Also, she told me that I should think about what I want out of saying something.
I wanted the person to know that speaking that way was unacceptable, inappropriate, and it was also inappropriate to get the employees agreeing with him (dunno if they meant it or were humoring him, but it was really gross to see the whole thing happening and not doing anything about it). Honestly, I wanted it to stop and make sure that this person did not do this again.
She said, if I remember correctly, that saying something was not going to change him and might get the employees in trouble. So what was the point here, esp since it put me in danger (even emotionally).
So by saying something to an anti-semitic anti-Jewish person, what would be the result?
I would want to report it to the police because they keep track of numbers and trends, or at least someone does, ideally.
Even if not, at least there is record of it. Proof. That one can go back to, especially if it becomes a pattern and one needs to take further legal action (yes even if it is in a parking lot or street, who knows if that person does this regularly and gets a kick out of it?).
It’s hard because there is no saying how things will turn out. Sometimes? barking back puts the offender in place (does it?). Sometimes it just escalates the hate. We aren’t in control of the yetzar hara here, since it’s someone else’s on full-force against us (even though of course it’s all Hashgacha Pratis), and that can make it ever more frightening.
Good thing for flight or fight. Moral of the story: Flight?