Many nights when I can't sleep, I run through a mental list of all my missteps, failures, stupid things I did. I know it's not healthy and so I hope to remember some good moments--and just the other day I did. The one time in my life when I acted as a hero and got a hero's reward.
It happened while I was at Oklahoma University, in a fraternity, Sigma Chi. One night a group of us gathered around the one TV set to watch the Dave Garroway Tonight show... and it focused on Mardi Gras, which was just getting started in New Orleans. Trumpeter Al Hirt celebrated the moment and four of us got inspired. We jumped into my '56 Chevy and headed South. It was an all night drive and we arrived at the Sigma Chi house in New Orleans, where we were assigned an empty room with mattresses on the floor. We slept until noon, then headed out to see the town.
By nightime we had already drunk a Hurricane or two and were enjoying the various jazz spots. Then, ahead, I saw this: two young women were hurrying along the street being followed and harassed by young males.
Without thinking, I quickly stepped up beside one of the women and said something like, "Hi, you waiting for me?" (Exact wording lost in the mists but the impression I hoped to create for benefit of the harassers was that I was her date.)
Gratefully she eyeballed me and grabbed my arm and together we walked. My girl teamed her friend up with another one of my frat bros and we spent the evening together, having a wonderful time. I wonder if I said anything the whole time I felt so fortunate to have such a pretty girl for a date. They were schoolteachers from somewhere, thus a few years older.
I had gained the gratitude of an "older woman" and she showed it later.
Ah, for the life of a hero. Pity that the lesson didn't stick enough to fix all my future opportunities for heroism.
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