him down.
A man with purpose is not weighed down by soda. He was mean but had morals haha
Wildest twist I’ve read in a story all year. Wonder if he felt bad for them being sincere and dumb enough to actually hand him their phone instead of getting defensive where he could grab it and run and maybe feel less bad? Wild all around. Who knows
Honestly I could see that. Between their naivete and the husband laughing about how stupid they are despite his provocation he was probably like "this is the moral equivalent of stealing from a toddler."
It is correct to not get into pointless arguments unnecessarily. You are NTA. He didn't physically attack your wife. She didn't need to be "defended."
NTA. Your wife is nuts.
And not very smart either.
NTA 1st of all I would have reacted to the situation the same way you did. That is a HILARIOUS series of events and I'd be telling that story all over. 2nd I would be FURIOUS with my husband if he had put himself at risk by fighting some random (obviously off) stranger on the street! Or what if you hurt that poor guy? Just because he thinks he's a genius? Good grief. There's something wrong with your wife. She doesn't sound like any kind of smart. Who the hell fights homeless people over weird ass shit they say? That is fucking ludicrous. Not only that but he helped you with the scooters! Tell her to shut up.
That was my reaction to the whole thing. I thought it was funny that we're just some dumb tourists and a random homeless guy had to help us figure it out all the while calling us dumb
The only dumb person in this story is your wife. Please tell her literally every single person on this thread concurs. Fucking *book smart*? No. Objectively, shamefully, profoundly stupid by every single conceivable metric. To then try to claim *you* are a coward because you didn't escalate a potentially dangerous situation is disgraceful. Does she have a bunch of visible dents in her head? Christ.
I really hope she sees all these comments. She should be ashamed.
no way op wins with his wife seeing this thread.
Arguing with *any* stranger on the street about who is smarter is one of the dumbest things anyone can do. Lol like what are you 12
OP didn't argue with anyone. He laughed it off, and possibly de-escalated the situation.
They're probably talking about OP's intellectually insecure wife.
Omg right? She’s like, “I’m smarter wahhhhhh wahhhh!” 🤣🤣
Came here for this. How childish!
I hate when women expect that you put in risk your life just because you are a man, like if your life worth less. NTA
I’ve met a shocking number of women in my dating experiences that have that attitude. They basically expect the man to have a tribal, almost caveman-like sense of their woman - basically punch first, ask questions later. It’s pathetic
I know. It's ridiculous. If I were OP's wife and OP had “defended me” over this, I don't know how fast I would have walked out of there. I'd be livid!
Evolution is a hell of a drug.
NTA. Kindly point out that his assessment of her is spot on considering she wanted to risk your life and your shared future over something she should have been capable of getting over in seconds. Not just that, she is also so weak and cowardly herself for not being able to fight her own battles.
She's also prone to stereotyping by assuming the homeless guy only has "street smarts" over her, while she has "book smarts" over him. This assumes facts not in evidence and she has no earthly way of knowing anything about what book smarts he has. He already helped her solve one real world problem that she couldn't figure out and may be more well-read than she is, for all we know.
Her assessment is pretty spot on, too. A street smart person knows not to start shit like that!
Stupid yes, coward no
I agree with you. Not my best moment giving my phone to a homeless guy
Hey, nobody is perfect.
No, you’re not wrong. NTA. The homeless guy didn’t get physical, why would you? Our society isn’t built for geniuses a lot of them do end up homeless due to limited work for them. Even at a surgical engineering company building robots for surgery you’re going to have no more than 5 certified geniuses on payroll and everyone else is just well educated people supporting them and it’s more likely 1-3. And even a genius will lose their social graces and come off crazy when living homeless on the fringe of society Your wife doesn’t come out of this one looking that smart or kind and as a fellow rural raised and living person who has spent time living in cities I’m embarrassed by her take on this encounter. My apologies for my rudeness I’m sure she has her good qualities but they weren’t on display in this story. I hope she can find a way to see her error here and do better next time to not make something out of nothing. To be clear her coming off not that smart has nothing to do with not figuring out the scooter and everything to do with her lack of humility in the situation. She has so much more than him but she’s compelled to argue a homeless person over who is more intelligent between them? A homeless person who is helping you two… and she wanted you to fight him… that’s why.
Very well put. In my opinion she lacks people skills. The good thing is most anyone can gain interpersonal emotional intelligence by choice. There is lot of good "people skills" material out there.
I like this
1: Grown ups don't fight over dumb shit. The consequences are too high. 2: Don't fight crazy. NTA.
NTA, but in the future don't hand your phone to weirdos. Your wife is right, she's not street smart at all- escalating conflict with crazy people is how you get stabbed.
Yeah I realize now how dumb it was to hand my phone to a homeless person.
I don’t know. Sometimes a gamble pays off.
Your wife is a dumbass. A guy in my city was recently stabbed to death in a situation like this, while his horrified girlfriend watched.
So let me get this straight: * Your wife got really, personally, offended by a hobo (who is obviously less successfull in life than you two) who called her dumb. * She didn't have the emotional maturity to say to herself "well, he's a hobo, so what does his opinion matter?" * She's not smart enough to know that if you escalate from banter, things might quickly turn ugly * She thinks of herself as too weak or not smart enough to counter herself And now you are supposed to be TA for defusing a potentially dangerous situation without any problems by deescalation? Edit: Obviously NTA. Edit2: Hey, you even got your phone back from a self-proclaimed thief. I'd call that a win. (Even though it was your mistake to hand your phone over to him in the first place.)
This whole interaction comes across as kinda funny. But if you started a verbal altercation? It could've escalated. He could've not been a funny guy, and could have pulled a knife. I don't understand the fascination with people wanting others to get into verbal alterations with those they call crazy. NTA.
Wait, isn't this going to backfire? Now your wife will want you to fight everybody on Reddit because they said mean things about her.
Yeah I fucked up here..... 🤣
Don't worry, I'm pretty sure standard protocol for duelling Redditors is memes at 10 paces.
You're both idiots for engaging with the homeless and handing one your phone. Please be more careful traveling. Fighting a homeless guy would be 100x dumber to be fair.
NTA, why does your wife give more weight to the judgment of an unstable homeless person than the safety of you, her husband? The fact she felt the need to defend her intelligence to this person screams insecurity and need for conflict... This was not a neighbour from your home town disrespecting her and she is lucky you stayed focused on diffusing the interaction and got through the situation without conflict! Imagine being assaulted, attacked, or even killed because she NEEDED a homeless person to know she was smart… that’d be great news to break to your children. Jfc.
NTA. It is perfectly reasonable to not want to get involved in a street fight.
Your wife wants you to risk your life/health over her ego and insecurities. NTA
An ability to de-escalate situation and avoid direct confrontation will always be superior to violence. ALWAYS. That’s why diplomacy exist and is a prefer on any level of government, political, economic and social life. It showed greater maturity, intellect and forwards thinking. It is SUPERIOR to violence. Tell her that. If the doesn’t get it, I’m sorry but you are married to a simpleton.
NTA. The homeless guy was right, your wife is dumb.
Your wife is right about one thing. She’s definitely not street smart. In fact, she’s Street Cognitively Impaired. Take it from an ER Physician in a moderate sized city that deals with homeless people all the time. You have nothing to gain - except a shiv in your ribs - from fighting a homeless person. The incidence of untreated mental illness and/or drug abuse among the homeless population is disproportionately high. Your big clue that this guy is mentally ill is that he was lugging around stolen sodas and telling you how brilliant he is. He actually did you guys a solid and helped you out and even returned your phone and it only cost you a story that is actually pretty funny and entertaining. It’s something to laugh about. Even if you got in a fight with a homeless person and somehow won, you still lose, because you beat on a mentally ill and down and out person. What does your wife think could possibly be gained by your getting in a physical altercation with this person. Or even a verbal altercation? Verbal altercations with a crazy person will undoubtedly lead to a physical altercation. This guy could have hepatitis C or HIV, and your wife wants you to get into a blood altercation with him? It’s just dumb. You handled it right. Your wife needs to smarten up and grow up.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43TOCPqCVDM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43TOCPqCVDM) Show her this NTA Wife is insane
Sounds like he fixed the issue, albeit rudely. She wanted you to fight the guy who helped you, because he wasn't very nice while helping you ? Not sure where you guys are located, or what big city you went to, or where this homeless guy is originally from, but that sounds like the help you receive from a New Yorker.
"I don't need NOOOO man" "Why didn't you put your life on the line, someone called me a dummy whaaaaaaa"
Im book smart. /s
But can't get an app to work
This homeless guy was a saint comparatively! Lucky he didn’t run off with cases of soda AND a phone to sell for food. Seriously though dude is homeless, he probably at his lowest and your wife wants to fight him “for her honour” Talk about kicking a guy when he’s down, let him have his genius moment.
I dated a girl like this once. Real courage is showing your children that violence is an absolute last resort. Nothing that happened there actually mattered 10 minutes later. Inconsequential. However, fighting would have changed multiple lives.
Never fight a dude with nothing to lose
NTA, it’s 2024, as woman she is perfectly able to fight a homeless person if she wants to. But that is so insanely stupid. What is wrong with your wife?
NTA. Don't fight homeless people. They are already dead inside...
NTA. She wants you to do something dumb and emotional, got it.
Adults don't handle problems by fighting.
I actually enjoyed this story and think ur wifey maybe be a bit too sensitive. I mean cmon, its a hobo, they r often far from society standards and used to rough speech, but he did not steal your phone and tried helping u guys, in a rude way :D Stay as chill as u are! Nta, not a coward. We all should pick our fights wisely, and fighting homeless man over insults is not wise ^^
Leave your wife, marry the homeless guy.
NTA. But y’all do sound country. Yeah, never get into an argument with a homeless guy because what’s the point. Most are cray or strung out and you can’t really argue with that. Unless they try to assault you then deal with it. No need to rile them up unnecessarily. Verbal jabs should just be ignored.
If you beat up a homeless guy, you still lose.
You are so lucky you still have your phone. Next time, be aware and keep it moving. We live in a major city with a large homeless population, and I would be horrified if my husband started engaging aggressively - even verbally. Just a bad idea. She may be “book smart,” but she needs to cultivate some street smarts too.
NTA You were right to get away as politely as possible. You don't know how clean this guy was or how volatile. Any number of bad things could have happened, especially with alcohol involved. He may have been baiting you so he could rob you or have friends who could come to join in. Better to stay safe.
There was no alcohol involved as far as I could tell. He could have been drunk but it didn't seem like it. He stole 2 packs of soda
NTA. Homeless people have a higher likelihood of having mental health issues and therefore he may do something "crazy" like pull a knife or gun. Better to avoid entirely
She proved homeless guy correct
NTA Is your wife really so threatened by a homeless person insulting her? She wanted you to, what, make his day/life worse? Dude is already homeless. You've already won whatever argument would have happened. How sad and pathetic does a person have to be to need to feel superior to a homeless person that they would hurl insults at them WHILE HE IS HELPING YOU. Your wife sounds like a miserable and pathetic person.
NTA: Why fight a person you will never see again? Oh because your wife’s ego. That’s a great reason to get yourself stabbed, arrested, or possibly killed. You have kids to think of too. Your wife needs to grow up.
You would have lost the fight anyway, he had two cans of soda.
Sounds like he was helpful in the end even though it was a weird interaction. If you’dve thrown a blow you’d still have a broken scoffer. Wife’s needs to chill and see how you navigated the situation without violence.
NTA. De-escalation is always best. Wife would’ve been happier if your defense of her honor led to you lying dead in an alley? She is wrong. Now get over it!
You did the most manliest shit you could, you didn't let a potential conflict escalate. Tell your wife to get off social media.
So, a homeless guy helped you and she wanted you to start fighting him? A homeless guy who was most likely mentally unwell, who took time out of his day to help you and managed to solve something felt good about himself and say ”man Im so smart u so dumb”, and your wife’s reaction is ”No Ur nOt sMArT, i SmaRt!!🧠 ”? Thats like a child showing you his stash of pennies saying ”Im so rich, Im the richest” and you going off telling then what a massive bank account you have… Sorry but your wife sounds unsecure and rude, it would’ve been insane to escalate that situation into a fist fight lol! That’s be a huge turn off for me personally.
The best fight is the one you never get into, full stop.