I Find Trouble
by Dave Rodway
copyright 2012 by Dave Rodway
published by Dave Rodway at Smashwords
ISBN 978-1-4659-6110-5
I
have a peculiar way of finding near-trouble from time to time.
Yesterday I found myself in a near-miss with some young, unruly
punks? Gang-bangers? Not sure and don’t want to judge, but what
they were doing and where they were doing it would lead me to believe
they were troublemakers no doubt. The truth is I’m not really cut
out for that. I’m not the assertive-get out of my car-beat someone
up for cutting me off-kind of guy. In my head, I am. I have
“arguements” in my head all the time. I tell people off, I
threaten them with physical violence...in my head. But when the stuff
actually happens, something much different occurs.
yesterday
I was sitting outside the high school waiting for my daughter to come
out at the end of the day. I usually get there about 20 or 30 minutes
early to find a good parking spot and to play my games on my iphone.
Recently the school had some renovations and additions. It took them
all winter break long to do, and everyone is still getting used to
the new traffic and parking patterns.
So there I was, sitting, windows of the car open a couple of inches basking in the heat of the day when I heard ‘boys’ yelling at ‘girls’. Apparently behind the fenced in area that I parked in front of, there were girls practicing dancing or cheer moves. The boys were across the street on the lawn of the rather broken down apartments. There’s a strip of low income, 2 story apartments. They do their best to maintain the place, but is still looks and feels low-rent. These boys were hooting, hollering, and whistleing that annoying ‘cherping’ type of whistle heard in the streets of any urban community. Then one boy took his skateboard across the street and went to the fence insisting that the girls come to the gate, which they did not.
Then another boy came across the street to help the first boy try to recruit these unknowing girls. Then the second asked the first if he knew any of these girls or if he knew any of the people they could see. I observed all this from the comfort of my car. I didn’t look up much from my games on my phone.
The boys went back across the street and the boys still there began yelling derogatory, slang terms for girls and women. Shouting quite loudly (with no neighbors coming out or intervening in any way by the way) things like “bitch” and “yo fucking whores”. Then the boys laughed and I was wondering where the school officials were? Aren’t there rules about coming onto school property? Aren’t there LAWS against such things? And what about yelling such garbage? Where were the authorities? I’ll admit, that little voice in my head started to get louder and louder. I’ve been training in Karate on and off (mostly off) for more than 30 years. I’ve seen first hand (no pun) what I can do to someone if I have to, need to, or even want to. And when that little voice in my head starts talking to me…I start feeling the urge to purge.
I’m unable NOW to just act on that little voice. And as it turns out, I really, really don’t want to. In this case, I have to return to this school daily. Would they trash my car? Would they wait for me to show up again and again and make a real issue if I DID say something? What about my daughter? If they see her and me together, won’t they target her too? What if they are in a gang? Carlsbad CA. gangs are on the rise. These punk-ass group of boys could be carrying guns, and the first rule in Martial arts is WALK AWAY (until you can’t).
So, although I was getting a bit worked up, I sat still and continued to play my games on the iphone. Then I heard a woman’s voice. I looked over my left shoulder and across the street and it was a crossing guard holding her “stop” sign in her hand. She was saying something to the boys. I couldn’t really hear that well (no surprise there, I’ve been a drummer since age 0) but I could tell by her tone she was asking them why they were yelling and I’m sure she asked about what they were yelling. They just laughed and started to move around nervously, like as if they knew they should be respectful, but no one wanted to let down the ‘tough guy’ bravado. I was curious. And being handy with the phone camera and video camera, I thought I’d record some video just in case anything got weird. There’s that “cop” part of me that wants to do the right thing if I can. So I held up the phone and started to record.
I wasn’t recording for more than a minute when one of the guys saw me. He moved quickly past the guy in front of him and came directly at me, the one he moved past following him. I couldn’t believe it. Future possible events flashed before my eyes. I’d been in situations like this before and they did not end well for me or the car I was in.
The guy came over with full hostility on. He asked why I was recording them. He was insistant. I felt no desire to talk to or respond to this guy. The second guy came over and was telling the first guy to “chill” and move along. Don’t worry about it. They first guy started to escalate. At one point he called me a bitch. He hit the side of my car, and really it was just a tap. I knew then that he was probably under the influence of the girls still being close by. I was parked on that side of the street. He was now much closer to them and wanting, I’m guessing to make an impression. Still I was preparing for a very bad experience to explode. If I had to get out of the car, who knows what would have happened. In addition, it was minutes away from kiddo coming out of the school. She did not need to be a part of this. I was wrong. I shouldn’t have started to record them. I was right in staying in the car.
They were at my car door for less than a minute. He wanted to see my phone, I shook my head no. the other guy asked if I recorded anything, I tipped my lips up to the barely opened window and said “I didn’t record anything”. That was it. If they wanted more, I was prepared to get as ugly as it can. My heart was pounding. My hands were shaking. I am not Clint Eastwood or Bruce Willis.
They walked away, the first guy complaining to the second guy, the second guy clearly the more level headed of the two. Immediately I started the engine and drove down the street to where I used to park weeks ago, before the new school buildings were put in use.
I texted kiddo and told her to meet me there and not at the first location. She eventually got in the car and asked her usual question “so how was your day?”….I sped away and told her what just happened. She was so surprised. She’s seen me in near misses before. She knows how I can go from nice to nasty in no time.
I told her of the fear that it brings up for me. I “feel” badly that this can happen. Wrong place, wrong time. I beat myself up when these things happen. It kicks up all kinds of feeling from the past for me. Fighting, hurting people, it’s just not me and I don’t like seeing that side of myself.
We got home and Elizabeth (wife) was mad at them. “you can record whoever you want!” she exclaimed! “they were in the wrong”. And she was right, still, It could have gone wrong quickly and it could mean having to change schools when stuff like this happens to people.
I was more fearful and afraid days after than I was at the time.
So glad to have gotten away with no one getting hurt. No retaliation. No broken glass and bones and hearts.
So glad to be alive and sorry to those involved.
Martial arts paid off yet again. I walked away. No one was hurt. Whew.