the thumbtack defense
I thought this was a good example of counter-psychological warfare:

In high school a friend of mine would routinely punch me on the body when I least expected it. I had a long torso with very little protective tissue like fat or muscle, and my gangly arms, though quick, were not a strong line of defense, so I made an excellent target and the punches were hard enough to be aggravating. On the bus? Punch the body. Having lunch? Punch the body. Walking somewhere? Punch the body. This was making me unusually jumpy throughout the day, so I was desperate for an elegant solution that didn't involve asking him to stop.

After pondering the problem for a day, I settled on a solution. Before school the next morning I took a handful of thumb tacks and pressed them through the inside of my undershirt at various places, so the flat back of the tack was against my skin, and the pointy bit was poking outward, nearly invisible on its own, and undetectable with another shirt placed over it.

At the beginning of the day at school I told my friend about my new system, and showed him one as an example. It turns out that this was all it took. For the rest of the day he would wind up and start to throw a punch out of habit, and suddenly jerk back, remembering what might be under there. I only actually used the tacks for a day or two, but I never got punched by him again.

We remain friends to this day, but he works with very sharp knives now so I don't go see him too often.
( the prick of misery pierced my foot on a spiiiike on, Sun 15 Jan 2012, 17:13, 3 replies)

Your friend is PCMechanic.
AICMFP.
(FartThroughAWalkieTalkie wished you were dead in ditch on, Sun 15 Jan 2012, 17:48, closed)

That could be, although I think these are mostly just kitchen knives
not finely honed artisanal death instruments.
( the prick of misery pierced my foot on a spiiiike on, Sun 15 Jan 2012, 18:27, closed)

on your body anyway..

(spleenspleenspleen coffeeflavouredsugarcoatednicotine, Mon 16 Jan 2012, 9:25, closed)