A scary sight in the park...

We were jarred out our playful state at the playground when I heard an elderly man (appeared to be the grandfather) SCREAM at what appeared to be his 5 and 7 year old grandchildren. All of them were of African origin. The man, in his 60's I think, had an accent. I couldn't tell if he was from Africa or Haiti.

Anyway, he YELLS, "PUT THAT STICK DOWN!"
Then, he runs up on the playground contraption and grabs the younger boy, jerking him wildly by the arm and demanding that he put his shoes on.

Both boys at this point are crying. The man yells, "Do you want me to take off my belt?" as he reaches for his belt.

The boys are hysterical. I'm in shock.

It's not like I've never raised my voice at my kids during a stressful moment and I have had to physically exert myself (say in taking a crying kid up to a bath), but this was just violent.

My mouth must have been hanging open as I stared and tried to figure out what I should do, if anything. Part of me wanted to say, "Man, what the HELL are you doing?"

It's not always easy to intervene. People want to avoid confrontation. I've noticed that line jumpers at airports rely on this fact and most people are content to let them slide in. I'm not. It's uncomfortable, yes, but it's the right thing to do.

As I watched the man drag the boys off, he looked at me and kind of nodded, saying "good afternoon" as if everything was ok.

It was surreal.