Wow! What a can of worms this thread is!!!! but it’s not that black and white IMO.
The situation given by HORA gives many ‘outs’. It hadn’t got physical yet, so he could have walked away. He could have taken the kid back to the car and gone back in to ‘have words’. He could have said ‘wind it in, or I’ll call the police’. He could have got his phone out and started recording it so blatantly that the guy in the shop just stopped.
Don’t get me wrong, I deplore adults that beat up on kids. But I would sooner sit my son down and explain why something is wrong than to have him see me fighting.
My son has just turned 6 – so, yeah, my responses are focused on him being that age. If he was older, say 16 then I’d probably wade in without as much thought to it.
Let me ask you the question – would you steam in with your fists if you had your child(ren) with you if a shopkeeper was swearing at a couple of teens?
Like I say – not that black and white