Rough Recesses

The last and only time I was hit in the face didn't happen. I was in the 7th or 8th grade and little Stevie took a swing at me but I saw it coming and dodged it. Stevie always was a bit physical when provoked, but never without warrant. This particular time he definitely had just cause but I can't for the life of me remember what I was doing to egg him on. It was during an indoor recess we had (must of been in the winter time) and we were in Mrs. Bonner's room in the basement. I'm sure I was doing something really stupid that upset him, as I was a rather terrible child. And because of this, even though he tried to sock me, I didn't swing back. I knew I had deserved it so I didn't feel any reason to make a scene of it. That and when I dodged his punch I accidentally knocked over the this metal stand that was holding up some books, so I had to pick that up before the teacher caught me. My friends tend to be like that. If you're being stupid they let you know, by simple effective means of communicating, like hitting you in the face. And communication is the key to any successful relationship. That was the only time anyone took a swing at my face, though I've been slapped in the face plenty of times before and after that incident.

Even in terms of physical fights, I haven't had many. I suppose the last one of those happened on my first trip to Italy back in my Sophmore or Junior year of highschool. We were in the hotel and one of the guys traveling with us was being really annoying the whole trip. And I finally got sick of it. I can't remember who started it and remember little of it. We were in the hall, and I kept telling him to stop coming at me because we were also right in front of our teacher's room and he was inside. I didn't want this guy making a lot of noise and getting us both in trouble. I remember getting frustrated because he kept coming at me even though I kept knocking him on the ground. He was like one of those large inflatable balloons or special sippy cups for toddlers that just keeps bounces back up when you topple it over. In any event, that was a one time thing that probably lasted for less than a minute and was more a tussle or wrestling than a fight.

The shortness seems to be a common theme in the few fights I've been in. In fact they are so short one could question whether or not they should even be called fights. The reason they are so short is because they escalate so quickly into crazy violence. My freshman year, I stabbed that guy with a pencil. That was over real quick. Another time Peter hit me in the knee with a Sobe bottle after I threw a snowball at him. That took me out for the count. Those bottles are really thick. But they aren't just my fights. Tim was going to throw a brick at Stevie after Stevie made fun of him, and had his arm cocked to do so, but stopped when some of us pointed out that his leg was wide open from the fall he had after I accidentally pushed him into the pile of bricks playing two hand touch. The guy had ginormous feet and I tripped over them and fell on top of him which caused him to fall into the pile. It's not like I purposely pushed the poor guy into a pile of bricks. We didn't even know the pile was there because the grass around them was so tall. Which we were later told is why that part of the playground is off limits. Live and learn I suppose.

Don't go getting the wrong impression though. My friends and I are not violent, we just tend to let our squabbles go in that direction, but none of us have ever actually been seriously hurt. Not even majorily bruised. Usually we just wrestle around until we get tired out or forget what it was we were arguing about in the first place. In any event, we are all still very close.

So while I have never actually been socked in the face, I am currently feeling what it might feel like. My face is so sore from yesterday.