Strength
2006-01-04 1:41 p.m.
Strength.This metaphor most likely applies better to other animals, but a lot of people have dogs and most dogs bark so� Watch a dog some time. Watch how they weigh people and other dogs. They smell the ones who can provide. They growl at unknowns and the bark when they can scare without being hurt. If they go for the jugular it�s either in fearful defense or their owner treats them like shit.
(I don�t own a dog, though I have friends who are dog breeders. On the same note, I�ve seen similar traits in a lot of dogs. No less, I�m no dog shrink, and I don�t have the time or patience to research it right now. I�m sure lots of animals have these traits, but I�m a city kid and most of the animals I�ve seen are rodents, pets and depressed zoo animals. Still, humor me and consider the metaphor)
You�ll find similar indications in people.
If people feel they can get something from someone (including companion/friendship), they come near them and sniff them out. They come with a smile and a warm greeting and a sense of openness to put their adversary off their guard.
If people aren�t sure about someone, they keep their distance, probably throw witty remarks or mixed looks / reactions to ensure their adversary that they have their eye on them, and that interactions could go either way.
If a person doesn�t like someone, or especially, is scared of them, they will damn near bark like a fucking dog. Usually dogs bark loudest with a leash on their neck or with their nose through a fence. The proverbial �Hold Me Back!!� Most people don�t want to fight, but they�ll put on a hell of a show to make it seem like they do. Sure, some actually do, and that�s usually in fearful defense or their owner treats them like shit.
If you acknowledge such traits you can use them to your advantage. Sure, we all react to them, we just don�t really notice. When a person barks we walk an extra step away from their fence or stand out of the reach of the leash. When a person sniffs, we either go and smell their ass or growl.
Now, I�ve never been much of a fighter. Sure, I have reach, and well, I used to have speed on my side. More than anything, when fighting I was creative. Hit them with anything, attached to me or not. There�s no cheating when fighting, there�s only making it out of the fight. Winning and losing doesn�t matter, because next time the outcome will probably be different.
Now the allude to the dog barking at the end of their leash is shoulders up and back, chin up, direct look in the eyes and some hootin and hollerin. Some play it cool, but loud. Some play it uncool and crazy. The most entertaining showmen play it cool but crazy. But the frame-up is almost always the same. White, Black, Mexican, anyone. In Chicago, the person that even makes it to this stance is lucky. Usually, long before an adversary�s voice can crack, you�ve already planted yourself on your boy�s shoulder to gain the extra leverage needed to hit the fucker really hard.
But, even in Chicago, when you hang at the �city� places, where all the suburbanites and transplants come into town to hang out with each other. You know, the �in� places with ropes and $10 drinks� In NY, the equivalent is the spots you never go to because it�s full of kids from Long Island and New Jersey. In LA, well, this is just one big fucking suburb, so fuck all of you (ok ok, only fuck some of you, LA is alright). As I was saying, even in Chicago, you�ll find that some people find the opportunity to beat their chest at you.
It�s a scare tactic. It�s a way to get you to take a step away from the fence. It�s the old game of making someone flinch and if they do you get to worsen that shoulder bruise of theirs from the last punch bug� (cuz you�re a dumbass and you keep playing stupid games, Fuck you and your flinching, punch bugs and Indian burns, and stop whining when I hit you back really hard regardless of your �no returns!!� fag).
Where was I� Oh yes, making people flinch. The object here is put on a show and scare the guy away and most likely they�ll pussy out and not want to fight. The mistake in their thinking is twofold. One, they figure that if their adversary doesn�t want to fight, this makes them weaker. So they might take advantage of such leverage. And not all who bow out gracefully are weak� This is how one suddenly finds themselves on the ground surrounded by the remains of what was once a chair. The second is that this person has already shown their hand before the betting was done. Now if he�s about to shoot you in your face, he�s got a good hand. Fold or have 5 aces. (Well, if he hasn�t shot yet, he�s a pussy, but he�s still got a damned good hand).
Essentially, it becomes your move to make. 9 times out of 10, if he�s in your face so early in the game, he won�t expect you to be the first to hit him. He definitely won�t expect your boy, who�s planted his hand on your shoulder to gain the extra leverage needed to hit the fucker really hard.
I�ve seen this exchange thousands of times. I�ve seen it play out in hundreds of directions. For me, I�m usually calm, and if I choose to hit him, it will be first, hard, fast and with about a foot of leash left til it�s taught. Probably with the same stupid smile as moments before. There is something important to take away from this ridiculous analogy. It�s recognizing the traits of strength and weakness.
The most obvious signs of weakness to the trained eye are in the over-competitive, short-fused and self-important � mostly signs of insecurity and fear. They over-compensate for what they feel are their own weaknesses. They try to hide their insecurities as they feel they are their downfall. They refuse to laugh at themselves and any jokes at their expense tend to end a fun conversation. They start too many fights and are lucky that most people would just rather not. They accept this as an affirmation of strength.
That�s the worst part, and the most detrimental. The self-perpetuation of their weakness in place of strength. Their qualifications for strength and weakness are contrived and cumulative. The more people who refuse to bark back gives a false sense of strength and of weakness in others. The perfect setup for a nasty downfall.
These are the winners who brought the gun to a knife fight, who you�re now covering for because you were just going to rough the fuckers up a bit, who you might find yourself taking the rap for, even though you don�t really like the fucker. He�s always talking about being strong and how he�s running shit and how nobody could fuck with him, arrogant little fuck. It�s Pac in Juice, and fine ass Michelle Rodriguez in Lost. You like them for their energy, but there�s a reason they seem like petty assholes in the end. They�re overcompensating for being bitch-made.