Mike Partyka (@MichaelJPartyka)

When I was young, I was told a story about legendary martial artist Chuck Norris. According to the story, Norris was seated at the bar when a belligerent man told him, "You're in my seat." Norris left his seat and went to an empty table. Later, that belligerent man came to him at the table, contritely this time, and said, "I had no idea who you were. You could've taken my head off if you wanted. Why didn't you?" Norris responded, "You might've gotten hurt. I might've gotten hurt. One or both of us might have spent the night in jail. A barstool isn't worth that." This story about Chuck Norris may or may not be true. However, the following story is true: A practicing martial artist once confronted a man about some property the man had stolen. The man became violent and put the martial artist in a sloppy chokehold that wasn't actually hurting the martial artist. Moreover, the man's sloppy grip had left his thumb out so that the martial artist could've easily yanked on the man's thumb, breaking the hold (and the man's wrist, too). But the martial artist remained calm, understanding that he was in no real danger, and when the man got tired and released him, he walked away and later sued the man in court for his property, eventually having it returned to him. When people asked the martial artist why he did not free himself from the chokehold, he said, "I couldn't do that without breaking his wrist, and that might have resulted in my being sued or even imprisoned for excessive force, especially seeing how my skills are much greater than his. Also, despite his wanting to hurt and intimidate me, I knew from his bad form that he could do neither. So I simply waited for him to release me, and then I left to fight for what was mine a better way." In both cases -- one likely fictional, one true -- a person with concealed power chooses not to use his power because he knows the consequences of using his power would be far more serious than the consequences of demonstrating false weakness. In both cases, the person with power chose to suffer disrespect and abuse because such wounds are superficial compared with loss of money, loss of freedom...or even someone's loss of life. I am relating these stories now because I have a sneaking suspicion that Karmelo Anthony did not hear anything like them growing up. I suspect that he instead heard stories about how a real man is supposed to fight back in the face of disrespect and abuse, and that to show weakness is far more unforgivable than to show strength and suffer the consequences for it. There are cultures where "a real man doesn't back down", and it is arguable that unspeakable harm has resulted from such a cultural tenet. I think we need our children to know, rather, that a real man can also back down when he wants, even if he could stand up for himself, because sometimes standing up isn't worth putting at risk everything he might lose. Or, in the words of Michael Jackson: Beat it! Beat it! No one wants to be defeated. Show them how funky-strong is your fight. It doesn't matter who's wrong or right. Just beat it! P.S.: I would be remiss if I did not call into question whether Austin Metcalf was perhaps under the influence of a counterproductive cultural tenet, too. It may well be that Karmelo Anthony was under the wrong tent, but so long as Anthony wasn't bothering anyone, how important was it that the seating rule in question be enforced -- and what authority, if any, had Metcalf been given to enforce it? As much as it might prick us to see a rule broken and others inconvenienced by the violation, we do not all possess carte blanche authority to enforce the rules as we see fit. Sometimes situations are better left to people in authority, lest we get in over our heads and a confrontation escalate into tragic dimensions. #KarmeloAnthony #Texas #Trial #Murder #AustinMetcalf #Culture