And I remember when I was young, hearing Malcolm X say that to communicate, you have to understand the language the other person speaks. In the cases we are discussing, intimidation is their language, and threats drip from their tongue. One afternoon, a fellow who had an addiction to pain killers called me at the mental health clinic. He was demanding a Rx, despite the fact our psychiatrist did not prescribe such a thing. His wife got on the phone, and told me his medical doctor was refusing to prescribe them any more. I said that was between his doctor and him, but that our clinic did not prescribe pain killers. She told me I should, because he was dangerous, and he was getting pretty upset with me for not getting him a prescription.
Now, I had fought in over 300 boxing matches, and only lost to eight guys (one twice, out of our nine bouts). And although I had been in a lot less street fights, I had never lost a single one. If someone said they weren't going to go by boxing rules, I said neither was I. If they said to hit them first, the last sound they heard beforeunconsciousness was my left hook sizzling towards their chin. Added to this, I had an uncanny knack for remaining calm in crises. So when the guy got back on the phone and promised to shoot me when I left the clinic at five, I was prepared.
I told him that he had better be a good shot, because he'd only get one. He started shouting that he was crazy and dangerous. I said that I was, too. He said I couldn't be, because I worked for mental health. I told him tat the difference between him and I was that he wanted people to think he was crazy and dangerous, whereas I did not. In fact, everyone thought I was a sane and gentle person. I had them fooled. If he tried to hurt me, and I hurt him, everyone would believe me, because I had them fooled. When I asked if he understood the avantage I had, he hung up. I never heard from him again.
However, a couple of months later, he was in jail. He had tried to get a friend to plant an explosive device on his wife's car after she left him. The friend hesitated, because their three children were usually in the car with the mother. The thug said he didn't care. The friend thus went to the police. The prosecutor requested that I do a full assessment on the guy's adult history, which I was glad to do -- though I didn't include my end of our last conversation. He is now serving a life sentence in a NYS prison.
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