Last night i was sure i was going to fight an odd local man at the foot
of my stairs.
i was walking my dog about midnight, and i could see some nutter posturing
and i could also hear him shouting at people. i actually was thinking something
along the lines of, "f#$k...here we go"
he was yelling at some woman from just outside my house.
-pros: he was drunk--probably tunnel visioned [i was watching his eyes that weren't doing a great
job staying locked onto anything]
-cons: he was probably pain-free and stubborn as a result of being drunk.
he was pretty muscled, but that doesn't say sh^&t if it's just from lifting furniture
the dialogue was alot like this--to shorten it:
russ: "seriously though, you're not making any sense, i only asking you to be quieter so you don't wake my kids
drunk: "get in your house...you need to be in your house."
russ: "you don't tell me where to go, okay...lets just complete that thought for you...so you're not
so confused"
blah blah blah---burp---etc...
he stayed about 10 feet from me, and all the neighbors were hanging just close enough by the windows to 'not appear to be looking'. one guy was even looking just above the base of his window frame
my wife was watching too from her doorway. it was a moment frozen in time that looked like it was sure to end in punches.
the women across the street had just finished informing him that he was the asshole [quote] and i was
not...and that the police were coming.
*********
that's the background.
the point of the thread however is this.
with such an audience, and slow build up, i really found the fence to be a real aid in being able to distinguish between 'law-abider' and 'law-breaker'.his first 'test-the-waters' came as he inflated his chest, arms out, and started finally walking towards me.
at which point i felt like my eyes were bugging out of their shared head with anger, and i said,
"don't...touch...me"...as my arms raised up in a fence as if i were holding two guns like a gangster from the movies
and my head tilted
that was it. his confidence fizzled like a LILO [inflatible rubber air thingy---no, not the dolly kind]
i really thought i was waiting to fire [punch] or grab his big ugly mug, but he did the fekking annoying
thing. he back up and looked away, and continued to talk and yell. awaiting the next wave of confidence.
when i had first got there, he claimed he was nervous about my dog--implying that this was the reason
he was 'holding-back'. i sent my dog inside and let that thought deflate as well.
in the end, i honestly think that i would have had complete public support if his 2nd wave of confidence returned and we started fighting--but i had to sort of stay in one spot and appear calm for that. the police came and that was the end of it.
anyway...the thing got me thinking about how one appears to strangers and near strangers--that we call neighbors or bystanders in the U.S.. and it got me back to remembering my words, my posture, my behavior. it was a tight rope walk of making it clear to him he'd be seeing a shit-storm if things kicked off, but also making it clear to my neighbors that they're not sharing the block with an ex-con or something
what a silly show.
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