Back To School!

Wow, I can't believe I haven't posted anything for a week. I can't believe how busy I've been, how late I've been sleeping in, how much I've not been eating. (That's a good thing, by the way.)

Today is my first day back at school. My class is from 6-9:40 PM. I am kind of glad I am taking night classes this semester. For one thing, I have never taken night classes, and for another, I hear they are more relaxed. So I am looking forward to it. It's time to go back to school. I have BAD cabin fever!

Well, on Friday night Lynn called me and invited me to go out with her friend Julie and HER friend Christine. I didn't want to at first, but I did anyway because, well, it's a long story but she would have done it for me. We met them at a restaurant and it was actually fun! I know Julie, have met her from before, and I liked her immediately. I wasn't so sure what my impression of Christine was going to be.

I guess Christine told Lynn that she likes this guy, Jack. Well, Jack went to our high school and I guess he used to write Lynn love letters all the time when they were kids. She said he was a little skinny dork. So, she's talked to him on the phone and stuff since she found out Christine knew him but had no idea what he looked like now that he's 29. So, Christine invited him out with us on Friday night. He met us up at this restaurant and he's not a skinny little dork anymore. He's well built, very nice looking, and very polite and talkative. I think Lynn and I were both pleasantly surprised, because I personally thought that we were going to spend the entire night hanging out with a bunch of "dorks", dorks meaning people who don't know how to have fun. I was very wrong.

I spent a good part of the night talking to Jack about his relationships, or lack thereof. He has never been in love. I wish I were him, let me tell you. Anyway, we all just chatted throughout the night. My nephew Ricky got good and drunk, of course, but he was behaving himself. Everyone else, including myself, got a good buzz and had a lot of fun. There was a lot of laughter, a lot of secret looks between me and Lynn, and it was just basically a good time. Sometimes, it's really fun to watch people with low self esteem interact with others. I mean, REALLY FUN. SO much fun you just couldn't imagine. And it can also be frustrating.

So, after the bar, we went across the street to a local restaurant and I had some coffee. We sat at a table with quite a few other people. One guy in particular, a 21 year old arrogant little punk, had been at the same bar we were at earlier and had been smacking random women on the ass. Now, in my opinion, you just don't do that. It's unacceptable. He did it to Julie's cousin, a nice girl named Jessica, and I just flew off the handle. I said, "Don't fucking touch her. She's married. What's wrong with you?" He just laughed and said he was having "a little fun". I said, "Yeah, you asshole, keep on having a "little fun" and you're going to stay a "little single" for the rest of your life." All the people standing around us laughed, including Jessica, who said, "You're funny!" We went to the restaurant and Ricky was seething because, about a week prior, the same guy had smacked Lynn on the ass. (This guy, Eric, is a friend of Christine's, supposedly, but I'm not going to get into that.) Also, he was drunk and wanted to fight. Me, Ricky, Jack, and Lynn all sat at a table, but Julie and Lynn got up to go to the bathroom. When they did, Eric sat across from me at the booth, like he was mocking me or something. Keep in mind this is like, less than 15 minutes after I told him off. So I put down my menu and said, "I want you to move." He said, "Why?" I said, and I quote, "Because you're an asshole and I don't fucking like you." He looked shocked and then asked me "why" again. "Because," I said, "you're an arrogant little fucking prick and I don't want you near me. So fucking move. NOW." And he did. To his credit, he did not cuss me out, talk shit to me, call me a "fat bitch" (I was waiting for that one), or any other such thing. He mumbled to himself but he moved. He ended up talking shit about Ricky all night long which made Ricky shake with anger, but I kept reminding him that he is about to have a baby and that Ashley would kick his ASS if he ended up in jail over dumb shit. He nodded and understood. But when Eric got up to leave, we followed him out the door, because I had been drinking tequila and I was in the mood to teach someone a lesson. (I get very, very mean when I drink tequila. I am not afraid to fight anyone. This is why I leave it alone, usually. But this guy deserved it.) So we go out in the parking lot and Ricky, Lynn and I start talking shit to Eric. James had called Lynn's phone and she handed it to me, so I had him on the other line. He was listening, knew who Eric was, and kept saying how much he wished he could leave the house. (He was there with the kids.) I yelled at him for being disprespectful to women. He said he was just "having fun". I said, "yes, but that makes people uncomfortable. Don't you understand that?" He said he didn't. And then him and Ricky exchanged some fighting words but no one made a move. (When I look back on it, I'm like, Thank God! I don't want to have to outrun the police in Shawn's Toyota, which is what I was driving that night.) Some more words were exchanged, and then Eric said something like, "Wait until my uncle gets here," which made all of us burst out laughing. His uncle? Are we on the playground? Of course, I laughed the hardest because I said something very similar to a girl who punched me in the fifth grade. But it was the fifth grade!

Eric got into his car and started it up, and Lynn, Ricky, and I began to slowly drift away to our car. Then, Eric punched the gas and began backing up...right into me and Ricky.

GAME ON!

I had to back up to avoid being hit, and his back bumper brushed my legs. I dropped my purse and the coat I was holding and immediately began kicking the shit out of his tail lights. Ricky, who was just waiting for something to trigger his rage, was absolutely maniacal, kicking the car with all his might and punching the windshield as hard as he could. I was yelling, "Break that shit, Ricky! Bust his windows out!" Lynn and Jack were also yelling. Eric took off and Ricky chased him out of the parking lot and into the street, where there was a red blinking light. Eric stopped for a moment because there was a car coming, and Ricky grabbed the handle of his door and yanked on it. In the meantime, I was getting in my car, getting ready to take off. Eric had his door locked and he took off down the road and Ricky stopped chasing him. Jack got in his car and Lynn, Ricky and I got in my car. Our adrenaline was pumping. Lynn called Christine to get Eric's phone number and she wouldn't give it up. Because she "likes him". I was not too shocked, but I hope that my self esteem is never so low that I would allow some little punk to disrespect not only me, but my friends as well. And that's all I have to say about that.

Just a little clarification here. By the time the bar closed, I was sober. While we were at the restaurant, I had three cups of coffee. I was by no means stumbling drunk. I know my limits and I don't push them. Lynn and I always have a back up plan if we go out alone. If necessary, we call one of our husbands to pick us up if we can't drive. I will not drive under the influence because I will not put other people in danger. The reason why I called this guy out like I did is because I refuse to feel like I'm being pushed around by some punk. Perhaps I didn't understand him and jumped his shit unnecessarily, but while we were in the restaurant, he made lewd comments not only to other girls coming in, but to the waitresses as well. I don't like that. I don't want anyone to talk to me like that. So that's why I said something like I did. I feel kind of bad, because I should have just maybe pulled him aside and said something. I did tell him out in the parking lot that he was cute and obviously had a good sense of humor. Maybe HE has low self esteem. Most likely. He looks like Orlando Bloom.

But it was FUN! The whole night was fun and I am so glad that Lynn talked me into it. I am up to go again any time. I felt 22 again! LOL! I don't want to do that EVERY weekend, mind you, but it was fun. Every time I go out with these people I am going to have to write about it. It's like a sociological study. It's like observing lab rats. Very entertaining.