You know what's awesome? Fighting. There's nothing better than being so insecure about trivial matters that harmless banter evokes a tireless rage and the desire to break my hand on someone else's head.
I'm being sarcastic, of course. That mindset is one of few things that truly annoys me and tests my confidence in humanity. What's worse is that many stories and post-fight bragging I have heard about fights from various people I've crossed paths with were littered with remorseless boasts of seriously hurting someone.
I assume I'm not alone in the fact that I have seen at least one fight around campus and heard about several more, in the past few weeks. In my four-and-a-half years here, I've seen several people beaten up for ridiculous reasons under the guise of some sort of distorted honor or pride people have. I've had to talk my way out of one or two unwarranted (in my opinion, obviously) beatings.
Barring extreme circumstances or self-defense when there's no talking the other person down, there's no good reason for getting into a fight at a bar or party or anywhere. Fights happen fairly often in college settings and I've seen more than what I consider my fair share. All of the "winners" gained nothing more than the sadistic satisfaction of hurting someone and an unhealthy confidence that getting into fights has no negative consequences.
Almost as annoying as a fun-ruining brawl is the banter beforehand. I'm a big fan of banter. I base a lot of my friendships on sarcastic arguing. But tough-guy Billy Bada-- routines, complete with pushing and friends holding people back, are simply irritating.
I don't share the fighting mentality that some people have, but I like to think I'm wise enough to put myself in some people's shoes. Yet, I can't imagine the motivation one must have to want to hurt someone.
What can be so inflammatory or degrading that it will incite the anger necessary to hit someone? An even bigger mystery to me is why some people think that hurting the person who said or did it will fix everything and make that person unsay or undo it. Why is someone else's pain a consolation prize?
Most of the squabbles I've seen or heard about involved some sort of love triangle or elementary school-like feuds based on superficial differences.
I don't understand why or how people care that much about petty differences. I'm not necessarily advocating apathy to social life issues, though it may cut down on the number of pointless fights. Perspective is something that would be the best solution. Why do you care what someone says about you or your significant other? Is it really that important? If you have nothing more important to worry about, you should probably get involved with something or someone.
This isn't an overwhelming problem, but Ball State doesn't really have any of those. But fights are annoying, they ruin fun and most people don't want to get into them. If you or someone you know is a fighter, tell them or yourself to stop. It's annoying and you aren't helping anything.
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