How would you have handled your child in a situation like this?

Rick said he was driving home and as he turned into one of our residential streets he saw a van with smoke just pouring out of it.
I said, “O my God! Was it coming from the van or from the engine??”
He said “It was coming from the van! All the windows were open and the sliding door was open and all this really pretty blue smoke was pouring out….and then I noticed this guy beatin’ his kids butt all the way up to the house…..”
I thought pretty blue smoke?….and I started rolling! I shrieked “The kid set off a smoke bomb in the van???!!!!!” (For the future, it’s the 3rd of July right now)
Rick says “That’s all I could figure. And Mom was rushing out of the house to the van…”
I said, “Let me guess! The kid was about nine years old!”
Rick says, “About that. Maybe a little younger!”
I was crying! I said, “Rick! That is SO something YOUR dumbass would have done at nine!!”
He hung his head because it was true. He was forever gettin’ his butt beat by his Dad and teachers and everyone!
BUT I guess Dad was yelling at the kid things like, “Get your a** in the house right NOW!”….that bothers me. I don’t care what my kids ever did, I would never talk to them like that…..
How would you have handled this situation?

Me? Yes. I would have been angry. I would have exacted angry retribution, probably in the form of a hollering (with no cuss words) and a spanking and overall made him really unhappy fer a while. And far in the future I would have laughingly told the story over and over and over again!!! (Like I do now….)

Life is short. Laugh when you can. But not before it’s time….