Baseball Vulgarity

Boy, do I know the feeling. Being in a public place, and being subjected to the screaming of other people. The baseball scenario sounds awful. Knowing myself, I would have left. But I have been in many situations, alone and with my children, where if I want to get what I need (i.e. standing in line to pay for groceries) I have to listen to someone's screaming.

For the record, once I was at a Yaakov Shweky concert here in Jerusalem, so it was mostly religious people in the audience. There was a group of high school-aged girls sitting behind my young daughter and I, screaming non-stop. I couldn't stand it. I turned around and asked them to stop screaming. It helped, but not 100%.

There's a new culture. Almost everyone has a cell phone and has little or no sense of the volume of their voice. I hear screamers everywhere. It's really awful. Very self-centered, very selfish.

So I understand that the guy was totally rude behavior but what gets me is that you personally or did not have the usher or security mention it to the person so that maybe he could adjust his behavior take it down a bit i believe it is the right thing to do something to say something and do something about bad behavior in private as well as in public,my though on this .

Some of my co workers accompanied our boss to a baseball game and the next day at work they were all avoiding him; his wife was mad at him, and he was very contrite as he explained to me that his "baseball vocabulary" fueled by alcohol, had been appalling!

I was shocked, as I knew this man to be well educated and able to speak extemporaneously on many subjects with never a curse word!

Subsequently, some of those same co workers accompanied my husband and me to a game, and all were royally entertained by the banter my husband directed at the field. One, a Chicago native and devoted baseball fan, declared him to be "the ultimate baseball fan" in that he knew all the rules that govern the play and he had many appropriate, inoffensive, and highly entertaining taunts to throw out in his very big voice. Never once did he use a vulgar or obscene word.

The fans who shared our box seats were very saddened and disappointed when he suffered a heart attack and did not return to the stadium that season. They said that he had heightened their appreciation and enjoyment of the game.

I agree with the points made in your article. We must always be cognizant of people within our space who could be made uncomfortable by our lack of consideration to the sensibilities of others. Thank you for a fine article.

As you have a Masters in Psychology,a JD, and being an author, you have demonstrated great intellectual capability. It seems none of this seemed to have come into play on the day of the game. Did it occur to you to say to the offender, in your refined way, “Hey, I have my young grandson sitting in the row right below you. He is here for his birthday. Do you have children? Your passion for the Dodgers is great! Do you mind, however, being careful on not shouting swear words as I’m trying to teach my grandson to not use those words. Thanks for understanding”. Would this have worked? We don’t know. However it may have been better then doing nothing and subjecting yourself and grandson to the abuse. If you did not have the courage to say something to the offender, as it appears from your tale, did it occur to you to say something to an attendant? They surely would have at least stopped the vulgarity. Your solution of accepting the situation and further stating that you won’t return because of this singular incident let’s the offender win, not only on that day of the game but in perpetuity.

Perhaps Emuna Braverman was afraid that this individual might have gotten violent if she spoke up. I have been at rock concerts where drunken people have bothered me and sadly I did nothing, due to my fear. As I sit and type these words, I vow to get an usher to intervene if this situation ever occurs again. Security guards are paid to handle issues just like the one in the article.

Nowhere in this story did the person who felt assaulted speak up. Why not? Even though the person shouting was otherwise nice, apparently the person lacked the courage to politely ask the person to shout in a different direction and stop using vulgar language. Moreover, they didn't even ask a stadium employee for help. They are happy to provide that help. While it is unfortunate these people suffered to enjoy their baseball game, I know that wasn't necessary. All this person had to do was speak up. People listen when you do. We will never solve our problems in our nation, small or large, unless we speak to each other.

noise is tyranny. at noisy events, bad language is the tyrannical part. loud music (good or bad) in your neighborhood, in a park or at the beach, is nothing less than an assault. i thank g-d that my neighborhood restricts noise. quiet times are a blessing.