Never a better option, unless the other option is to shoot the person. Also criminal. The Geno thing has made me realize I am completely befuddled by people's acceptance of violence over trivial matters,
Johnny, its not so much acceptance as it is common sense. I think the internet has given people a false sense of security about the things they can and can't get away with in real life. Over the internet there are no real consequences for your actions. You can basically be as provocative as you want to be without fear of consequence. When it becomes dangerous is when you begin to adopt that outlook in your live interactions with people. For example, if I say I want to bang your sister over the internet, physically nothing is going to happen too me. However, how long do you think it will take before I get punched in the face if I say that to guys I meet in real life? You might not punch me in the face if I said it to you, perhaps my friend Bronx wouldn't punch me in the face either, but if I talk to guys like that as a general rule, how long before my luck runs out? Three? Five? Certainly no more than ten. If I'm going out of my way to provoke people in real life the way folks think nothing of provoking people on the internet, it won't be long before I get cracked in the face. That said, if Geno owed this guy money as has been reported, it was common sense to pay the man, lest you provoke a confrontation.
IMO it showed a real lack of common sense on Geno's behalf that he apparently didn't consider the possible ramifications of stiffing the guy for those 600 dollars, which I agree with Bronx is
TIP MONEY for these guys, certainly not worth risking a confrontation over, thats why Geno should have paid him and been done with it.
I'll give you a perfect example from my younger days. One time I was in a bar and this one dude clearly had too much to drink. He wasn't falling down drunk, but he was clearly lit up and he had that angry drunk face. Suddenly he starts insisting that somebody stole his 10 dollar bill that was on the bar, and I could see exactly where this was heading if someone didn't resolve the situation peacefully. Somebody was gonna get hurt, probably him, and I didn't want to see anyone get hurt over a lousy 10 dollars. So I told him to relax, offered to give him 10 dollars out of my own pocket, and bought him a drink on top of it. That calmed the situation down and nobody got hurt. Thats how Geno should have handled this situation. 600 dollars is TIP MONEY to Geno Smith. He should have paid the guy on the first day of camp and made sure it didn't escalate.
Does that mean IK gets a pass for punching him in the face?
Of course not, it cost him his job and it should have, but Geno did not use good judgement here either.
