Prelude:
Addressing the hostile, young vacationers with the utmost diplomacy, Joel said, "Before you do something that I'm sure you'll regret, I advise you to look at that wall over there."
"You see it? It's the one with all those pretty medals, ribbons and photos on it."
Pointing at the collection of wartime memorabilia, Joel added, "If you're dumb enough to continue, I want to say publicly right now that I've warned you and wash my hands of all responsibility for the inevitable, ugly outcome."
"The Showdown? "
It was like a gunfight scene from an old Spaghetti-Western movie.
The leader of a group of young foreign vacationers and I stood facing each other, wondering which one of us would twitch first.
The leader stood his ground. And without breaking his gaze at me, he motioned for one of his wingmen to go take a closer look at the wall.
Nodding his head, the wingman dutifully trotted to the wall.
But within seconds, it was clear that the wingman was getting increasingly nervous. He fixated on one particular photo and now was repeatedly looking at me, then the photo, then me again.
Finally, with an expression of shock and utter disbelief, the young wingman waved towards Joel.
"That's right. That old man that you guys are about to mess with is the same little reprobate in that photo," Joel shouted, making sure all got the message too.
Suddenly, the wingman made a beeline to his leader and whispered something into the leader's ear.
The leader's eyes grew big, his mouth went wide open and his face became ivory white - or was it eggshell white? Oh Hell, whatever!
Hands up, in the "I surrender" posture, he said, "Sir, I apologize. We (pointing to his quorum) have had quite a few beers this afternoon. But we would be honored to share a beer with you, Sir."
He extended his hand and I shook it with both of mine - just in case.
"My mates and I are joining up our country's military as soon as we get back to Oz. Except for Marv over there, he's inherited a bad ticker, poor boy."
Exhaling, I said, "Welcome to the Islands!"
And echoing the latest slogan from the Philippine Tourist Board, I said, "It's more fun in the Philippines!"
What was whispered in that young man's ear that so dramatically changed the situation?
In the words of the speedy and smart wingman, "After I got a good look at your photo, Sir, I knew I had to tell my friends what kind of man we were up against."
"Really, what kind is that?" I chuckled.
"I told them that we're all about to get knee-deep in shite! That guy's Ex-Special Force. They're bloody maniacs! They'd rather kill than fu€k!"
By JaiChai
About the Author
Believing that school was too boring, he dropped out of High School early; only to earn an AA, BS and MBA in less than 4 years much later in life – while working full-time as a Navy/Marine Corps Medic.
In spite of a fear of heights and deep water, he performed high altitude, free-fall parachute jumps and hazardous diving ops in deep, open ocean water.
After 24 years of active duty, he retired in Asia.
Since then, he's been a full-time, single papa and actively pursuing his varied passions (Writing, Disruptive Technology, Computer Science and Cryptocurrency - plus more hobbies too boring or bizarre for most folk).
He lives on an island paradise with his girlfriend, teenage daughter and two dogs.
"My mind was a terrible thing to waste..." - JaiChai
May you and yours be well and loving life today.
In Lak'ech,
JaiChai