The Fight

I don't tend to think of myself as a violent person. I mean, I'm quite sure that few people would consider me docile. When I think about it, though, there are plenty of other people out there who are much, much more inclined to promote violence than I am. That said, I find the idea of hitting people very appealing sometimes. Not necessarily people I'm mad at either. Perhaps that's why I enjoy rugby so much. You might ask what has brought these thoughts to my mind.

Well, it all stems from a conversation that took place on the second floor of the Breen earlier this evening. The seating arrangements and surroundings are somewhat important to the story, so I will explain them as best I can...

Nate, Lisa, Katy and I were sitting at a normal-sized rectangular table up on the Student Life and Learning side. Our computers were all out. Other various books and papers were out on the table as well. Katy and I were sitting across from each other, against the railing (about 4 feet high). Next to Katy sat Nate and across from him, Lisa. Each of us was in a normal sitting position with our legs underneath the table. Can you picture it? I hope so.

I honestly cannot remember the particulars of how the question came about, but it came about nonetheless.

All personal feelings aside, if Lisa, Katy and I had to throw Nate over the railing and off of the second floor, could we? We would be allowed and willing to hurt each other, kill each other, etc. We would start from our current positions at the table. Nate's only goal is to keep from being thrown, and our only goal is to get him over the railing.

This question caused quite a stir at the table. Of course, we all came to quite different conclusions. Everyone seemed to think that their "side" would be victorious. Nate claimed that he could easily knock us out one by one. We claimed that we could easily overtake him, knock him unconscious and then lift his limp body over the railing.

His first move would be to grab Katy's head with his hands and slam it, full force against the corner of the wood pillar just behind her, thereby killing her or at the very least knocking her unconscious. Either way, that move would undoubtedly take her out of the picture. All four of us conceded that this was a likely first move, and would probably be feasible considering Katy's size and strength and the position of her body at the time. [As a side note, Nate claimed that had Lisa or I been sitting there, the move wouldn't have worked because...let's see, he said it so eloquently...we're "more massive."]

Once we've reached the point where Katy's been killed/maimed, we found ourselves in disagreement. You see, the amount of time it would take for him to kill Katy would give Lisa and I time to get our of our chairs and around the table to begin our assault on Nate. At this point, the scenario was changed a bit. Nate asked:

Okay, so what if there were no tables or anything and it was just you and Lisa standing about 4 feet away from me? Then do you actually think you could get me over the edge?

Yes. Yes, I believe we could.

Now keep in mind, up to this point, you've got a table of four people who have been discussing with increasing intensity and volume about bashing each others' heads into walls, killing each other, and ultimately throwing each other off of balconies. The one guy at the table has put his hands on the head of the girl next to him multiple times and slowly simulated pounding her head to a pulp.

Now realize that there is a boy sitting at the table behind us, facing us, without headphones in. He hasn't made a stir yet, and we still don't notice that he's there.

Nate, after posing this new question, suggests that his first move would be to kill me swiftly with one blow to my head with his elbow. He seemed to think that if we were both standing, his elbow would be right around the height of my temple. Of course, this isn't true and I had to prove it, so I had Nate get up out of his chair and I went to stand with him. And there we are, facing each other discussing the ways in which we would begin attacking. For example, I would tackle him, rugby-style to the ground and then Lisa could come over and begin jumping up and down on his head thereby rendering him unconscious. And at this point, I began to show Nate exactly what I meant by a rugby-style tackle.

Apparently this demonstration was a bit too much for the boy who had been creepily (and probably frightfully) observing our interactions. We explained ourselves, he agree that the girls would win and we decided that it would be best to sit down.

We continued discussing this matter for some time and realized that we would never be able to figure out for sure what the outcome would be. All of this discussion made me think, though. It made me introspective and I came to this somewhat frightening conclusion: I would like the chance to beat someone up. Even just getting one good, solid punch at someones face would be so satisfying. I would love it if there were some way that I could experience that without actually hurting someone.

It frightens me a bit that the idea of beating someone to the ground is so appealing. Lets get something straight--I would NEVER do it. NEVER. But that in and of itself is a strange thought. Most of the people I know will never know what it feels like to punch another person. And I know that that's a positive thing....I don't even know where I'm going with this. Maybe I'm insane. I wonder if anyone else is intrigued by the idea of being put in that ultimate fight, having my own life and the lives of others dependent upon my own ability to use my strength.

Yep. I sound like a nut job. I know. I sound like a violent crazy person, just waiting for someone to anger me so that I can unleash the anger within...but that's not true at all. It's all hypothetical...and will stay that way.

On a completely unrelated note, I love rugby....yeaaaah...completely unrelated.