16 NOVEMBER 2023 WorldWide Drilling Resource® The Un-Comfort Zone II by Robert Evans Wilson, Jr. When Common Sense Kicks In Lately, it seems like people are so angry they’ve lost their common sense. I’ve been that angry, and it almost cost me my life. The freedictionary.com defines common sense: Sound judgment not based on specialized knowledge. When I was in college, I had several side hustles in addition to my regular jobs; one of which was valet parking. The family of a high school friend owned a valet parking business. Whenever I needed to make a few extra bucks, I would phone him to see if he needed to fill any shifts. It was on one of those occasions my common sense kicked in just in time to save me from serious injury or worse. It was the late 1970s - the Disco Era - and many restaurants in Atlanta, that had the space, converted their bars into discotheques complete with parquet wooden dance floors, mirror balls, flashing lights, and disc jockeys. I picked up a midweek shift at one of the lesser known discos, which meant I was working the parking lot alone. The restaurant/discotheque had valet parking only, and a cover charge to get inside after 8 p.m. About 50 feet from the front door there was a tall, freestanding, locked wooden cabinet where I kept the car keys and ticket stubs on numbered hooks inside. I had parked about 50 cars when three men pulled in. When they learned it was valet only they left, squealing their tires in protest, but I saw them pull into the parking lot of the office building next door which was up on a hill above the disco. From my station by the front door, I watched them carefully climb down a steep dirt hill into my parking lot, and then walk to the door. They were wearing blue jeans and t-shirts, which was not the typical dressy-casual attire worn by the young upwardly mobile disco dancing crowd. When they found out they had to pay a cover charge, they left angrily and cussed loudly as they stormed back toward their car. Then, as they walked past my key cabinet, they stopped and pushed it over onto its face. It hit the ground with a loud crash, and I could hear keys being knocked off their hooks and separated from the numbers which told me where each car was parked. I was furious! Not only did they create more work for me, but if I had to ask the patrons which key was theirs and what kind of car they drove, I was going to make fewer tips (it turned out to be much worse - when I asked people to identify their keys and make of their car, they simply grabbed their keys and said, “I can see my car; I’ll just get it myself.” So I ended up working for almost nothing that night.). I ran over to the cabinet, lifted it up, unlocked the door, and saw that indeed most of the keys had come off their hooks. I was so mad I screamed profanities at the three men, two of whom were scrambling up the dirt hill to their car. The third one turned around and looked at me, so I flipped him off. He then started running toward me very fast. I was so angry, and full of adrenaline, I welcomed his advance because I had every intention of punching him so hard I would knock him out. I planted my feet, balled my fists, and raised my arms in full readiness for combat. When he was halfway to me, one of his friends noticed what was going on and started running toward me as well. My anger made me feel incredibly powerful, and I wanted revenge, so I stood my ground, thinking, “I’ll lay out the first one as soon as he gets here, then take on the second.” Suddenly the third man turned around and started scrambling back down the hill. It was a long parking lot and it would take him a bit to catch up to his friends, but fortunately LGJ08GR Code January 9-10 & Trade S Conventi 2024 LGW Make plans to at WA Associa Ground W Louisia (LGW Discount uisiana o Resort 0, 2024 how ion WA ttend the A) ation Water ana W Marksville, Lou Paragon Casino WA.org Avai Registration Form https://LGW of Louisiana. obtain Education Points for t y oppor this will be your only CONTRAC ATTENTION ilable the state rtunity to - CTORS Wilson Cont’d on page 18.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDk4Mzk=