Tough Guy, eh?

America is going through a bad phase right now. We can't stop focusing on all the wrong things, such as the fear of LGBTQ people. You might recall that I am still waiting for a rational answer to the question of what other people's sex lives has to do with anyone else's. It's just silly, and it leads to all sorts of antagonism that we don't really need.

F'rinstance, up in Monmouth County, New Jersey, a middle school vice principal is on the hot seat. It all started when Michael Smurro's wife, Lisa, got all flibbertiggibet because a transgender woman was taking a leak in the ladies room.

She was walking around - there is a video - carping to others about how upset she was that a fellow human being sought relief for a full bladder.

“There’s a man pissing in the bathroom, the women’s bathroom,” Mrs Smurro says to the waitress in the video. “She’s a man. She was in the women’s bathroom.”

Finding no quarter from the waitress, the harping harridan turns to other diners who are trying to sit outside and have their meal in peace. In the video uploaded by "Peach CC," we see her whining about "She's a man, she's a man" until the diners tell her, “You’re being inappropriate. Take your hate elsewhere, please.” 

Then, Mr Smurro, who spends his days dealing with recalcitrant juveniles, steps up and tries to act like Steven Seagal in one of those movies of his with three words in the title ("I Can't Act," "Filing For Retirement," and "Just Forget Me" are three recent examples) saying, “Here you go, pal. There you go.”

Tough guy. He douses the crowd with the rest of a beer. Ironically, if he had tossed away beer all day instead of drinking it, he would be happier right now, ya know?

Well, a couple of days go by, and after the Schlitz really hit the fan, Smurro wrote to the Associated Press: 

“I allowed my emotions to get in the way of my normally sound judgment and reacted in a way that was inappropriate. I do not condone violence or discrimination of any kind and should have simply walked away. I apologize to the person I threw my beer at and wish I hadn’t done so. I apologize to anyone I offended.”

 

He educates the youth of New Jersey. And by the way, one of the people he showered with suds is a child.

 

The Neptune School District offered a statement: “This event is troubling as its perception potentially threatens the social-emotional well-being and climate of belonging that our Neptune School District community represents. The actions shown in the video do not reflect our district’s commitment to inclusivity, cooperation, respect, and nonviolence."

“The Board of Education and Superintendent will respond to this incident in a manner that is appropriate and relative to the seriousness of the situation and that takes into consideration the impact this incident has had on the reputation of our wonderful district,” it concluded.

There's nothing funnier than a would-be tough guy tossing beer on his fellow citizens one night and then issuing non-apology apologies days later. Smurro clearly has issues and should not be around children.

But before that school board hands down their decision, I think he should have to sit in a classroom and write "I will not throw beer on others in support of my wife's idiotic transphobia" 100 times.