We all struggle with how to be good at being a man on an almost daily basis. The levels of our individual struggles are different as well as the issues that we struggle with, but we are all in the same boat on this one. Usually it’s not the big things that confound us; it’s the little things, but the little things are the ones that pop up on a regular basis, hence the continuous struggle.

I would have to say that my main issue with being a man is the ability to remain calm and reasonable when provoked. It takes a quite a bit to push me but once I’ve had enough it’s a sight to see. But for me this is a weakness as my adversaries can unreasonably provoke me and then turn and innocently point at the madman frothing at the mouth. No matter how in the right I may be, this behavior doesn’t do me any favors. It’s something that I struggle with and I don’t know if I will ever get it under control.

Some days are better than others, and some days are worse than others. But some days, a very few days, these days have the potential to define who we are.

Nick Sandmann was with his fellow classmates, boys from a Catholic school who were in Washington last Saturday for the March for Life. They were waiting for their bus at The Lincoln Memorial when a small group of blacks known as the Black Hebrew Israelites began taunting them and throwing racial slurs. The boy’s chaperone gave them permission to chant their school song in an attempt to drown out the hateful things that the blacks were shouting at them, presumably because the young lads were wearing MAGA hats.

Attracted by the noise and undoubtedly seeking some easy attention for himself, professional troublemaker and agitator, Nathan Phillips, approached the boys while beating a drum. The teenage boys were confused as to why he was there and what his motives were. In the beginning they began to clap and chant with him but this quickly tapered off as they realised that he was not on their side. It was an attack, a provocation, a deliberate attempt to force the teenage white boys to stand aside and bow and scrape before their POC betters.

You’ve undoubtedly already seen the video but watch it again. You can see the teenagers chanting their songs, laughing and smiling, attempting to mind their own business and have a good time in the cold January afternoon. Phillips and his two offsiders hone in on them. Watch Nick Sandmann closely. He is exactly the same as the other teenage boys; standing there trying to have a good time while attempting to make some sense of the situation.

But for Sandmann he was the one who Phillips chose to walk towards and in a split second you can see Sandmann’s face change as he realises that the entire situation is a lot more serious than any of them ever imagined for a moment. And in that moment he makes a great decision.

He decides to stand his ground.

Not one step back and not one step further. I will not harass or assault this man banging his drum in my face but I will not stand aside either. I will hold my ground and I will remain calm. I will become the epitome of grace under pressure. We have been pushed around for too long and this is the moment that someone needs to draw a line in the sand and I am going to draw that line and I am going to hold it against all odds. I will be the shore against which breaks the fury of my enemies. And their wrath will break and I will emerge victorious and stronger for the ordeal.

Nick Sandmann made that confrontation, not because he was aggressive, but because he wasn’t. If there is one thing that the prog Left cannot stand, one thing that sends them into uncontrollable fury and rage, it is the non-reaction of their enemies. Because remaining calm as Sandmann did so well exposes the emptiness of their actions.

Not only did it send the Left into a rage it did the same thing to a great many commentators and organisations who are supposedly on the Right. They are not on the Right and they have been exposed by their own hatred for this young man. For a young man he now is. You can observe him growing in stature towards the end of the video. As his classmates continue to dance and react childishly around him, young Nick Sandmann is in another place, a place of his own choosing and a place that leads to his own self determination. Before our eyes he has become a man. He has accomplished all of this in a scant few minutes that will define him for the rest of his life, and all without any warning.

One minute you’re standing there minding your own business and then suddenly the world has other ideas. Will you be ready, and how calm will you remain?

Nick Sandmann is a goddamn hero. If this is generation Z then I for one am deeply relieved and hopeful for the future. By his acts he has taught me much. So Nick Sandmann, I stand and I salute you.

This article was originally published at https://pushingrubberdownhill.com/, where Adam Piggott publishes regularly and brilliantly. You can purchase Adam’s books here.