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Date with fate post 48 - "I can throw you out of here with one finger"
This entry was posted on 8/17/2011 1:30 AM and is filed under Fate Fairies.
Back when I worked down under the bowling alley at the dance club (disco), one night before the bar crew came in and the crowd was yet to flow down the stairs, I was bartending for the small afternoon regulars. A drunk guy who seemed like he might be an ex-jock was bothering the usual early girls at the end of the bar.
"You got to leave," I said to him.
"Ain't happ'n Skippy," he said as he slurred the words and spit on himself. His face was beet red.
"I can toss you out with one finger," I said and smiled as I reached for the phone to dial 911. It was a new thing in those days - that 911 business. No matter what the perps explanation would be to the cops, they always hauled off the patron rather than the staff. There would always be a new crop of suckers week after week that would have to call down to Chicago and get Daddy out of bed to post bail. It was a lucrative enterprise for the municipality.
"Nice try, chump," he said and slobbered at me as he reached over, knocked one of the bar girls beer bottles over and it broke, and then he pulled the phone line out of the wall. He was taller than I thought and had a basketball player's reach. It was an egregious error on my part - a bouncer/bartender must always know his enemies before going in.
This was pre-cell phone culture remember. My heart sank as said drunk guy snarled in my direction with cord in one hand...., that broken beer bottle in the other. To my surprise, some bouncer staff had drifted in while the small drama was going on and were chatting with some of the girls. Unbeknownst to me, they had one eye on their girls and one eye on the perp. With minimal to due, he was whisked up the back fire stairs upside down with arms flailing and head dragging one step at a time.
In a few moments the fellahs were back down and talking to their girls again. I had dodged a bullet...., or perhaps more appropriate. I had dodged a broken beer bottle with my name on it.
Note: This blog "Fate Fairies" Category does not list the brushes with fate chronologically - I write about the experiences as they pop up in my memory and I often revisit an older event. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Fate Fairies Page for an ordered chronology.
Wisconsin Military Service Person Special Mention of the Week
(each week Cooldadiomedia mentions a Wisconsin Service person killed in Iraq or Afghanistan)
Army First Lieutenant Daren Miguel Hidalgo, 24, Waukesha, Wisconsin, was killed Sunday, February 20, 2011, near Mama Kiriz, in Kandahar province, Afghanistan. He died of wounds he sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised explosive device (roadside bomb). Hidalgo was assigned to 3rd Platoon, Ghostrider Company, 3rd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, out of Rose Barracks in Vilseck, Germany.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel noted Daren was the youngest son in his family. He was a 2009 graduate of West Point and on was his first deployment in Afghanistan. Hidalgo had been wounded in an earlier bomb attack. Both his brothers also joined the military. Army Captain Miles Hidalgo, 26, also a West Point graduate had four tours in Afghanistan, and Marine Captain Jared Hidalgo, 28, served in Iraq. First Lieutenant Daren Hidalgo was serving as a platoon commander with his unit when he was killed. Early in his career he had completed Army Ranger School.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel went on to mention Daren's dad Jorge Hidalgo was a 1981 West Point graduate and had immigrated to America from the Dominican Republic when he was seven years old. Daren's family moved often due to Jorge's work. Daren Hidalgo was born at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. He attended Wales Elementary School in Wisconsin and Kettle Moraine middle and high schools in Wisconsin and then finished high school in Pennsylvania. Daren Hidalgo was a high school wrestler, a trumpet player, and a racquetball player. His degree from West Point was in Spanish.
An article from the York Daily Record found on pennlive.com notes Daren was a 2005 graduate of Dallastown Area High School in south-central Pennsylvania.
The Huffington Post posted an Associated Press piece that explained that Hidalgo was the 81st West Point graduate to be killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The article added that Daren also liked rock climbing among his other aforementioned interests.
The Second Cavalry Association News Center posting on dragoons.org mentioned Daren had been a championship wrestler, National Honor Society member, and a trumpeter in the school marching band in Dallastown, Pennsylvania. He graduated near the top of his class at West Point. He was deployed to the Maiwand District of Afghanistan in October 2010.
First Lieutenant Daren Hidalgo was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster. He was laid to rest in West Point Cemetery in New York.
The Web site legacy.com posted an obituary from the Journal Sentinel Online which notes Daren is remembered for his assessment abilities, his positive attitude, his inspiration to others, a strength of character, an empathetic manor, "a winning smile, and engaging personality," and being, "a jokester and a prankster."
At the time of his death Daren Hidalgo was survived by: his parents Jorge and Andrea; brothers Jared (Jenny) Hidalgo, Miles (Caroline) Hidalgo; sister Carmen (Mike) Spellman; nephews Wade and Carson; and, his niece Lexie.
Army First Lieutenant Daren Hidalgo was the 28th Wisconsin military service person killed in Afghanistan since October 2001.
As of this blog entry's posting date:
102,165 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003 (actually documented).
10,125 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
4,477 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
1738 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
318 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
935 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
1 American/Coalition casualty in Libyan "Operation Odyssey Dawn" since March, 2011.
32,165 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
592 Wisconsin Service persons have been wounded in Iraq since Spring 2003.
13,164 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
192 Wisconsin Service persons have been wounded in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
107 Wisconsin Service persons have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
34 Wisconsin Service persons have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
3 Wisconsin Service persons have been killed in the U.S. related to "The War on Terror" since September, 2001.
149 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
21 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since September, 2001.
5 journalists (regional and independents) have been killed in Libya since March, 2011.
Wisconsin military service person special mention of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; iraqbodycount.org; www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf; and, icasualties.org .
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