This is a lesson for all. If an old man starts yelling at you, you have the right to yell back. But wisdom should kick in. You do not know the state of mind of a verbally abusive stranger. Best thing was to agree so you diffuse the situation and move yourself to a different location in the theater.
I had a crazy encounter once when I was in a check out line at Home Depot. A couple in front of me, the woman did not know that she dropped her keys on the floor. I drew her attention to the keys by pointing it out on the floor. She was about to get them, her boyfriend started yelling at me. I guess he was trying to impress her. Why do you force a lady to pick up her own keys, you should be doing that!!!??? The cashier and everyone in the check out line was surprised. I could have told him to drop dead, but to diffuse the situation I picked up the keys for her and told him he was right. The woman was more embarassed by her boyfriends antics. Her boyfriend was smug that he made me pick up the keys for her. Judging from the woman’s body language, he showed a side of his personality she does not seem to like. Guess who really lost in the incident.
Minutes later I was on my way home without an incident. If I told her boyfriend to drop dead, who knows how the incident would turn out. Arrest, serious injury or even death. That is the world we live in. Until it gets more civil, one must be smart to survive. After all according to the US Constitution I have the right to walk the streets of an inner city black neighborhood late at night, but one doesn t.
Her boyfriend is an ass because he made no effort to pick them up for her. He instead intimidated you into doing it for him.
“Best thing was to agree so you diffuse the situation and move yourself to a different location in the theater.”
The word you are looking for is *defuse*, not diffuse.