Those that know me personally (or follow me on Twitter) know I enjoy playing poker for fun and relaxation (and occasionally for small profit! 
).
Last night at my weekly Hold ‘em tournament, the game took an interesting twist.
I was outside the playing venue (a restaurant and bar in Mesa) chatting with a couple of nice folks between rounds.
A young punk and his buddy approached, and they practically had “TROUBLE” tattooed across their foreheads.
Punk#1 immediately launched into his routine, in a lame attempt to pick up a young lady. She very politely dismissed his advances and he mouthed off something about her “disrespecting” him.
She turned away from him to resume our conversation.
What followed blew me away.
Punk #1 took a swing — with a closed fist — and directly connected with the young lady’s face. She dropped like a rock, and this asshole jumps on top of her, swinging away.
It took a nano-second for me and the other guy there to jump in and drag him off of her. At that point Punk #2, exhibiting more true manliness and character, shoved me from behind, sending me crashing into the pavement. Dazed (back of skull into pavement will do that), I struggled to my feet.
Apparently the young lady ran back inside, looking for help. Help arrived in the form of a couple more guys, but by the time they got outside, the young punks were running away — supplying further evidence of their cowardice. A short chase ensued, but when the punks bolted into Gilbert Road traffic, they got away.
The cops came, we all gave our reports and I went home. Once there, as I watched my elbow swell to baseball-sized proportions, I realized that something was structurally amiss with my arm. So off to the ER I went. Several hours and several hundreds of dollars later, the verdict was a nasty contusion, a sprained elbow and a suspected scaphoid fracture (think where the thumb bone connects to the wrist bone). Fortunately, I have a hard head (literally and figuratively) — no damage there (my teenagers would likely disagree).
I don’t write this post for sympathy, I’ll be fine. I write it because I find the whole ordeal disturbing. What could possibly compel a young “man” in his early 20’s to physically assault a female, and a complete stranger at that? The dude has issues, major issues (and I’m betting a drug problem). These guys were looking for a fight. And when they started one, they ran off like little chickenshits. It’s rather sad that there are people out there so out-of-control that they’d coldcock anyone, much less a woman (not meaning to sound sexist here, but that is just plain wrong). These guys define “dregs of society”. What is wrong with these people?
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{ 42 comments… read them below or add one }
Phoenix has some thugs…Had a friend jumped in a Mesa bar over a girl. He was there for Spring Training with the Padres. They darn near killed him. Missed a whole season.
I hope you have a quick recovery.
What a sicko. Thank god you’ll be okay. I will never understand some people.
Sadly, it’s not just Phoenix Bob. Jerks like this are everywhere.
Glad you’re going to be none the worse for wear, Jay. Some people suck.
“Jerks like this are everywhere.”
True. Glad that you and others who care were there too!
Nice job Batman! Hope you heal quickly.
Wow, what a crazy world we live in! I am glad that lady and you are o.k. Who knows, they could have pulled a knife or a gun……
Jay,
Sorry to hear. Those punks make me sick! Hope you feel better soon.
How is your typing? I’m impressed.
That is quite disturbing and it seems as if the world is becoming more violent. Glad you are OK and thanks for being a person of action.
Yowzers. From the photo, I suspected a broken arm, so at least that isn’t the case. I broke my arm 2 yrs ago, and it depressed the heck out of me.
Alas, this reinforces why I’m taking martial arts twice a week. Though I’m probably not good enough to defend myself against anything more serious than a complete punk, there’s signs of improvement.
Jay that is disturbing – when I saw your title this isn’t what I was expecting. Heard of home invasions happening in our quiet town – what’s the world coming to?
I was hoping this would end with, “I know it looks bad, but you should see the OTHER guy!” Justice (judgment) will arrive for these dudes someday!
My wife, son and I were at our favorite trendy vegetarian restaurant two weeks ago for breakfast. While we ate, a guy was stabbed right outside the restaurant — and this happened around 10:00 in the morning. The police came and started a crime scene. There was blood everywhere. We had to take a cab home because our car was inside the crime scene, which amounted to a neighborhood block that was blocked off. From your story and mine, all I can say is that we are in a state of de-civilization.
WOW – glad you were there to help out, Jay – what a pair of asses. Get well soon.
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Get better soon and just do Utterz this week!
If that’s what *you* look like, I can’t imagine what those turds look like! Way to stand up to them, Jay. That’s what makes you who you are and why we love you
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Holy cow. Thank goodness the woman had someone like you around to jump to her aide. Imagine if she was alone. Senseless and ridiculous. wow! Take care!
You are a hero and deserve respect. Sometimes it feels that the world is crazier, but I see a lot of caring in our extended communities today. Joy and peace to you.
“What could possibly compel a young “man” in his early 20’s to physically assault a female, and a complete stranger at that? The dude has issues, major issues (and I’m betting a drug problem). ”
Crystal meth would be a likely culprit.
Sorry that happened to you. What a crazy thing!
The good news is, your wife is probably swelling with pride.
Wow- I am so sorry this happened to you- I would have to agree with Sandy- I bet they were high on something. What man/boy would try for KO on a woman-that is just wrong- what a creep. Take care
You are my hero.
Heal quickly and thanks for standing up for what is right.
There are certainly some sick puppies out there and it was courageous of you to step into the fray. I’m glad you’re basically OK and not badly hurt and apparently you can still type
I am hoping this is an April Fools joke, but judging from the comments, I don’t think it is. Sorry to hear about your bad luck, but I am glad you didn’t have any head trama. I hope the police are able to track them down. Looks like the picked the wrong guy to mess with! Hopefully your poker game went better?
I’m glad you’re okay and this is not restricted to Phoenix. One of my dear friends lost her husband when a similiar situation happened to them. When the approached her rudely and her husband responded appropriately, they stabbed him in the chest and he passed quickly. What’s worse is that they were not fund guilty at trial. My friends husband had served in the military and was not a huge man but was a respectible size…the jury decided that the two punks may have felt endangered by my friends husband! The world does not make sense sometimes.
OMG!
You did a good thing by jumping in to help that young lady. Sad to see you suffer from your selfless act. Karma is a mofo and those guys will get what’s coming to them. Get well soon Jay.
I am sorry that you have had injuries from this fracas. At the same time, I am very proud to say that I really admire what you did. Often, bystanders simply show indifference to these type of misbehavior and that encourages these low lives to behave more outrageously elsewhere. You are also right in that this is not restricted to any one or even a few towns. This is getting to be quite common almost everywhere in the world. Alcohol, drugs or disfunctional homes all contribute to this and it is a sad commentary on the times that we live in. Any way, I am proud to call myself your friend Ray, for what you did there.
Doesn’t Arizona have a open carry law? Too bad one of your group wasn’t exercising their 2nd amendment rights. You could have rehabilitated the fellow right there.
I commend you for jumping in, that definitely takes some guts, especially when the attackers are almost definitely high. At one point, the neighbor city to where I lived for 5 years was considered the meth capital of the US. Aside from having my cheap Costco bike stolen off my second floor balcony (where it was locked), I have luckily not had to see too much of it firsthand. Arguments can go both ways on the “war on drugs”, but meth is terrible and here is another example of why we should do everything we can to stop it.
I don’t know if it took guts or courage. It was just instinctive. I think just about anyone would have done the same thing.
The young lady’s boyfriend just called (he was inside at the time). He said she’s doing well, though as I feared she has a broken nose and two black eyes. But she will be OK. They are very thankful we were there to help..
I appreciate everyone’s support!
Typing one-handed, and left-handed at that, sucks! Along with teeth brushing, putting on pants and wiping my….. now there is a LOT more info than anyone needs!
Sorry to hear of your ordeal, I hope you can get back to shuffling the deck real soon.
This literally makes me sick to my stomach. Hopefully these tough guy wanna be’s will think before they do it to someone else.
I’m sorry to hear you got hurt, and wish you could have caught them.
It’s sad that people can get that low. Thanks for jumping in, helping out, and then coming back and still blogging!! Keep it up, we love hearing from you.
That’s horrifying. Like DM, reading it made me sick to my stomach. I’m so sorry. I pray for your quick recovery.
That’s absurd – I can’t believe anyone would act like that. It’s hard to believe that any guy would hit a woman. Hopefully, those “punks” get what they deserve soon. Sorry to hear about your arm Jay and I hope the woman is doing well.
That is incredibly disturbing. I can’ believe some guy took a swing at a girl because she didn’t like him. I guess their are crazy jerks everywhere. Its good that you were there. Who knows what would have happened to the girl otherwise.
Forty years ago a young lady walked up to the side of our family car and threw what appeared to be soda at my mother and then attempted to assault her and steal her pocket book. Back then the car windows were the roll up kind and air conditioning was not available in most cars. My mother who was dying of cancer at the time also wanted to know “what is wrong with these people?”. I am sure if you went to a nursing home and talked with a 90 year old widow she would tell a tale of absurd behavior displayed by “them” 80 years ago.
We hear more about it today because of the internet and cable TV but the problem has been around forever. Thankfully, you are O.k. and know that it is not normal. It is the stuff FOX news talks about every day along with blaming everything on the media – like they are not the media.
What was the name of that TV show where the guy told everyone to Be Safe, It’s a Jungle Out there?
Jay – I am so sorry to read about how your arm injury occured (sorry for the joke on AG) But what a stand up thing you did – I’m glad to (virtually) know you – and when we meet in person you need to let me buy you a drink – at least I feel I’ll be able to beat you to the wallet to pay for a little while! Heal quickly -
o OW OW 0W!
Jay,
I am so glad those two did not have any other weapon other than stupidity.
I trust you won’t hesitate to use that cast if you run across similar simpletons.
Get well VERY soon,
Steve
Glad you are okay. It’s too bad they couldn’t catch those cowards. He’ll be in police custody soon enough. Good for you for standing up in a bad situation.
That sux! But…
you’re definitely the kind of person I’d want around if I found myself in circumstances similar to that young lady’s! (Not that I WOULD be – I’m waay too old for that!)
I hope you’re not called into any additional Dudley Dooright action until you’re put back together and healed! But I know if you DID find yourself in that situation again, you’d do the same thing – maybe you’d better stay inside until you’re better!
Very scary. Thank goodness you were there to help. Sounds like drugs might be involved. But that is because its so hard to believe that people can be that crazy, although we know they are. Just watch the news.
that just goes to show that you really are a stand up guy (like anyone that has met you would have a doubt). Unfortunately, there are butt-munch morons everywhere.
That is quite disturbing and it seems as if the world is becoming more violent. Glad you are OK and thanks for being a person of action. The good news is, your wife is probably swelling with pride.