How do you handle confrontation with strangers?

Post date: 2020-05-24 07:42:19

I'm not a confrontational person, but sometimes it seems necessary. How do you approach and handle this? Details below the fold.

I'm female and have a small child. Since having my kid, I've found myself in situations where I want to defend the child/stand up for something but also want to avoid confrontation--both because I am not confrontational, and because I don't want to expose my kid to that. An example is a park. Where I live, regional parks are open if social distancing is maintained, and dogs are required to be on leash (as a dog that doesn't come when the owner calls means the owner might have to break social distancing). My toddler likes to walk around and pick up sticks and leaves (as most toddlers do!) Bub is not waving or shouting or anything, but just toddling about with me or my partner nearby. We've had numerous incidents of larger dogs (40-60 pounds) approaching my child and trying to grab their stick. This has been the dog charging my child, leaping with an open mouth and bared teeth, and running in circles around my child. I am a dog owner and dog lover but find this completely unacceptable, COVID or no. Half of the time the owner gives a halfhearted apology and says "oh, they're really a very shy dog but just want your child's stick" and the other half they're in their own world, don't apologize, perhaps looking at their phone or talking to someone else (i.e., not at all paying attention to their dog that is not under voice control). I respond to the situation by guarding my child, picking them up, walking away, shooing the dog, etc., but have not asked an owner to put the dog on a leash, etc. I understand there are longer-term actions I can take like contacting Parks and Rec to ask for stricter enforcement of the leash regulation. But how do I manage this in the immediate term? When I have seen others ask people to put their dog on leash, it's turned into a shouting match. I'd like to avoid that.

NB: This is just one example of a time when I'd like to speak up but don't. Responses to this specific example are fine, but I'd also appreciate any broader advice for handling these sorts of situations. I should add that generally in a professional context, I am happy to speak up if something needs addressing--it's more in my personal life that I turn away from conflicts with strangers. If I can think of other examples, I'll try to post again in the comments. Thanks.

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