>>Only problem is, my brother and I were raised to stand up to bullies, and so we've had a confrontation or two with them over the years.
At the end of WWII the troops who came home didn't put up with any nonsense. Disrespecting a woman or being a PITA: you could expect a synchronized rising to their feet of veterans who would assist the culprit to a more suitable locale. Not now- methamphetamine behavior seems widespread.
If you get a moment, look up Tony S's confrontation in the car with Chris in "The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti" after Chris pulled a gun in the pastry store. Very smart writing. "Cowboyitis" is what Tony called it from memory, an irrational desire to face the consequences of what you know to be bad behavior.
"... They ne'er cared for us
yet: suffer us to famish, and their store-houses
crammed with grain; make edicts for usury, to
support usurers; repeal daily any wholesome act
established against the rich, and provide more
piercing statutes daily, to chain up and restrain
the poor. If the wars eat us not up, they will; and
there's all the love they bear us."
-- Shakespeare: Coriolanus, Act 1, scene 1
