So, I get off patrol early on Saturday night, and I'm excited because this means I get to see my girlfriend, and go see my friends band play at a local Starbucks. The place is packed, but I'm able to find a seat with my best friend, apostacykilla. While we're trying to enjoy the show, there is a group of guys being really rude and obnoxious. They were being rude, and loud, and smoking right in front of my blatantly pregnant friend. Anytime the band would mention something about Jesus, these guys would put their arms in the air, and totally mock the band with things like, " Hell ya! Amen!" and, " Preach on brother!"
While this was getting on my nerves in the worst way, I refrained from saying anything simply cause i could tell that they were intoxicated, and high on something. So the show ends, and we go to a pizza place near by, and bring our food back to the Starbucks where the "motley crew" is still sitting. Out of the blue, one of the guys gets up and tries to hug a girl we were with! She told him," Excuse you!", and he mumbled something and sat down. Then, the other guy he was with, chose to curse at my friend! She asked him what he said, and he gets up out of his seat, and gets right in her face and tells her what he said. I can't and won't repeat it on this blog. I had had enough. Maybe at this point, I should have just told our group to leave, but I didn't. Instead, what I did would turn the night upside down.
I said, " Dude, that's not necessary." That was what they were waiting for. They were looking for a fight, and I just gave them a reason. Well You can use your own imagination to come up with all the nice words he had for me. It started escalating quickly, and I started going into cop mode. I got on the phone and started calling the police. I told these idiots what I did for a living, and that only made it worse. Meanwhile, My buddy was getting into it with them as well. Next thing I know, One of the guys cold cocks my buddy! I snapped. I jumped over the fence, and did what I had to do, as did my friend. I'm not proud of it, but there was no way I was going to sit back and watch them throw punches. So I sent one guy to the hospital. I'm not proud of that either. I haven't been in anything like that since high school!! I thought I was done with this kind of stuff! Needless to say, these idiots were charged with several different things, and after a trip to the e.r, they went to jail.
The dilemma is this... What would you have done? It seems that everyone who was there, feels I was justified. I was there with my church group! But it seems everyone who has heard the story second hand, looks at me like they're ashamed of me. I mean, I'm a worship leader for goodness sake! I'm not proud of it. I don't delight or revel in this experience. I just feel like I'm being unfairly judged by people who don't understand how these kind of people work. What do you think???
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20/20 hinesight is always better - but not the real world. Don't beat yourself up over "shoulda - couldas" you will never win with that game. The thing is that you were right in saying they were looking for a fight - and you had no choice but to defend your lady friend and buddy. They threw the 1st punch - and at that it was a lost deal. Ya maybe you should have left - but in reality - if you would have who else would they have fought with? Ya see maybe you kept some innocent kids from getting hurt. I think you probably did.
So don't down play what you did - it was part of you and your training - you saw that there could be a problem and you were right. Thank God we have good people like you to take care of these creeps. God bless you and keep up the good work. I can only wish I was there to have helped you!
Thank you both so much for responding. I always look forward to each of your posts because they're always so encouraging. I've been thinking about the incident everyday, wondering what I coulda done differently. Your input has made me feel a lot better. Not to mention I broke my hand, and lost a toe nail! I'm not sure which one hurts worse yet.
I was like, " What did you do that for?!" But the more I thought about it, it was probably a good thing. Apparently the guy didn't take to kindly to it though. Maybe one day they will change their minds. God willing.
I only hope I could be as encouraging as you both are one of these days. I will leave you with a funny quote that my buddy who was involved in this ordeal with me said that night,..." See, this is why you don't mess with baptists!"
And no he didn't say this around the idiots. Thanx again for your kind words. God bless both of you and your families.
So was I Enoch. To thine own self be true. God came to save the sinners, of which I was the worst. I was harsh, granted. But Jesus stormed through the temple, and said some unkind, but true things about the people that were abusing it's purpose. No, I'm not comparing myself to Jesus!!!!!! But what I said was the truth. I only hope one day, they will come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. God bless
The neat thing about most Christians is that we see it coming because we have "been there done that" and know the look. God's army is experienced to say the least. My kids used to ask how I knew what they would do or how they would respond - and the above was my answer - "been there, done that" you are not unique.
And I didn't understand that wisdom and experience of the, " been there, done that," rule that my parents would give me until I got old enough to appreciate it. And that's pretty much true for everything my parents tried to tell me. Since I've become a Christian and learned how to put others before myself, and discovered that the world DOES NOT revolve around me, it's the funniest thing,.....everything my parents ever said was right!
O, the grief I could have saved them and myself, had I discovered that truth just a little sooner in life. It would've saved me a lot heart ache. As a matter of fact, and more importantly it would've saved a lot of other people a lot of heart ache as well.
God bless
Ain't it a miracle how between our ages of 18 and 23 how much our parents learn.
(I am Stealth under my Hawaii blog identity)
Respectfully, What you should have done was not be there. This is a drinking establishment with drunks and apparently the owners don't enforce any kind of code of behavior. Second, your group should have not provoked them regardless. Maybe the guy will bring a gun next time. When he uses it, will you be right then too.
Now don't get me wrong. These things happen. But there are people that didn't see the cold cock but saw an off duty police officer do something strange. He lost control.
Since when is Starbucks a drinking establishment????
Where was this Starbucks located and what time of night was it? I'm hoping it was in the Tower district.
Concerning the fight, I'm conflicted. I've drawn more than my fair share of drunks and jerks trying to pick fights, so your act of deterrence in the name of courtesy is hearening. On the other hand, I fear for you; we need to keep in mind that in a very few seconds, we irretrievably change another person's life or our own. Without intending, accidents happen and the other person could be paralyzed or killed. Years from now the causes of the fight will be forgotten, but the other person will still be dead or paralyzed, and we may still be suffering the legal repercussions.
You are right in thinking that it would have been a good time to leave when these guys started trying something in the first place. Of course, it is possible that they would have either tried starting something with someone else, or followed you outside.
Anyways. Even though I would have done my best to handle things totally differently, I cannot fault you for how you handled it.
I know what happened was not desirable for any of us. But maybe it stopped them from doing to someone who couldn't stand up for themselves