My bloody lip

“Sorry, I haven’t called but I dropped my cell phone in the pool.” That’s a quote from my son Will on spring break this week in Florida at Panama City Beach. I still haven’t actually talked with Will today. That was the voice mail message on my home phone. He borrowed someone’s phone to make the call.

Will’s predicament prompted me to ask: “What is the strangest thing to happen to me on spring break when I was in college?” Please weigh in. I would like to hear your stories.

Here’s my story. It’s rather violent. I was home in Morganton on spring break. A friend and I went to Boone one Saturday night. Back in those days the female to male student ratio at Appalachian State was five to one. As a guy it was pretty easy to get a date at ASU. My male friend and I stepped out in front of a dorm and the girls looked out the window. Two lovely and charming females came down to the lobby. We chatted and off we went for dinner and then to a party they recommended.

While at the party I asked a host if she could point me in the direction of the bathroom. She grabbed me by the hand and said  “I’ll be glad to show you.” I smiled and said “thank you.” She must have been fighting with her boyfriend. I think she was trying to make him jealous. It worked. The next thing I heard was a voice screaming: “Don’t you ever look at my girl like that again!” I responded: “Like what? What are you talking about?” Then came a huge fist right flying into my face. Blood splattered everywhere. I looked up and there was this guy about 6’7” yelling violently at me. He looked like an offensive lineman. I sized up the situation. Should I fight back or should I run? At 6’2” and 165 lbs. I was no match for this monster so I bolted for the door on the heels of my friend who was already in the car.

I should have gone to the local police department and filed a report but for some reason I didn’t. We drove back to Morganton and went to the emergency room at Grace Hospital where a doctor sewed me up with seven stitches. My lower lip was huge but my teeth were fine.  I still have a little scar under my lip from that mysterious punch.  My Morganton buddies wanted to go back up the mountain and find that so called “Boone Goon” and teach him a lesson or two. But we never did. To this day I still don’t know why he was so provoked. I think about that incident often especially when I am on the highway. You never know when someone might explode into a fit of rage.

When I think back on that story from my college days, Will’s waterlogged cell phone doesn’t seem too bad. I feel better now.