[pax]

From what I can tell about your story, there was absolutely NO 'wimpiness' involved. You did the right thing in getting away unscathed, contacting the police, and taking the long way home. All of those are smart, smart decisions, so don't second guess yourself!

When caught in an encounter with an aggressor, people always want to WIN that encounter. And I agree: Winning is good. We always want to win. We always need to win. But sometimes "win" is defined as "I killed that bastich" or "I made that sumbich back off." And that's not necessarily a win. A win is when you go home safely, with your entire life intact. Nothing else counts as a win. Spending the next two years in & out of the courthouse, defending what you did and why you did it, would not be a win. At most, it would be a dreary ending to a crappy situation that you handled as best you could.

You won.

pax