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last fight i got in was in high school.
it was with someone who was my best friend before that. he was a guy with horrible acne .. it caused him to be understandably self concious and have low self esteem so he chose to put me down in front of people to make himself feel better. (i've always preferred the humor of putting myself down rather than others for comedy)
anyway - it was escalating to the point where i didnt want to be around him anymore - unfortunately we were on the same ball team and shared some mutual friends.
one day after batting practice one of our friends was coming to meet him and said hi to me in passing .. asked how the pracice went - and i said - "really well - i hit great - that should shut Terry up for a while"
so i'm walking away and get pretty far when i hear Terry yelling across the field : "shut me up ? - come here and see if you can shut me up" or some such nonsense...
I've always been a pacifist .. would avoid fights no matter what - but every now and then i had a breaking point. When Terry and i hung around he fancied himself to be a tough guy - if we wrestled or play fought (as guys did back then) i couldnt take it seriously and would just laugh - obviously giving Terry the impression he was tougher than me. I was 6'2" but very thin at the time.
anyway - i get over to Terry and he's mouthing off at me so - still a bit confused at this whole reaction i start making a joke of it - taking my jacket off and handing it to my friend - acting like a fancy boy wrestler ...
he kept mouthing off so after a bit i finally said "so what are you going to do Terry - hit me ?" (while tapping my fingers under his chin... so he did, a light glancing shot of my right cheek.
without any thought - just pure reaction i hit back - 3 times - a right, a left, and a right.
Terry reeled back .. his nose and both lips were bleeding.... he looked scared and was calling me an animal ! i still laugh about that today ... yeah i'm an animal because i have better reflexes, instinct, and hand eye coordination than he does.
so i sent the quarterback of the high school football team to school the next day with a bashed in face :D
the punchline to this whole thing is : when my father passed away last november - my wife gets an email - forwarded through my mother (who i dont speak to - she doesnt have my email address) from Terry to me ...
he's a missionary overseas somewhere (when not the pastor of his church .. just a few miles from where i live !) telling me how sorry he is .. and that he still remembers the day he was stupid enough to take me on in a fight..
i graciously accepted his note by deleting it and not replying.
this is like 30 years later - but i'd fucking love to do it again.
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