Violence at the boat ramp...

I know we see the threads from time to time about "this idiot" or "that idiot" who messed up everything at the boat ramp or potlicked someone out on the water. I just wanted to share something that I witnessed this weekend. As my friends and I pulled up to the boat ramp, we came up on a scense that goes something like this. A middle-aged man pulled his boat up to a local boat ramp after a long day of fishing(and apparently drinking). As he was heading to get his truck(which he should not have been driving anyway), some younger fellas (I'm guessing mid-20's) had backed their truck and trailer down into the water. Well, they either weren't very good at backing up a trailer or didn't realize it is a two boat ramp. Either way, their truck and trailer wound up caddy-whompus and taking up most of the ramp. The older gentleman started laying into one of the kids after he realized he wasn't going to get his trailer in the water right away. An argument ensued and the older gentleman popped one of the younger men in the face...HARD. Well, as it turns out, the group of younger guys had been shark fishing and were carrying a pistol with them. It must have been close at hand 'cause the kid that got punched grabbed it and popped the older fellow in the nose with the butt of the gun. His nose was definitely broken. Fortunately, that's where the violence ended. The police were called and I was afraid that they would take the older gentleman's word over the kids and arrest them, especially since the kid opted to use a weapon. Well, some notes were taken and names written down and the older fellow was placed in handcuffs. I was glad to see this as the kid was just defending himself. The reason I bring all of this up is because it could have turned out a lot worse. The younger bunch could have jumped the older guy and beaten him to within an inch of his life like so many young "punks" tend to do these days. Or, they could have used the business end of the gun. Fortunately for everyone these kids were not punks. All of this could have been avoided if the older fellow had just shown some patience. Five more minutes and those kids would have been out of his way and he would have been on his way home instead of sitting in jail. I know we all get frustrated with folks who seem like amateurs or are disrespectful or just plain rude. But, in the end, cooler heads prevail. I'll get off my soapbox now.

Sonny