I spent most of last week fighting a cold, so I did little more than sit around on the couch or take long naps. By Saturday evening, I was feeling more than a little stir-crazy. So Ric, Grant and I decided to go out for a couple of beers. I wasn't feeling up for a smoky patio, though, so we opted to not go to Pec's and instead went to The Loft.
As soon as we walked in, Grant and I went to order drinks and Ric sat down at the end of the bar where he found a couple of empty barstools. As soon as he sat down, he realized the guy next to him was completely drunk. One moment he was alert and awake, and the next moment he was passed out cold.
As if that wasn't bad enough, there were several people standing near this guy, and they decided that it would be fun to start messing around with him. It was stupid stuff, poking him and screwing around with his barstool or the buttons on his shirt. Keep in mind, at this point, Ric's arm around the back of this guy is the only thing keeping him from falling completely to the floor. Finally, Ric had enough of the other people and let them know that it was in their interest to back the hell up.
Meanwhile, I have retrieved this guy's cell phone from his pocket and am trying to reach someone who can come take care of him. He was alone in the bar, with no friends and no signs of consciousness. I start calling people from his "recently called" list, and I finally found two different friends who agreed to come get him.
All and all, it took nearly 40 minutes to try and help this guy. All the while, two things kept running through my mind. One, what kind of a fool goes out and drinks himself into a stupor when he is all by himself? Anything could have happened to him, and he would have had no clue what was going on. Two, and this one pisses me off even more, what kind of asshole sees someone that completely gone and thinks, "oh, let's mess around with this guy"?
I don't mean he was a little drunk and deserved to be teased. I mean he was so drunk that Ric kept checking his breathing to see if the guy was still alive. When you see someone in that condition, you either think to help him or to hurt him. I can't believe the other people in that bar chose to hurt him.
Anyway, it was late when we went out, and then we burned close to an hour taking care of this stranger. Is it too much to ask to just go out, have a beer or two, and enjoy a good time?
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