Fight!

Across from our apartment on the ground floor is a small mahjong parlor where all the retired guys and some women hang out all day long. They gamble at cards and mahjong and drink tea. It can get incredibly noisy, especially since our complex acts as an ampitheater and even the smallest noise carries right into our living room. Last week, the noise escalated into a fight. Someone wasn't happy about how the cards fell and people started screaming. I ran to the window to see what was going on and saw a crowd of people around two men. It was a sissy fight, neither throwing punches, mainly because they were being held back by several women. Just screaming and waving their arms at each other. But then, the larger guy (to the right out of the picture) broke free and picked up a tiny bench. He ran over and tapped the other guy on the head with it. I say tapped because we had the window open and it didnt make a sound and he didn't have much momentum behind him when he swung. But the other guy dropped like a rock! I was laughing because you could tell he was faking it something terrible. His friends were telling him to get up, but he just lay there, one shoe on, one off like he was unconscious only you could tell he wasn't. I thought about going down and tickling him to see what would happen. Finally they started making phone calls, to the police? I don't know. Now, let me tell you something about our complex. There are about 20 guards here, they live directly across from our building, right above this chaos. Not a one even poked their head out of the window to see what was going on. It was forever before the guard at the front entrance, only a few hundred feet away, came sauntering over like he was just patroling the area. He never spoke to them, never tried to interfere or solve anything. He just became another bystander. Meanwhile, the "injured" man stayed on the ground. I guess he was thinking if he acted hurt, he could get some money. Finally his friends got him to the couch in front of the store. The offender just stood off the side. I glanced from him back to his victim in time to see the dude reach up and pick his nose! That was enough, he was NOT hurt! But they took him away in a car anyway, maybe to the hospital to talk someone into saying he needed compensation. I don't know if his act payed off. The shop closed for the day, but directly the next day, it was open and everyone was friends again, drinking tea and gambling the day away.
“Arguments, like men are often pretenders” Plato
mandy