Believe it or not, with my pacifist self, I have been in a couple of fights over the years. One was back in about 6th grade when my so-called friends decided I was no longer “tough enough” to hang with them. We had a bit of a scuffle in the schoolyard – my opponent had only one move, a sort of clothesline trip (he watched a lot of WWF wrestling as a kid, probably as an adult too) which I avoided easily enough. I think I might have head-butted him. Afterwards, even though I wasn’t hurt, I couldn’t hold back tears. Maybe it was the adrenaline.
Later on in high school when I played soccer I got pretty sick of the “cool guys” always teasing the “not cool” guys, which included a poor Russian kid who they always called “salad” because of his wild locks, and a Korean guy who couldn’t speak English so well. I was sort of in the middle, and while I took far less abuse than most, I guess I got sick of it the fastest, and accepted the challenge to a “cage match” in the locker rooms. The guy who thought I would chicken out was a short, hot-headed Irish masshole and I put about a dozen punches into his gut before I got pulled off, and this time, he cried. Who’s the bully now?
Much later, I nearly got into some fights in Japan. These times it was more like 4am drunken behavior (as likely as not over women) in and around nightclubs in seedy parts of Osaka. Once a guy tried to headbutt me three times after I obnoxiously stepped in on the girl he was trying to mack. At first I thought it was a joke! But I got him in a headlock and then he couldn’t do so much.
I guess my experience has always been the normal one – turn the other cheek until it would be self-defeating not to, then “give him a punch in the nose”, as my pops once said. I’m completely anti-war, anti-gun, and so on, but I think I’m pro-fists of fury. Just don’t hurt anyone, know what I mean?
It’s only fair that I chime in here. I was in a fight in grade school with a guy named Alex Delorey. He was a little slower than many of the other kids in the class and I kind of hated him because of that. So one day in 3rd grade when he did or said something stupid (and the teacher was not looking) I punched him in the nose, drawing blood. I recall being sent to the principal, a black woman in a Jewish town, and that’s it. No great ramification but I’m sure I was scared sitting in her office.
The next and final fight would perhaps better be classified as a struggle between me and a Romanian police officer in the square in Brasov. There is a whole story to it, but bottom line is I caused a bit of a scene and wrestled myself out of some kind of weak grip. Luckily I was extricated from the situation.
Once, in 5th grade, yes, I socked a bully girl right in the stomach. I don’t remember getting in trouble for it either.
I used to fantasize about being in a fight with someone who really made me mad, but now I try mostly to keep my anger in check.
Believe it or not, with my pacifist self, I have been in a couple of fights over the years. One was back in about 6th grade when my so-called friends decided I was no longer “tough enough” to hang with them. We had a bit of a scuffle in the schoolyard – my opponent had only one move, a sort of clothesline trip (he watched a lot of WWF wrestling as a kid, probably as an adult too) which I avoided easily enough. I think I might have head-butted him. Afterwards, even though I wasn’t hurt, I couldn’t hold back tears. Maybe it was the adrenaline.
Later on in high school when I played soccer I got pretty sick of the “cool guys” always teasing the “not cool” guys, which included a poor Russian kid who they always called “salad” because of his wild locks, and a Korean guy who couldn’t speak English so well. I was sort of in the middle, and while I took far less abuse than most, I guess I got sick of it the fastest, and accepted the challenge to a “cage match” in the locker rooms. The guy who thought I would chicken out was a short, hot-headed Irish masshole and I put about a dozen punches into his gut before I got pulled off, and this time, he cried. Who’s the bully now?
Much later, I nearly got into some fights in Japan. These times it was more like 4am drunken behavior (as likely as not over women) in and around nightclubs in seedy parts of Osaka. Once a guy tried to headbutt me three times after I obnoxiously stepped in on the girl he was trying to mack. At first I thought it was a joke! But I got him in a headlock and then he couldn’t do so much.
I guess my experience has always been the normal one – turn the other cheek until it would be self-defeating not to, then “give him a punch in the nose”, as my pops once said. I’m completely anti-war, anti-gun, and so on, but I think I’m pro-fists of fury. Just don’t hurt anyone, know what I mean?
It’s only fair that I chime in here. I was in a fight in grade school with a guy named Alex Delorey. He was a little slower than many of the other kids in the class and I kind of hated him because of that. So one day in 3rd grade when he did or said something stupid (and the teacher was not looking) I punched him in the nose, drawing blood. I recall being sent to the principal, a black woman in a Jewish town, and that’s it. No great ramification but I’m sure I was scared sitting in her office.
The next and final fight would perhaps better be classified as a struggle between me and a Romanian police officer in the square in Brasov. There is a whole story to it, but bottom line is I caused a bit of a scene and wrestled myself out of some kind of weak grip. Luckily I was extricated from the situation.