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This happened two nights ago at my favorite karaoke bar. Some of you who I'm friends with on Facebook may have picked up a few bits and pieces of this story from some of my posts that night. Here's the rest of the story...
This particular bar has karaoke Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Fridays are usually jam-packed, Saturdays are usually less crowded but still a decent crowd, and Tuesdays and Thursdays are hit and miss. On this particular Tuesday, it happened to be pretty dead. There may have been ten people there, and that's counting the people who were working. As soon as I walked in, I was greeted by Heather, one of the regulars who also sings. Turns out she was the only one singing, and she told me she was glad there was another singer now. So for the next couple of cycles, it was the "Metal Mike and Heather Show."
I had just finished doing a song, when this guy walked in the door. Somehow, he made me very uncomfortable even before he said or did anything. Just got that sort of vibe from him. He told me he liked my singing, and offered to buy me my next beer. The timing was perfect, because I was just finishing up my first one. So he got me a Budweiser, and one for himself. I had just sat back down, when he asked me if I was ready for another one. He had already sucked his down, while I wasn't even down to the bottom of the neck yet. I told him I was good for now.
I was sitting at my favorite table, the one closest to the DJ stand, and I was watching him out of the corner of my eye, thinking to myself, "Don't come over here... don't come over here... oh shit he's coming over here!" He sat down at the same table across from me and started talking my ear off. I don't mind that sort of thing in general, and I can usually get along with friendly drunks, but I was getting very weirded out by this one. I felt uneasy, like if I said the wrong thing, he'd flip out on me. At one point, we got to talking about music, and things seemed a little less tense, but then he started getting weird again. I can't really explain it.
Just then, one of the other regulars came in, another guy named Mike. I'm "Metal Mike", because I sing metal. He's "regular Mike" or "Mellow Mike", or even just "Mike" because he sings mostly classic rock. He came over to my table to sit with me, and the other guy started talking his ear off, and I could see he was just as uncomfortable as I was. Worse yet, he decided to smack him on the shoulder in a friendly manner, but he did it way too hard. He then offered to buy us both another round, and this time I was ready for one. He got a Bud for me, one for himself, and a Coors Lite, which is was Mike drinks. Then he put in to do a song, and missed about every other line because he was so hammered.
When he came back, he told me he wanted to hear me sing again, and told me that I was next. I told him no, Heather was up next. He told me no, I was next. I told him that wasn't up to me, it was up to the DJ. He let it go after that, but things just kept getting weirder and weirder. Sure enough, Heather was called up to sing next, and the guy went up with her and tried to sing along with her. He was hanging all over her, which she didn't seem to like very much. She kept trying to move away from him, but he kept trying to follow. The guy that Heather was with didn't like it either, and got right in the guy's face, until he finally walked away. I told Mike, "I think things are going to get ugly", and he agreed with me.
When the guy came back, he was telling us, "Oh man! I thought I was going to get into a fight! Dude was all over-protective of his woman!" I didn't know how to respond to that, but Mike told him, "That's what he's supposed to do -- protect his woman." Then he asked us if we "had his back" if he does get into a fight. Again, I didn't know what to say, and Mike said something like, "I don't need any of that tonight."
We managed to get off that subject, and then he asked what I was singing next. I told him, and he started going on and on about how that's a great song, and then a few minutes later, he asked the same question again. Then he got us another round of beers, even though I was nowhere near ready for one. But this time he messed up and handed Mike a Budweiser, and kept the Coors Light for himself. Mike pointed it out to him, and I thought he was going to switch them out, but instead he drank both of them down. Around this time, Heather was really getting uncomfortable, and she and her guy left.
I got called up to sing, and I was afraid he was going to hang all over me like he did with Heather, but he left me alone. At that point, I noticed Sarah the bartender watching him intently, and I thought to myself, "He's done. She's going to cut him off." Sarah is just a little thing, but she doesn't put up with any shit, and I would never want to piss her off. When I was done singing, he told me I did a great job, and extended his hand. I went to shake his hand, and he said, "No, I don't want a handshake! Give me a hug!" I'm not really comfortable hugging guys. There are a few that I'm really close friends with, and I don't mind it, but I didn't know this guy from Adam. After that, he walked away to bug someone else, and Sarah came over to our table and asked us, "Did you guys get any of that last round he bought, or did he drink them all?" We weren't sure, because there were a lot of bottles on our table at this point, and Mike and I each had one in our hands. Turned out they were all empty except for one Budweiser, and she told me, "You drink this one! He is not getting any more tonight!" I looked at her and told her, "Thank you!"
He came back a few minutes later, and told us he was going to get another round. He went over to the bar, and Sarah politely told him she couldn't let him have any more. He came back and told me, "She says I can't have any more beer!" I pretended to sympathize, and he told me, "No big deal! I have plenty of beer in the car!" That sent a shiver down my spine. Mike and I were just sitting at the table waiting for him to leave at that point. Then he asked us to get him a beer. Mike told him, "She cut you off. We can't get you any more."
He then looked at me and I told him, "It's not up to us. The bartender cut you off. Nothing we can do about it."
Then he looked at Mike, and Mike told him, "If we tried to get you a beer, Sarah would throw me and him both out, and we've been coming here for years. We don't want that to happen." So then the guy told us, "You guys suck!" Mike just told him, "Yeah, I guess we do."
After that, Mike noticed Cora, another regular who also tends bar there some nights, sitting off to the side. She was there as a customer that night. He told us, "I think I'll go say hi to Cora!" I told him, "Yeah, I'll say hi to her too!" As soon as we got away from him, I told him, "You are not leaving me alone with that guy!"
We talked with Cora for a little bit, and then we went back to our table. He tried again to get us to buy him a beer, and had almost the same conversation with him. He then told us we were "a bunch of lightweights." I thought to myself, "We're not the ones who got cut off!" A few minutes later, he tried a third time, and when I explained it to him again, he started glaring at me. I thought he was going to take a swing at me. Then he just smiled and said, "Oh, that's OK!"
He then told us we was going to do one more song and leave. Mike and I went over to the bar and stood there deliberately avoiding eye contact with him and waited for him to finish and leave. Once again, he missed about every other line of the song, because he was so smashed. Then, towards the end of the song, I saw, from the corner of my eye, something flying across the bar. He had thrown the microphone onto the bar and almost hit Sarah with it. She yelled at him as he walked out the door. As he was walking out, Craig, one of the other regulars, who is a huge guy, and worked there as a bouncer in the past, walked in. I told Craig, "We could have used you about a half an hour ago!"
I hope that guy didn't kill anyone when he left.
Oh, I almost forgot -- after he left, I asked Sarah if he even tipped her anything, and she told me, "Not a cent."
This particular bar has karaoke Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Fridays are usually jam-packed, Saturdays are usually less crowded but still a decent crowd, and Tuesdays and Thursdays are hit and miss. On this particular Tuesday, it happened to be pretty dead. There may have been ten people there, and that's counting the people who were working. As soon as I walked in, I was greeted by Heather, one of the regulars who also sings. Turns out she was the only one singing, and she told me she was glad there was another singer now. So for the next couple of cycles, it was the "Metal Mike and Heather Show."
I had just finished doing a song, when this guy walked in the door. Somehow, he made me very uncomfortable even before he said or did anything. Just got that sort of vibe from him. He told me he liked my singing, and offered to buy me my next beer. The timing was perfect, because I was just finishing up my first one. So he got me a Budweiser, and one for himself. I had just sat back down, when he asked me if I was ready for another one. He had already sucked his down, while I wasn't even down to the bottom of the neck yet. I told him I was good for now.
I was sitting at my favorite table, the one closest to the DJ stand, and I was watching him out of the corner of my eye, thinking to myself, "Don't come over here... don't come over here... oh shit he's coming over here!" He sat down at the same table across from me and started talking my ear off. I don't mind that sort of thing in general, and I can usually get along with friendly drunks, but I was getting very weirded out by this one. I felt uneasy, like if I said the wrong thing, he'd flip out on me. At one point, we got to talking about music, and things seemed a little less tense, but then he started getting weird again. I can't really explain it.
Just then, one of the other regulars came in, another guy named Mike. I'm "Metal Mike", because I sing metal. He's "regular Mike" or "Mellow Mike", or even just "Mike" because he sings mostly classic rock. He came over to my table to sit with me, and the other guy started talking his ear off, and I could see he was just as uncomfortable as I was. Worse yet, he decided to smack him on the shoulder in a friendly manner, but he did it way too hard. He then offered to buy us both another round, and this time I was ready for one. He got a Bud for me, one for himself, and a Coors Lite, which is was Mike drinks. Then he put in to do a song, and missed about every other line because he was so hammered.
When he came back, he told me he wanted to hear me sing again, and told me that I was next. I told him no, Heather was up next. He told me no, I was next. I told him that wasn't up to me, it was up to the DJ. He let it go after that, but things just kept getting weirder and weirder. Sure enough, Heather was called up to sing next, and the guy went up with her and tried to sing along with her. He was hanging all over her, which she didn't seem to like very much. She kept trying to move away from him, but he kept trying to follow. The guy that Heather was with didn't like it either, and got right in the guy's face, until he finally walked away. I told Mike, "I think things are going to get ugly", and he agreed with me.
When the guy came back, he was telling us, "Oh man! I thought I was going to get into a fight! Dude was all over-protective of his woman!" I didn't know how to respond to that, but Mike told him, "That's what he's supposed to do -- protect his woman." Then he asked us if we "had his back" if he does get into a fight. Again, I didn't know what to say, and Mike said something like, "I don't need any of that tonight."
We managed to get off that subject, and then he asked what I was singing next. I told him, and he started going on and on about how that's a great song, and then a few minutes later, he asked the same question again. Then he got us another round of beers, even though I was nowhere near ready for one. But this time he messed up and handed Mike a Budweiser, and kept the Coors Light for himself. Mike pointed it out to him, and I thought he was going to switch them out, but instead he drank both of them down. Around this time, Heather was really getting uncomfortable, and she and her guy left.
I got called up to sing, and I was afraid he was going to hang all over me like he did with Heather, but he left me alone. At that point, I noticed Sarah the bartender watching him intently, and I thought to myself, "He's done. She's going to cut him off." Sarah is just a little thing, but she doesn't put up with any shit, and I would never want to piss her off. When I was done singing, he told me I did a great job, and extended his hand. I went to shake his hand, and he said, "No, I don't want a handshake! Give me a hug!" I'm not really comfortable hugging guys. There are a few that I'm really close friends with, and I don't mind it, but I didn't know this guy from Adam. After that, he walked away to bug someone else, and Sarah came over to our table and asked us, "Did you guys get any of that last round he bought, or did he drink them all?" We weren't sure, because there were a lot of bottles on our table at this point, and Mike and I each had one in our hands. Turned out they were all empty except for one Budweiser, and she told me, "You drink this one! He is not getting any more tonight!" I looked at her and told her, "Thank you!"
He came back a few minutes later, and told us he was going to get another round. He went over to the bar, and Sarah politely told him she couldn't let him have any more. He came back and told me, "She says I can't have any more beer!" I pretended to sympathize, and he told me, "No big deal! I have plenty of beer in the car!" That sent a shiver down my spine. Mike and I were just sitting at the table waiting for him to leave at that point. Then he asked us to get him a beer. Mike told him, "She cut you off. We can't get you any more."
He then looked at me and I told him, "It's not up to us. The bartender cut you off. Nothing we can do about it."
Then he looked at Mike, and Mike told him, "If we tried to get you a beer, Sarah would throw me and him both out, and we've been coming here for years. We don't want that to happen." So then the guy told us, "You guys suck!" Mike just told him, "Yeah, I guess we do."
After that, Mike noticed Cora, another regular who also tends bar there some nights, sitting off to the side. She was there as a customer that night. He told us, "I think I'll go say hi to Cora!" I told him, "Yeah, I'll say hi to her too!" As soon as we got away from him, I told him, "You are not leaving me alone with that guy!"
We talked with Cora for a little bit, and then we went back to our table. He tried again to get us to buy him a beer, and had almost the same conversation with him. He then told us we were "a bunch of lightweights." I thought to myself, "We're not the ones who got cut off!" A few minutes later, he tried a third time, and when I explained it to him again, he started glaring at me. I thought he was going to take a swing at me. Then he just smiled and said, "Oh, that's OK!"
He then told us we was going to do one more song and leave. Mike and I went over to the bar and stood there deliberately avoiding eye contact with him and waited for him to finish and leave. Once again, he missed about every other line of the song, because he was so smashed. Then, towards the end of the song, I saw, from the corner of my eye, something flying across the bar. He had thrown the microphone onto the bar and almost hit Sarah with it. She yelled at him as he walked out the door. As he was walking out, Craig, one of the other regulars, who is a huge guy, and worked there as a bouncer in the past, walked in. I told Craig, "We could have used you about a half an hour ago!"
I hope that guy didn't kill anyone when he left.
Oh, I almost forgot -- after he left, I asked Sarah if he even tipped her anything, and she told me, "Not a cent."
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