True story about old men When I was a young buck and in the prime of my life, 'bout 26 ys old, my bride and I rented an apartment in Pittsburgh. Tight knit community, narrow one way street with parking on both sides. We, and the two girls that lived down stairs were the outsiders. Everyone else on the block had been there for a very long time. Anyways, the local custom in 'da 'burg was ya put a chair in your parking place on the street AND NOBODY TOUCHED IT! Now, to set this up, I need to point out that the company I worked for at the time issued cars for work, all the same make, model, and color, blue Ford Torino's. One winter day, we had just got a big snow fall. The old man next door had spent quite a few hrs shoveling out his parking space, and had just went to retrieve his car from wherever it was while he shoveled snow, and by coworker stops by and parked in his space. Pretty quick, the door bell rings, and I answer it. It's Joe, from next door mad as hell because I took his parking space. He was hoping mad! I tried to explain what happened and that we would move the car, but before I got two syllables out, he assumes the boxers stance as fast as a private can salute a general, and I instinctively did so too......only to just as fast feel the pain on my way to the concrete. He had just planted a toe under my kneecap! I was pissed, but still, couldn't help but laugh. This old man had just taken out a healthy physically fit young man in two moves! Now, I wasn't a stranger to street fighting, I just didn't expect it from him. I got up, said I was calling the cops and went back inside. The reason I called the cops was because in that community, everybody saw everything, and I knew this old fellow had just got out of the hospital from heart surgery. my fear was he would keel over dead, and everyone would blame be.
Cops come, I tell them I wasn't pressing charges, I just wanted it on the record that I didn't assault him. Cops got us together and we got it all sorted out. We were pretty good friends after that. He was a trucker from the 20's and 30's. Told stories of going from Pittsburgh to Baltimore over the Allegheny mountains. Sometimes set for days at the top, waiting for the road crew to clear the roads. mechanical brakes! he was a tough old fellow
------------- I am still confident of this; I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Ps 27
|