Fight ! Fight !

If I weren't so picky about what I write about I would write a lot more. Profound I know :) Actually it's true, I don't like writing unless there is something to tell, and let me tell you, and something that fits that category certainly happened on Thursday.

Twice a week I meet with a very varied group of people. Mostly men, though there is one woman, aged from early 20's to late 40's (if not early 50's) with every kind of background imaginable, bound only by the common goal of wanting to become electricians. These are my classmates. In particular there are two guys who stand out this year. One, a late thirties fellow who is pretty much the class clown. Always making jokes, smart comments or stupid remarks he usually is the guy who keeps the majority of the class from falling asleep, and as an aside note most everyone likes him.

The other, also a guy, early twenties, is arrogant, full of himself, always putting other people down, and generally being a jerk that no one likes. These two happened to be in the same class as me last year as well and nothing was different. Guy two (lets call him Mike) made fun of guy one (we'll call him Todd), annoyed him and everyone else, postured outrageously, and generally made himself disliked by all. Tuesday night Mike spent the better part of class entertaining himself by throwing things at Todd such as small erasers, jelly beans, whatever he could get his hands on. Nothing harmful just his usual annoying self. Finally Todd got sick of it, told Mike to wait for him after class and he would kick his butt all over the parking lot.
Needless to say Mike decided to to take any chances and found a reason to leave class a few minutes early. Right after the class ended, before every one took off Todd asked the teacher what the punishment was for fighting in class. The teacher told him, and everyone who was still there that the punishment was instant expulsion from school, not just for that day but for the whole year! That certainly subdued Todd though it didn't completely deter him. As we were walking out to our cars I happened to hear him and another student who worked with Mike talking. The other student was telling Todd how Mike used to bother him until he stood up and let him know in no uncertain physical terms that he wasn't going to take any more. After that Mike had left him alone.

Wednesday passed, most of Thursday and then it was time for class again. I arrived a few minutes early and was talking with some of the others at my table. Todd was at another table next to me talking and Mike's name was mentioned. Mike hearing just his name decided that he was being trash talked, got up started walking towards Todd's table and once again started to run his mouth and put on a show. What came next I didn't actually see because I didn't realize what was happening and it took place behind me. Todd got up out of his seat, met Mike in the middle of the room and started taking off his sweatshirt. The next thing anyone realizes, Todd grabs Mike whirls him around and sends him crashing into a metal desk nearby! Thankfully Mike was smart enough not to take it any farther and after making a smart remark to try and save face, went back to his seat. Even though it was over in a matter of seconds everyone was shocked into silence, which the teacher was alert enough to take firm control of the class and things went on as normal from there. A little later during our break Todd went up to the teacher and apologized for disrupting the class. When the teacher asked how things happened (he had been looking down at some papers), Todd explained that after taking off his sweatshirt he became off balance and if he had backed down he probably would have fallen on his butt and looked like a fool. Not wanting to give Mike any ammo he did the only thing he could think of to get himself back on balance by grabbing Mike. Unfortunately (for Mike) this put him off balance which just escalated into him being crashed into the desk.

The teacher thanked him for his explanation and then said that since there wasn't really malicious intent behind it, it wasn't quite a fight so Todd didn't have to worry about any repercussions. And then in a conspiratorial whisper added that in his opinion Mike had had it coming for quite a while, not just at school but at work as well (the teacher is a foreman at the same company that Mike works at)so if anybody asked nobody saw anything.Every one who was there nodded there heads and gave their agreement. Now, which is a rarity this year, I'm actually looking forward to class this Tuesday. :)