Last Updated on May 25, 2018 by Terry
Most folks probably don’t remember, but this week is the one year anniversary of Terry getting involved in his first knife fight. He was in the middle of a five-week tour of Houston conducting Confined Space Entry and Rescue training.
On this particular day for lunch, Terry was heading to his favorite Mexican restaurant. It’s actually a convenience store called Stripes. Their deli does not consist of chicken strips and tater logs. It’s all Mexican food. They create fantastic tacos. Terry’s favorite is the chicken fajita with cheese. They put it together, and then place it on the grill for a couple of minutes. Its taste is unequaled for a taco and it only costs $2.
He had been frequenting this deli so often that the lady that does the cooking recognized him and smiled as she held up one finger, waiting for Terry to nod in the affirmative. She then proceeded to conjure up his wonderful mid-day delight. Terry then proceeded to the verde and salsa bar to retrieve the fixings and get a drink.
He wondered why it was so empty of patrons at the counter being the parking lot was full. He heard some loud talking and shouting as he entered the store but since it was Spanish, and some language he wasn’t sure of, he paid little attention to it.
Terry then headed toward the counter to set everything down and pay. That’s when he suddenly realized he had stepped between two fellows that were quarreling. Everyone in the store knew what was going on, but him. At the counter were the two angry men doing all the shouting. They were screaming, threatening each other, and had worked themselves into a frenzy.
They stepped back from each other momentarily, and a gap opened up in front of the counter. As Terry stepped in they were coming back at each other. It was a knife fight, and not only was Terry now in the middle of it, but more importantly, he was only armed with a soft taco! They had backed away from each other in order to pull out their knives, and now they were ready to get busy!
The worker behind the counter was calling the police. The guy on his right had his right hand in his pocket and was screaming in Spanish at the guy on his left. The left guy screamed “I’m going to stab you” as he was pointing a medium-sized pocket knife at guy right, and his hand holding the knife was sliding under Terry’s chin. They were so angry at each other, they had no idea he was now between them.
The guy on his left was using the other language. Turns out he was from one of the Caribbean islands and speaking badly broken English, but the main parts were understandable. They were both so close that Terry could feel their chests touching his elbows. As this was the first time he had been involved with a knife fight, he had no experience on what was the best plan of action.
He quickly realized this could turn bad quickly, so he yelled “HEY” real loud. It seemed to suddenly stun them and confirmed that they did not know he was in their midst. They now stopped threatening each other and were staring at the intruder. Terry raised his hands about face height with palms facing each hooligan. He stepped back, lowered his hands, and drew them close together with palms up, pointing to where he had been standing, as to offer for them to continue.
Terry could always think quick on his feet, and he wanted to watch as much as anyone else. The guy behind the counter began yelling “policio” or something like that, and the two formerly angry young men became startled and ran out the door.
So Terry stepped up to the counter, paid for his taco, and calmly headed back to class.
There is a part of the adventure that Terry has never shared. He is not sure what it even means. But fate is real. Fate may even be something God has a hand in.
Looking back, one of these two fellows could have been hurt badly or even worse if Terry wasn’t guilty of not paying attention to what was going on around him. As he left the classroom and headed to the store, he missed a turn, got caught up in some traffic, and arrived at the store ten minutes later than he should have.
Hmmm, let that soak in for a minute.
