I was on the subway this evening sitting next to a boy who I guess was about 10 years old and clearly had some type of developmental disability. A man, who I presume to be his father was standing in front of him/me. For a few stops, the boy was on his knees looking out the subway window and squealing. At some point, the dad tried to turn him around to sit on his bum and the kid smacked the dad's arm and went back to kneeling. The dad turned him around again and the boy got a bit agitated and starting pulling his shoe off. The dad yelled something at him (not in English, so I have no idea what was said) and then SMACKED him across the face. Wtf! The sound was so loud that almost everyone in car looked up to see what had happened and then just stared in stunned silence. The kid didn't really have a reaction to getting hit and then dad just went on like nothing happened and rubbed the kid's cheek where he hit him.

Aside from picking my jaw up off the floor, I didn't do or say anything and now I'm wondering if I should have? One part of me says it's totally not my business, but the other part feels like an asshole that I watched a defenseless kid get hit and didn't say anything. Ugh.