I mentioned the awesome vibe of the Social Distortion concert in yesterday’s post. And it really was awesome.
Which made this one guy stick out like a sore thumb. Not because he was wearing a polo shirt when most others were wearing black concert Tees and visible tattoos, but because of his attitude.
He was there with two girls, and the three of them decided the perfect spot to stand was at the edge of an elevated platform, in a row, shoulder to shoulder. The problem was this: Right behind their little row, on the same platform, was the bar. For real. They decided to block the bar. Not the brightest bunch in the room, that’s for sure.
I didn’t notice them at all until I tried to get to the bar. As there were people everywhere, you had to squeeze between people and around people to get anywhere. I politely approached the two girls and asked if I could walk between them. They looked friendly enough and seemed as if they were about to part to let me through, when all of a sudden I felt a hand grab my arm and pull me to the side. “No,” he said. “Go this way.” And he shooed me around him on the other side.
Let me just say that he’s lucky I’d just had a very friendly enounter in the bathroom – with the nice girl complimenting my hair (I mentioned yesterday.) Because of her, I was in an extremely good mood. Because of her, I chose to give him a dirty look and do what he said rather than chew him a new one for grabbing me and jerking me around.
When I got to the bar I met a nice guy who told me about how he’s been a fan of Social D ever since he was 15, and how he was so excited to see them in concert. These nice people were almost allowing me to forget about the rude guy.
I left the bar (taking the path the rude guy wanted me to take) and made it back to Jeff and Chris, and I told them about the incident. They had seen what happened and agreed it was rude. They said he was doing it to other people too, and as I watched, I saw him jerk around person after person, all of whom were trying to walk between the two girls (I’m sorry, but they were absolutely blocking the closest path to the bar. Do not get in the way of people and their alcohol if you don’t want to have to let people through!)
“Don’t worry,” Jeff said, “At one point he will absolutely piss off the wrong person, and he’ll get his ass booted right out of here.” He went on to explain this was a very friendly crowd … but not a crowd one would want to piss off …
Sure enough, about 20 minutes later there was a huge scuffle, and guess who was right in the middle of it? Our smug little polo shirt friend. I missed the beginning but I saw a huge bouncer separating the guy from a small crowd, and then kicking the guy right out the door. Is it rude to say I was elated?
I told Jeff and Chris, “I want to go thank whoever just got him kicked out.” Jeff said I should do it, so I walked over to the group that seemed to have been involved. I found the guy “to blame,” and told him he just made my night. The two girls were standing right there, and I didn’t care if they heard me (in fact, I hope they did!)
The guy went on to tell me something about the jerk pushing people around, and finally the guy had had enough. Words were exchanged and then I think the guy said he pushed the bad guy (read: looks like the good guy started it!). The jerk guy pushed back, the bouncers came. Bouncers asked who started it, and about 10 people pointed at the jerk guy – even though it technically wasn’t him! Details are a tad fuzzy (yep, we will blame the PBR for that one!) But it looks as if Jeff’s prediction was right – looks like the guy didn’t piss off one wrong guy, but a whole group of them …
That made me love the concert even more.