A Little Domestic Violence in the Morning

I decided to stop to photograph an interesting looking business: The Billionaire Barber Shop. Pictured people like Jeff Bezos as the clientele.

Trying to get back on the road, I turned into a parking lot behind the barber shop where a domestic violence situation was occurring. A woman was on her hands and knees, screaming as loudly as she could, and pounding the pavement with her hands. A guy was sitting in a car about 150 feet away and yelling back. There was an element of theatricality to it, like the woman had had enough, and was now going to conduct their business in public. I parked and called 911.

The woman screamed that she couldn’t walk, and started limping away. He rolled up and she got in their vehicle. Then they came over to me.

I do have to say I was disturbed when the guy rolled up. I thought he was going to T-Bone my vehicle. His preexisting shattered windshield suggested previous hard living with the car. He parked in such a way that I couldn't observe him clearly. He accused me of interfering and I said something back to him that all I was trying to do was make a U-Turn (which was no longer true, of course). I couldn’t quite understand him, due to my general deafness and since I was narrating the event in real time to the cops. Probably something about minding my own business. They drove off. For a few seconds their license plate was visible in my rear view window, but I couldn’t rattle off the digits fast enough given mirror image.

Cops didn’t come since the woman entered the car willingly and they had no cause to arrest. They took my info. That’s it. Another day in South Sac.

Unpredictable things may occur when intervening in a domestic violence situation. I was walking down a street in Berkeley, CA, in 1987, when I walked past an alley. Some guy was smacking his girlfriend around in the alley. I walked into the alley and asked: "Is there a problem?" They both turned towards me - she with apprehension; he in surprised rage. She jumped on his back and shouted to me: "Run!" I walked back towards the street with both of them following a few feet behind, him shouting epithets and her shouting "I love you!" to him at the top of her lungs.

I walked away. I looked back and saw that they were holding hands, heading the other direction. Love conquers all, I guess.