As soon as I saw the title, what instantly came to my mind was an incident that occurred a couple of weeks ago. It might have been a minor incident, but it certainly was unpleasant.

It was my friend’s birthday and a few of us went to a fast food restaurant for dinner. We queued up at the counter to get our orders. I was the last one in the line. Once I got my burger and drinks, I started to walk to the table where my friends were already seated.

All of a sudden, someone knocked into me. The food tray fell noisily on the floor. I looked up in time to see a pair unfriendly eyes glaring at me.

“You idiot,” were the first words he uttered.

“I’m sorry,” I said, upset over the incident. I apologized even though I wasn’t sure who had knocked into whom.

The next moment the bully caught hold of my shirt, shook me and growled,”Look what you’ve done to my pants! They’re wet.” Apparently the drink had spilled onto his pants.

“I really am sorry,” I repeated.

My apologies obviously did not cool him down. He pushed me roughly against the wall and challenged me to a fight. It was so silly! How childish can one get? I am no Sylvester Stallone! Neither did I think that a fist fight would settle any issue. Despite that, in fury, I threw a punch at him which hit him right on his face. He landed flat on the floor.

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By then, my friends had gathered around me. That restrained further action. The bully’s friends were there too, helping him to his feet. A heated exchanged of words followed. I remained silent. The head waiter intervened and managed to put an end to the verbal battle.

The bully, together with his gang, left the restaurant after that. As for us, the outing was a disaster. What I did learn from the unpleasant experience was that I could throw a punch-accurately-if I’m pushed to the wall (literally).