No one to look up to

This morning I witnessed a fight on the train. In full view of his young son, a man attacked a drug addict. There was cursing, screaming, kicking, and punching, the man was filled with rage and hate. Aside from feeling completely helpless in the situation (I sat there motionless, witnessed the ordeal go down without so much as yelling for the man to stop), I was left disturbed. A seemingly normal man, just minutes before the incident sat on the train with his son peacefully waiting for the next stop. How could nonsensical rambling from a homeless man (?) trigger such hostility? What will this man's son grow up to be? Who will he grow up to be?

Why is violence the outlet that time and time again people unsuccessfully turn to? Did beating that man make anything better? From a young age we (our society) teach children not to hit and not to curse (at least I think that's what parents teach their kids although I'm not so sure according to what I hear on the streets, and now see on the subway). When are people going to realize that as adults, we lead by example, children look up to us, they emulate our behaviors. What kid doesn't want to be like their mom, dad, teacher, favorite athlete, etc.. Our current role models are really lacking, especially here in NY. You flip on the tv and among other things hear about high powered men stealing money, sports figures doing drugs, and pop stars beating their girlfriends. The message being sent out is that to get to a position of importance you must lie, cheat, steal, and step on whoever is in your way. Unless something changes, the generations following our lead are headed for bigger failures than those in existence today.