After punching out the radical activist, Fred shoulda...
...given "Sticky" Merkle a swift boot in the hiney!
What would Fred have to lose?
(1.) Sticky wasn't even close to being as bad as the activist, but still deserved some sort of comeuppance for being the self-important jerk he was.
(2.) Doling out the hay-maker to the radical trouble maker was grounds enough for dismissal but no jury would ever convict Fred for assault against that loser; and dealing with Sticky in the manner I suggested would have been a nice little coupe de gras.
(3.) It would have been highly unlikely that Fred would have been jailed for so dealing with Sticky, either. In the old days, kicking someone in the seat of his pants was considered more of an insult and less of the "injury" that it's now considered to be in this day and age.
I guess Fred wanted to leave well enough alone, but in any case Sticky was the type who boot-licked his superiors and lorded it over Fred with the seniority that he (Sticky) had accumulated after Fred's first tenure at the drug store. Fred, years before, had left the store to do his bit for the country at war, while Sticky reaped the benefits of remaining behind and advancing his position as an employee while men like Fred gave of their own blood, sweat, tears and even their very lives to safeguard Sticky's way of life! And what was the first thing Sticky said to a co-worker when he noticed Fred, not yet re-hired, dropping in to feel the place out? Something to the effect that "these service men will take away our jobs!"
Man, that really burns me up! Sticky is SUCH an ungrateful little "fill-in-the-blank!" For THAT remark ALONE, he deserved to be horse whipped!
Yeah, a 10-15 seconds long added scene of Sticky Merkle getting his just desserts in SOME manner, "swift boot to the hiney" or otherwise, would have lent just a little bit more satisfaction in an otherwise monumentally great motion picture.