another Gratton follow-up

In response to my previous post, GRATTON ASKS IF THERE IS A HISTORICITY TO BEING SLAPPED IN THE FACE.

I suspect that there is, just as I suspect that there is a historicity to “fainting.” I have never once fainted, seen anyone faint, or even heard about a close acquaintance fainting. But go back just 80 or 100 years, and everyone seems to be fainting all the time, including Sigmund Freud himself.

There is certainly a bit of historicity to fighting. In Egypt you still see this: street brawls break out quite regularly; I’ve seen many. Onlookers always rush in to break it up, while the aggrieved parties continue to try or pretend to try to want to go after each other for another 5 minutes or so.

But it’s not just a Middle East thing. Go back 70 or 80 years in American history and you’ll read about all kinds of fights. There was at least one severe beating on the floor of the U.S. Senate. Even in the 1970’s, there were severe fights in the stands at baseball games quite often. And then there were quaint implements associated with these fights, such as “brass knuckles,” which I’ve heard nothing about lately. Now, you just shoot and kill people.