What It Says

An ex-girlfriend once told me that she thought that I would have liked the guy that she dated and ended up living with for a time after we stopped dating. The fact is that I was introduced to him one night at a bar on the coast and we could have come to blows that evening.

I had honestly considered head-butting him in the face when he squared up with me that night, but I decided against it because I was a little too drunk to be fighting and perhaps more because I didn’t want to be arrested and jailed. I made it clear outside shortly thereafter that I wasn’t afraid or intimidated by him in the least. And for some time after that night I regretted not getting in a shot when I had the opportunity. A buddy and teammate that had previously witnessed my willingness to tangle laughed afterwards and told me that he thought for sure that we were going to go.

When she said this to me, I brushed it off and reminded her that we had met. I didn’t ask her to elaborate or explain the statement. So I am curious what exactly she meant by that statement and what it means about me. I would like to think that the only thing that him and I had in common was her. But it probably isn’t. Troubling. Pretty funny given that our “confrontation” took place when I was in my late 20s and I am now rapidly approaching my late-50s. I was undoubtedly better served by not fighting, but there is still a part of me that wishes that I had tried to wipe that silly smirk off of his smug face…even if we could have perhaps been friends under other circumstances.