I was in the office at the time, but I heard you...Good lungs, lol... Yes, the freeze is a 'normal' response to yelling, sucker punches, etc. for those that haven't trained to respond. Like, John was saying: people generally don't want to believe that something bad is actually happening. The brain starts scanning itself..."Is this real? Have I been through this before? What did I do". Ever hear someone say "my life flashed before my eyes"? This is what is happening... This is the reason we do situation drills, usually under stress. The brain says "been there, done that" and the reaction/response time is much quicker. The other answer (having not been in the room) is that if there was no weapon visible it was, at that point, just a verbal confrontation. I think in reality most wouldn't really do anything other than gawk until there was physical confrontation. Unless it really was a used-car dealer. ...And don't forget the Bystander Effect.