The True Story of the Red Dog Saloon

This is a true story. It happened back in the 1980's in South Texas during the last oil "boom." Lots of temporary oilfield workers created a rather rowdy atmosphere during this particular period of time.

The Red Dog Saloon was a local "watering hole" frequented by many of these workers. One evening one of the "regulars" among the clientele got overly "boozed up" and started a fight. He was a bully anyway and not terribly popular. Like all bullies however, he had his entourage of followers who found it safer to be on his "side" than to stand up to him.

The person who did stand up to him that evening got pulverized. He was severely beaten up and sustained considerable injuries. Stumbling out of the bar, he escaped into the junkyard across the road. That should have been the end of it, but it wasn't.

Instead of being satisfied that he'd won, the bully decided to continue the "fun" and out went looking for the guy. Fortunately the rest of his group opted to stay and drink.

So across the street and into the junkyard he went to look for him, laughing and howling how his victim was a chicken, a coward, and just generally trying to goad him into coming out of hiding. Nothing doing. So the bully continued to actively hunt for the guy so he could continue punching on him.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, in an act of pure desperation--the victim stood up as the bully passed his hiding place and hit him just as hard as he could in the back of the head with a piece of pipe. The bully went down and the victim, without so much as a backwards glance, made his escape.

When the victim was finally released from the hospital he was charged with murdering the bully. He went on trial with a family friend of ours as his attorney. He ended up getting off scot-free. Why? Well because no one actually saw him hit the other guy; everyone knew the guy was a bully; no one could prove the bully wasn't still alive when the victim escaped; someone else with a grudge could have taken advantage of the situation and delivered the fatal blow because lots of people would have loved to see him dead; and to be honest--he needed killing. The jury agreed.

The moral of this story is simple. When you've got the upper hand, or you've won a disagreement--quit. Do not ever put people into corners with no way out. Always allow the person the opportunity to "escape." If you do not, you create a desperate person willing to do anything to escape, because quite honestly, they have nothing to lose, and everything to gain by doing so.

And yes, this applies to on-line forums as well folks. Always remember the Red Dog Saloon!