What is the term for a domestic dispute that takes place not in a domicile, but in a public space?
My housemate said to just call it a domestic, but I'm sure there has to be a better term. PDV (Public Display of Violence, as opposed to PDA) and a "lover's spat" were also thrown around, but the latter is rather misleading as there didn't seem to be much of anything resembling love on display.
Anyway, I witnessed a rather entertaining example of such activities earlier, on my way back from the supermarket.
Outside the train station was exceptionally trashy-looking couple with a pram, involved in a rather spirited dispute, the cause of which was apparently a bunch of their groceries or other belongings which had somehow fallen on the ground.
The woman was screaming at her boyfriend (at least, I certainly hope they weren't married) at the top of her lungs, and as I came around the corner and caught sight of the scene she was flailing wildly with both arms, slapping and punching him about the face.
He sort of turned away from the main brunt of her attacks, seeming to remain as calm as could be expected, and began picking up dropped items from the ground and returning them to wherever they fell from - an apartment on the pram, I think? - but at this point I was about to pass them with my own groceries and made a point not to look too closely, lest either of these derros think me a fitting target for their aggression.
As I was nearing them, however, the guy turned towards her and the pram, reaching down to get something that had fallen quite close, and she (who hadn't stopped screaming an array of various obscenities, threats and accusations, which I lacked the necessary context to fully decipher but which I could still certainly get the gist of) took this opportunity to sort of grab him by the shoulder with one hand to allow her to pummel him with all her force with the other, slamming her fist repeatedly into the back of his neck and head.
She was sort of bouncing up and down in a frenzy in order to hit as hard as possible, and one of these bounces caused her to upset the pram, which toppled over off the curb spilling its still-screaming infant passenger into the street. I heard her gasp in horror as I passed this shocking scene (I'm pretty sure it was the first time she'd really let up with her shrieking, actually. She had some impressive vocal stamina), and then shortly redoubled her tirade, blaming her fella for this new, even more terrible happening on top of all the many and varied crimes he was already apparently guilty of.
I suppose by needing to be hit and also being in close proximity to the pram, it was kind of his fault that it got knocked over? That seemed to be her logic, anyway. At least when I got across the street and looked back, she was at least holding the child whilst continuing to screech at him, plus a crowd of onlookers apparently having nothing better to do with their time had gathered and looked like they were making moves to contain the situation.
All in all, it would have been a very rewarding time to have a smartphone with a decent camera. Alas, mine is yet to be collected from the repair shop, and I would have had to summon a great deal of courage to actually whip it out to film that sort of thing. It would have been worth it, though. I'm sure I could have outrun them if they did take offence.
Either way, it was still greatly amusing. I'm not sure quite why I found it so hilarious but I couldn't stop smirking all the way home.
That bit of entertainment even made up for the bloody supermarket being sold out of tofu!
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Topic: Things that made you laugh today: some people notice when l change the title (Read 1846989 times)