On Never Backing Down

Yeah, you know how I suck at keeping track of...y'know...communicating things that are going on in my life. My bad.

As you've probably seen if you know me, I'm one of those "I'll do anything to help someone in the right" types. Now, that's not to say that I think I'm Black Goddamn Dynamite...I thought of that shit before I wrote on the blog!

Moving on, a few weeks ago near Clinton St. (and Wegmans <3 ), some clearly plastered deadheads were giving a lady at the bus stop serious lip that was several degrees past charming, to say the least. By all means, stepping into the situation was right, but things weren't going to cool it down unless I said the right words. Neither their drunkenness nor my self-admitted self-righteousness had the inclination to back down, and we got into some [French].

No matter what Hollywood shows you, don't expect a 3-on-1 fight to be some Walker, Texas Ranger spin kick theater; brawls rarely are. I was pretty lucky none of them was carrying a bottle or another weapon, or you might be reading the archives of my account Blogger years after my timely passing. Having a fighting sense definitely helped me, as I managed to at least keep them honest with some punches and shoves for a bit, but I came out of it with a fractured rib. Also, I might lose teeth 1, 2 and 32, since I don't exactly carry a mouth-guard around for every episode of When Chauvinists Attack. The injuries are on me (literally and figuratively) for stepping in and doing something about their actions. It's interesting - my master always taught me that the best thing to do when someone starts a 3-on-1 is run or make a really good turtle position, and he's probably right. In this situation, though, getting a strong hit in definitely contributed to them leaving, despite having the clear upper hand. By all accounts, I probably shouldn't be joking around with this. If one them had been armed, provoking him with an elbow to the face surely wasn't going to get me invited to their Christmas dinners. Pretty sure I gave at least two of them a broken something. Two of them will definitely remember me, I'll say that. As I'm not dead or hospitalized, it wasn't worth the trouble of filing a police report or going to the hospital.

The sad part is, this isn't even the first time something like this has happened. Definitely the first this year, that other intervention at Silky Jones notwithstanding, since no one got hurt that time. As far as I'm concerned, Ithaca is not a dangerous place, which forces us to think - maybe there's a sudden influx of jerks in the world; maybe friction is my homeboy.

However you peel the onion, the opportunity cost in this case - quite a few good training sessions and (possibly) a few competitions - has me recognizing that pride is my Achilles Heel - Achilles Rib, in this case. Obviously, these three dudes needed to show their machismo, and the best thing to do when they got confrontational would probably have been to placate them and assume crash positions when the plane is tanking, but I wasn't going to say or do anything that was going to give them any sort of validation, because the cockless peacocks were strutting.

Regardless, it's less painful and expensive to watch action heroes shoot bad guys with his son, yelling "Yippie-Ki-Yay mother Russia" on a glorious big screen (no, but really, probably going to be a terrible movie. Apparently, a sixth is in the planning. God help us all).

On the other hand, well...apart from Regal Theater's prices presenting its own pretty sound counterargument, I'm still glad I got involved in the situation. If someone's being an asshole, you owe it to that person to let him know; if someone's being given a hard time, you owe it to that person to lend a helping hand. Plus, there are times when you can tell a situation is going to get bad, and this was one of those times. I'm glad the woman got away okay, and at least the goons were distracted enough while she left. We've all been in that shitty position before, and not to be a quote-whore, but I believe King Jr. said, "he who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it." (Oh hey, this is the Internet, I can look up the quote and get it right!) Lord knows I can take a hit and keep fighting, and I didn't break a limb, so it's okay. My not-so-lovely face is still intact (aside from the teeth and my cheek), so again, not complaining.

On a random note, I learned how to play the first half of Suite No 2 in C minor BWV 813: Allemande while sitting on my rearo recovering a few weeks ago. I hate that only comic book villains listen to classical music...this music is quite boss, if I may say so myself.

My busted-up ass has also been attending the classes I mentioned before. Professor Washington, who teaches one of my courses, expects quite a bit from me, and in my opinion, it's good to have the bar raised from the start - means you have to perform at the top of your game. It's interesting - Cornell University professors possess some unique qualities as a community that Ithaca College community do not, and vice versa. One might say it's a result of boards hiring to their strengths (or weaknesses, in some case), but I say it's more of a communal phenomenon.

The Hallabbey Shuffle plot research and writing is going quite well. I'm finally beginning to string together a few great engine concepts, which I won't (completely) detail in my next post, probably a few weeks from now. Hey, most of my ideas probably suck, but I want to protect myself in the case of the good ones.

Since mid-February, I've been trying out a social media blackout. It seems to have increased my work efficiency in all facets by multiple degrees, so I might stick with it. Like I mentioned before, actions are best employed in balance, and social media is sort of critical for...erm, being social, so I'm coming to the end of my dry run. Hopefully, I don't sign on and realize I've missed some miraculous event. If so, it's nothing personal, I swear. Never really been someone to share stuff that goes on - starting this blog was a means to change that, and today it serves its purpose.

Oh, also...not that I'm actively searching, but I do hope to run into any of those clowns again. I'd love to throw down 1-on-1 in a legit match.

(added 2/19/2013) P.S. Cornell Fight Team fucking rocks. I'm glad to hear everyone kicked some serious shell at the tourney! Go for the kill at RPI!