11 August 2007

You can’t take the country out of the boy

Last night Hirono and I went down to Salinas with a former high school band-mate of hers from Tokyo. We saw the Poison/Ratt show. For people not familiar with the area, Salinas is a very rough town down near Hollister. Its out in farmland and there’s nothing to do there except party. The venue was the local rodeo grounds and the crowd was rowdy redneck through and through. It was just like going to a show in the area where I grew up in Central Florida.

One thing about partying with rowdy rednecks is that you have to expect a fight. Many people come just looking to start a fight. It seems to be a part of the breed. It becomes a problem for me when I’m in amongst it. My own adrenaline starts rushing. I get caught up in the excitement and the show. The violence spills over into me and my inner redneck comes out. Some of the frat brothers called me “backward ass country fuck” as a freshman in college for a reason.

I’m not sure what it was that finally got me into the fray. It might be my farmland upbringing. It my be the fact that one of the ladies I was with was small and frail and asked me to keep her safe when it started to get rough. It might be the raging hormones from being on the induction period of my diet last week. Maybe I just enjoy a bit of the ultra-violent. But next thing you know I find myself in a couple of tussles.

I learned something about myself from it. When provoked enough, and given something that I feel strongly about protecting, I could kill someone. It didn’t happen last night, even when physically confronting the ass who decided to crowd surf with boots and spurs on. But I could kill.

And when thinking of current events, there may be some things worth fighting for.

3 comments:

Toast said...

Huh. I've known you for twenty years and I wouldn't have thought you had a violent bone in your body.

Unknown said...

I wouldn't have thought you had a violent bone in your body.

I really have changed under NHE. Or maybe NHE triggered a change in me that was already latent. Anyway, I've only ever become violent in appropriate situations (such as they even can exist) and have always held back from actually hurting anyone. Usually the energy is channeled through the gym. I tend to be very patient with people with whom I do not want to get angry.

Friday night was notable in that it was probably the most violent and angry I've become at the same time. They're an explosive combination and really don't go well together.

Anonymous said...

I really have changed under NHE.

Could be analogous to 'Roid Rage. E.g. chemically-enhanced aggression (albeit natural in your case).