Manners of violence

Lord knows what finishing school brutality instilled such rigourous demands for cordiality in 20-year-old Ricky Young, but one thing is certain: Had Cody Goodnight suffered from uncontrollable flatulence, Young probably would have killed him. As it happened, Goodnight’s perceived offence was only failure to partake in small talk. For that rudeness, Young allegedly laid him out with a crowbar to the head. The faux pas, however, is entirely Young’s. Goodnight hadn’t heard Young’s pleasantries. He’s deaf.

Speaking through sign language, Goodnight recounted the events that took place when he went to buy a soft drink for his son at the Fort Worth, Texas, store where Young was a cashier. He said he’d put the drink on the counter and handed Young some money. Young then threw his change to the floor. When Goodnight bent down to retrieve it, he says he was hit across the head.

Young told police he had tried to start a “friendly conversation” but Goodnight wouldn’t answer him. Police say Young took this for rudeness and “became outraged.” When police told Goodnight he was deaf, Young responded, “Oh.” He faces charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

by Scott Saxon