Dear LFTP: witnessing a man verbally abusing children at a restaurant

• Should I have called the police on a man verbally abusing children at a restaurant, and would it have made things worse?

A reader watched a man loudly verbally abuse small children for 20-30 minutes at a restaurant and asks whether calling the police would have helped or made it worse. The hosts weigh passivity (one admits he's the ninth of ten to call police), whether confronting a stranger ever produces lasting change, and the risk that intervention backfires on the kids at home. One host recounts asking a loud, drunk man to leave a gas station; another describes a stranger's public scolding of a Walmart mother that likely made the child's evening worse. 'Nick Harris' is asked on-air for his take and argues the approach matters more than the impulse. The consensus: pray for the kids and parents, act only on a clear inclination, and know that inserting yourself is usually the wrong move; Secular's answer (police can't arrest for verbal abuse; the restaurant manager should have stepped in) draws mockery about 'micro levels of authority'.