I was at work the other day bantering back and forth with a few of the younger people. Of course, it does not escape me that, at my age, most of the people there are younger! Fortunately, I have accepted this with humor.
Since I work in a warehouse atmosphere, the bantering can get pretty rowdy. I think the younger people get a kick out of how well I can keep up with “rowdy”
Later that evening looking back on the day, and the bantering…I recalled to memory the following incident that happened in my late teens.
The guy I was dating (who later became my 1st husband), liked to take me out bar hopping. There were two in general that he frequented. They were small bars that usually drew in the local neighborhood people as customers.
My boyfriend lived about an hour away. He would drive down and pick me up, only to drive back up to where he lived. I mention this because I was being introduced to a lifestyle and type of people I had no experience with. I like to refer to them as “The rough and rowdy crowd”.
I found this type of ‘date’ was fun and exciting. Was I paying attention to what it was teaching me? Not even a little. It was crazy! I also didn’t pay attention to the fact that drinking alcohol was considered ‘evil’ in my home. All I knew was that there was no one telling me what to do and how to act. There were absolutely no rules!!
I have mentioned in several of my stories that in my younger years, I was full of immense rage. At the time I did not know that was what my type of anger was called. I thought when anyone got upset or angry, this was what they felt. I have also mentioned that I was totally insecure about everything and had no clue what I was made of inside.
These particular flaws do not mix well with alcohol. I found out just how much they didn’t very innocently one night.
The bar we were in one night was the one I felt most comfortable in. I did not like the taste of beer, and the other bar was beer only. Plus, the proprietor/bartender was personable and loved what she was doing. Her husband was in the military and stationed a few towns over. When he was on leave, he would join her at the bar. They were a young couple in love and expecting their first child in a month or so!
This particular night she was not bartending (and because of her condition, not drinking either). The place was jammed packed; the jukebox was blaring and everyone there talking to the person next to them. You couldn’t hear yourself think.
All of a sudden, I could faintly hear over the din, someone screaming: “Someone please stop him! He’s going to kill him!!” I looked all around and couldn’t see much. I am about 5’3” and in a crowd like this one, everyone around me was of course taller. As I turned to look behind me, I finally could see who was screaming.
The only reason I could see the off-duty bartender was because she was standing up on top of an old rickety table stomping her feet (like running in position) and screaming the words over and over. I looked to where she was staring and saw one of the regulars bending over someone that he had pinned backward over the bar. This man was a very large person, who stood probably 6’2” high and I couldn’t begin to guess how much he weighed. I would define his upper arms to be as big as tree trunks. He also was yelling at the guy and had his right hand wrapped around his throat bending him completely backward over the bar. He was yelling something about the guy giving him the $5.00 he owed him. I could see his left arm was pulled back with his hand in a tight fist. It was clear to see that with the force he was about to hit this other man with, he would most definitely break his back or worse kill him. The rage spewing from him was unbelievable. I looked around to see if the other men in the bar would step in and drag him off of the other guy, who I finally saw was the husband of the pregnant bartender! This was his friend! He also was half the size of the man holding him down. The man standing was going to beat the man he had pinned down, over a stupid $5.00, and not one person was going to do a thing about it. Just as his left arm started to come down to punch the other guy, I jumped up and swung both of my arms around the man’s left arm, and held on. The force he was swinging with took me completely off the ground.
My weight (all of 120lbs) broke his momentum enough that he never connected with the other man’s face. His rage was enough that as I dropped to the ground and retrieved a $5.00 bill from my pocket, he was coming around with his right fist ready to punch out whoever it was that stopped him. I had the bill waving in his face and yelling at him that here was his stupid $5.00, as he swung. It was not the money that stopped him from hitting me. Through his rage he actually recognized me. He dropped his fist and with both hands, one on either side of my face, gently cradled my face while telling me what I had done was stupid and he could have seriously hurt me.
As he was gently trying to tell me this, it was now I who was yelling at him to take the damn five dollars that he was going to kill his best friend over. Then I looked around at all of the people looking at me and yelled at them that they should all be ashamed of themselves that were just going to watch it happen! My actual words were much stronger and nothing that should be repeated. I then walked over and helped the pregnant woman off of the table.
No matter how many times I have told that story to friends over the years, I have never once thought I was stupid for doing what I did. I did not plan it to happen I would never have even thought that I could have done anything like that. But it was in a moment of emergency. The scene I just described happened in a matter of fewer than 45 seconds.
It was many years later that I realized that even though I had accepted God as my Savior and asked Him into my heart, then kind of walked away from Him and my belief in Him, He never left me. I firmly believe that it was not I who grabbed that man, but God who used me because I was willing to sacrifice whatever I had to save that man bent over the bar, and calm his wife down.
Something else I also never thought of was after that night, I was respected by many people in that bar. Or feared…I know they all thought I was a crazy lady!