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August 05, 2003
lessons unlearned
when i was 20 years old i learned a lesson. i travelled with a girlfriend to san diego on a road trip. on this trip i got my first tattoo, back in the early 90's when tattooes were not "fashionable", and in retrospect most likely unhygenic.
we travelled to ocean beach to the parties in the beach houses, where we kept running into the same people house to house. my girlfriend rebecca lied by saying she was from poway. she was really from arizona, having lived in la for a bit over a year why one would lie about being from poway is beyond me now...
anyway in the middle of our festivities after several wine coolers (did i mention i was 20?) i decided to call my boyfriend, soon to be husband but that's another story, from the nearest payphone and inform him of my new tattoo -- to shock him and all that. i looked across the alley and spied an argument between a fellow i'd seen all night at each of the parties arguing with an obnoxious guy who'd been stalking the beautiful girls in this fellow's group.
well the argument became heated and it came to blows. the obnoxious guy decked the nice fellow and he fell to the ground. wearing cowboy boots and sporting a new tattoo i felt abnormally tough i dropped the handset of the payphone and ran over to the scuffle just as the obnoxious guy began kicking nice fellow's face in.
i grabbed the shirt of the obnoxious guy and screamed into his (shocked) face, "what the fuck do you think you are doing?!!!". the guy ran and i knelt down to cradle the head of the poor beaten fellow who promptly bled all over my nice new hanes t-shirt. (i was high-maintenance even at 20). his friend ran out of the deli and i stood up just in time to see the obnoxious guy run around the corner while a group of hells angels pulled up in their harley's and got off their bikes next to me.
feeling comfortable with harley fellas (my father runs proudly with 'em) **clarification, my father rides proudly with harley fellas, NOT the Hells Angels** i pointed after the guy and said, "catch that guy!". we ran en masse around the corner and trapped the obnoxious fellow in a white-picketed yard.
now being lucky and/or blessed by hells angels i grabbed the obnoxious fellow by the arm and delivered him to the police.
since then i've felt compelled by this heady victory to step into conflict, grab the bull by the proverbial horns and solve the problem head on.
i now understand that without the hells angels at your back it can bring you nothing, absolutely nothing but a headache.
it has taken me years to unlearn this lesson.
Posted by heidijanet at August 5, 2003 12:08 AM
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Comments
Heidi,
Your story reminds me of an event in my college experience that was somewhat similar.
I was walking home one night and saw another college student consciously knock over my friend's motorcycle. He thought he wasn't going to be caught because he was so careless about it. I ran after him, tackled him, and held him on the ground while others called campus security.
The idiot ended up paying for all of the damage that he had inflicted on the bike and always slunk around in shame whenever he saw me. I'm not sure why he did what he did. It was just college stupidity I suppose.
The thing is that event was really contrary to my nature. I am so relaxed and far from bellicose that it still is a singular moment in my life that many of my college friends still remember. I remember it pretty vividly myself, the adrenaline really makes one stronger than normal in those moments.
Found your great site via the Cruftbox. Good luck on the job hunt!
>From Tokyo,
Gen
Posted by: Gen Kanai at August 5, 2003 03:05 AM
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