N-bomb Beatdowns, aka "Words that Hurt" like a mofo
Ok, so I think I've experienced a few cool things on my 28 years on the planet. I've seen a space shuttle launch, I've flown business class a few times, parachuted and whatnot. And while these things are all quite exciting, there are few things that I can see that can make me jump up and down and clap my hands with glee. Allow me to write about something I saw the other night that made me just do that - the second time I've witnessed it - both times were in Japan.
Getting in touch with your Inner Klansman
I never really met someone's inner klansman until I joined the Marines. I mean, maybe I did, but they weren't typically people that I worked with or interacted with or, in some cases, respected as people. I don't think that being in the military really correlates with a high amount of racists - maybe the typical person who joins the Marines is just a little more outspoken / doesn't really give a shit if someone thinks they're a bigot. In any case, alcohol + rap videos will definitely bring out someone's inner klansman, regardless of their socio-economic class/education level. I'm not saying everyone has an inner klansman, cuz I certainly don't, but you'd be surprised at what people will utter while intoxicated.
Droppin' N-Bombs
We used to refer to it as "dropping an N bomb" when someone would say the N word. That's right, the N word. If you still don't know what I'm talking about after reading the above paragraph, you're probably a little thick, but I'm not gonna spell it out for you. We call it "dropping an N bomb" for obvious reasons, i,e. what tends to happen after such a word is spoken.
N-bomb beatdowns - a personal history
Here's where I get to the meat and potatoes of this posting. An N-bomb beat down is what follows when someone carelessly starts dropping N-bombs. The first time I witnessed an N-bomb beatdown was when I was in Okinawa. I was drinking with my team leader, Daryl, who for some reason is a giant douchebag magnet. When he goes to a bar, the biggest douchebag within a mile radius comes up and wants to be pals. It's kinda weird cuz Daryl, while sometimes a douchebag, especially when drunk, isn't an idiot. Anyway, so the biggest douchebag in Kinville comes up to Daryl and starts takling to him. We were in a bar called Bounds, which was rap/hip-hop, and as a result tended to attract the clientelle associated with that kind of music, i,e. a lot of black guys. I enjoyed the bar because I was friends with the owner, the bartenders, and there was a fight there every single night. Without fail. So anyway, megadouchebag-guy is talking to Daryl and I'm only kinda half paying attention, and I start noticing that the guy is droppin a lot of N-bombs. Like A LOT. So I turned around to make it clear that I had nothing to do with the guy. Daryl was putting up with it for some reason - maybe he just didn't wanna be rude. So a friend of ours named Jackson comes up and asks Daryl, "Hey, are you with this guy?" and Daryl says, "No, why?" and Jackson says "Cuz he's about to get beat down.." So douchebagman goes outside for some reason, and like 10 black guys follow him out. Before he could explain himself he was unconscious in the middle of the street, and the group that did the damage came back in and returned to drinking.
So that was the first time I saw it. The second time was the other night. This one was actually a lot more funny because I don't think the guy was really a raging racist like the dude in Okinawa. This guy was looking for a reaction, and he got waaaay more than he bargained for. So I was drinking at Pure, which is an all you can drink place that I used to go to a lot when I lived in Tokyostan. I noticed this fat dude earlier in the night, and also noticed that he was REALLY shitfaced. So later I'm standing at the bar and the bouncers are trying to get him to leave, and he won't. The bouncers impressed me all night long with their patience for this guy - they really put up with a lot of shit from him. Anyway, they finally get him out, and about 30 minutes later I decide that it's time to enjoy my favorite Japanese cuisine - convenience store sandwiches. So I cruise outside and the fat guy is causing trouble outside. I walk past, get my sandwiches, and stand there watching the action unfold. Apparently this guy got kicked out cuz he was grabbin on girls. Pure doesnt put up with that, because if girls are afraid to come there, then guys won't come either (duh). They kinda have a lot on their plate because since its all you can drink, a lot of foreigners come there and get horribly shitfaced, so it's a deliate balance. Anyway, there's a camera outside the bar that plays a live image to the police station just down the street, so the bouncers were being VERY careful, just trying to usher this guy away. The guy didn't want to leave, and kept screaming for them to "produce a witness." Yeah, this guy was British. So he and the manager scuffle a little bit, but the manager refrains from kicking teh bejesus out of this guy. Again, I was struck by how patient the bouncers were because they could have, by all rights, broken this guys arms loong before. So finally he's had enough, so he makes his closing statement, which was something like "I'll take you and you and you on any day!" and then he said something about a "nigger sandwich." I don't quite know what this is, though I could probably speculate, and don't quite know why he said it, but what happened after that was VERY fast. The bouncers were taking a VERY non-aggressive posture with this guy from the get go, but as soon as he said that, just as someone said "Oh, you done fucked up now," a white bouncer and a black bouncer sprinted at him, pushed him into a recessed area, and beat the absolute dogshit out of this guy. It was easily the quickest I've seen people go from really passive to super agressive and violent. At this point I was eating kimchi out of a plastic box and giggled to myself like a little kid. Mr N-bomb Sandwich laid on the ground for quite a while before he got up, and that reaction seemed acceptable enough because by the time he managed to get up and walk away he did it without so much as a backward glance.
I like it when people say "it's just a word, they use it so I can use it." Well, I wish I had a video camera with me. Something told me he was going to resort to it, because he REALLY wanted a reaction from these guys, which is why I stuck around. Anyone who doesn't think that "words can hurt" should witness an N-bomb beatdown, or better yet, be on the business end of one, to see just how bad they can hurt, and may sometimes result in a person laying in a puddle of their own piss and shit in an alley in Shibuya... :)
So yeah, the Adventures continue, even if they're in a different context. I'm gonna go to Osaka tomorrow so maybe I'll have more adventures to report on from there. Take care--
I never really met someone's inner klansman until I joined the Marines. I mean, maybe I did, but they weren't typically people that I worked with or interacted with or, in some cases, respected as people. I don't think that being in the military really correlates with a high amount of racists - maybe the typical person who joins the Marines is just a little more outspoken / doesn't really give a shit if someone thinks they're a bigot. In any case, alcohol + rap videos will definitely bring out someone's inner klansman, regardless of their socio-economic class/education level. I'm not saying everyone has an inner klansman, cuz I certainly don't, but you'd be surprised at what people will utter while intoxicated.
We used to refer to it as "dropping an N bomb" when someone would say the N word. That's right, the N word. If you still don't know what I'm talking about after reading the above paragraph, you're probably a little thick, but I'm not gonna spell it out for you. We call it "dropping an N bomb" for obvious reasons, i,e. what tends to happen after such a word is spoken.
Here's where I get to the meat and potatoes of this posting. An N-bomb beat down is what follows when someone carelessly starts dropping N-bombs. The first time I witnessed an N-bomb beatdown was when I was in Okinawa. I was drinking with my team leader, Daryl, who for some reason is a giant douchebag magnet. When he goes to a bar, the biggest douchebag within a mile radius comes up and wants to be pals. It's kinda weird cuz Daryl, while sometimes a douchebag, especially when drunk, isn't an idiot. Anyway, so the biggest douchebag in Kinville comes up to Daryl and starts takling to him. We were in a bar called Bounds, which was rap/hip-hop, and as a result tended to attract the clientelle associated with that kind of music, i,e. a lot of black guys. I enjoyed the bar because I was friends with the owner, the bartenders, and there was a fight there every single night. Without fail. So anyway, megadouchebag-guy is talking to Daryl and I'm only kinda half paying attention, and I start noticing that the guy is droppin a lot of N-bombs. Like A LOT. So I turned around to make it clear that I had nothing to do with the guy. Daryl was putting up with it for some reason - maybe he just didn't wanna be rude. So a friend of ours named Jackson comes up and asks Daryl, "Hey, are you with this guy?" and Daryl says, "No, why?" and Jackson says "Cuz he's about to get beat down.." So douchebagman goes outside for some reason, and like 10 black guys follow him out. Before he could explain himself he was unconscious in the middle of the street, and the group that did the damage came back in and returned to drinking.
So that was the first time I saw it. The second time was the other night. This one was actually a lot more funny because I don't think the guy was really a raging racist like the dude in Okinawa. This guy was looking for a reaction, and he got waaaay more than he bargained for. So I was drinking at Pure, which is an all you can drink place that I used to go to a lot when I lived in Tokyostan. I noticed this fat dude earlier in the night, and also noticed that he was REALLY shitfaced. So later I'm standing at the bar and the bouncers are trying to get him to leave, and he won't. The bouncers impressed me all night long with their patience for this guy - they really put up with a lot of shit from him. Anyway, they finally get him out, and about 30 minutes later I decide that it's time to enjoy my favorite Japanese cuisine - convenience store sandwiches. So I cruise outside and the fat guy is causing trouble outside. I walk past, get my sandwiches, and stand there watching the action unfold. Apparently this guy got kicked out cuz he was grabbin on girls. Pure doesnt put up with that, because if girls are afraid to come there, then guys won't come either (duh). They kinda have a lot on their plate because since its all you can drink, a lot of foreigners come there and get horribly shitfaced, so it's a deliate balance. Anyway, there's a camera outside the bar that plays a live image to the police station just down the street, so the bouncers were being VERY careful, just trying to usher this guy away. The guy didn't want to leave, and kept screaming for them to "produce a witness." Yeah, this guy was British. So he and the manager scuffle a little bit, but the manager refrains from kicking teh bejesus out of this guy. Again, I was struck by how patient the bouncers were because they could have, by all rights, broken this guys arms loong before. So finally he's had enough, so he makes his closing statement, which was something like "I'll take you and you and you on any day!" and then he said something about a "nigger sandwich." I don't quite know what this is, though I could probably speculate, and don't quite know why he said it, but what happened after that was VERY fast. The bouncers were taking a VERY non-aggressive posture with this guy from the get go, but as soon as he said that, just as someone said "Oh, you done fucked up now," a white bouncer and a black bouncer sprinted at him, pushed him into a recessed area, and beat the absolute dogshit out of this guy. It was easily the quickest I've seen people go from really passive to super agressive and violent. At this point I was eating kimchi out of a plastic box and giggled to myself like a little kid. Mr N-bomb Sandwich laid on the ground for quite a while before he got up, and that reaction seemed acceptable enough because by the time he managed to get up and walk away he did it without so much as a backward glance.
I like it when people say "it's just a word, they use it so I can use it." Well, I wish I had a video camera with me. Something told me he was going to resort to it, because he REALLY wanted a reaction from these guys, which is why I stuck around. Anyone who doesn't think that "words can hurt" should witness an N-bomb beatdown, or better yet, be on the business end of one, to see just how bad they can hurt, and may sometimes result in a person laying in a puddle of their own piss and shit in an alley in Shibuya... :)
So yeah, the Adventures continue, even if they're in a different context. I'm gonna go to Osaka tomorrow so maybe I'll have more adventures to report on from there. Take care--
8 Comments:
Perhaps, amidst the noise and confusion, you, the outside observer, the witness, enjoying your seat,in the trance of the spectator, a seasoned imbiber enjoying that much needed post drinkathon snack, a mixture of alcohol and sex in your blood, surrounded by the infinite cacophony of sidewalk Tokyo, misunderstood the portly English bastard, (which is quite easy to do even when the English are sober), and what he really said was, “I’ll show you a Knuckle Sandwich.”
I would say the bouncers, could have misinterpreted him as well, but saw an easy target and over reacted. We all know how secretly bouncers have got to be gigantic ego maniacs, and being a “cool” bouncer, hardly ever means being a “cool” guy to hang out with. I’ll say that every once in a while you’ll meet a bouncer who is “normal”, but highly unlikely for such a “cool” hotspot such as Pure.
Quite frankly, I have to admit, I’ve never heard anyone use the (“N-bomb” –sandwich) combo. It may be something archaic I suppose.
I’m no etymologist; however I’m aware of the negative connotations surrounding this particular locution. I believe it is quite evident that this type of violent reaction to a verbal assault is exactly what makes this word so stigmatic and powerful. It is also quite evident that there have been little attempts to dethrone the evil king “N-bomb”. I have noticed the word has become quite popular since its younger Tom Sawyer days, recently appearing in various songs and film, it is often used peacefully among hip hop culture, and appears to have become the African American version of that ever so popular Californian surfer term “dude”, it was even the title of a book published a few years back, “N-bomb” by Dick Gregory. And to say that America has overcome racism, a good experiment could be to pay a white man a substantial amount of money, give him a t-shirt with the word “N-bomb” printed on the front and back, and have him walk around any large cosmopolitan area for a couple hours. I can only assume the results would be quite tragic for the test subject, possibly similar to what your Englishman endured. One has to ask, do people really want to de-value this word? It does not appear so.
I disagree with the tone of your descriptive narrative. Forgive me if I also may have “heard you wrong”, but it appears that the poor Englishman is the evil antagonist and was rightly served justice by the Noble Bouncers.
Your story is the perfect example of why we still have racial problems. Maybe you could go back and interview the bouncer who was offended so profoundly that he chose to take arms against the obnoxious lush, and find out what his core moral base is, why he allowed, or is allowing such a word, when used as an insult, to send him into a violent defensive frenzy, and what exactly is he protecting. It would be very interesting to learn what he has to say. With a little investigative work, you could track down the hospital where the Englishman is staying, and interview him as well. Assuming he did detonate the “N-bomb”, maybe you could find out why, he chose to use such a word at such a particular point in time. You could also ask him if he clearly realizes now, such a word should never be used in such a context, and is he thankful that the black man was able to help him better understand this.
The questions are, at what point do we, (those who consider ourselves anti-racial, fun loving, global citizens) decide to take action and put a stop to such ignorant human behavior and how will we do it.
I recommend inviting both, the bouncer and the Englishman, (provided he is in stable condition) over for some coffee or tea, and a couple episodes of the Dave Chappelle show.
Best Regards,
Lando Calrission
Mr Calrissian,
You are my new hero. Would you mind identifying yourself?
Dear Tokyo Gay-chin,
1.locution: (noun) word, phrase, or idiom
2.location: (noun) place, position, spot, scene
3.dyslexia: (noun) abnormal difficulty in reading and spelling
Sayonara,
John Blackthorne
A Post On Post-Racism Anti-racists -- the view from those of us who really (honestly really) don't give a shit how curly or straight your hair is--
wow. what happens when black racism is a thing of the past? what will we have to do? what will we have to sing about? what will young white outspoken students 'of the world' have to fight against, rage against, make other people feel stupid and bad about??
as long as it's kosher and 'totally understandable' for someone to take a bat to someone over two syllables (nig-ger if you forgot what we were talking about) racism will be our friend, here keeping us warm and busy raging.
imagine how sad a day it would be when a couple of dudes, white and black and whatever are just hanging around, laughing, talking, maybe eating lunch, and some shit head hillbilly walks up drunk and mutters a whole slew of profanities, including your favorite, nigger. imagine how sad it would be if the guys eating lunch just look at the guy, chuckle, whisper to themselves, 'how pathetic', and get back to what they were doing. that would be sad wouldn't it? what if we could NOT empower everyone who was lucky enough to acquire the ability of speech?
sure, as long as your neat little duality exists, nigger meaning dude for 15% of the population and meaning whatever else you want for the rest, the divide between the dark ones and the light ones will go on and you'll have something to do, to identify yourself against. sweet. but you'll be propping up the very thing you bang your head against. maybe thats the plan. as long as it's 'cool' for them and not for the others, you support the whole set-up.. them at one lunch table howling nigger, you at the other ready to bat anyone that does. what a wonderful world.
PS- if you missed it, god-fearing, black-fearing america just reelected a man who has 'dutch-irish' in his cabinet. those racists! they get what they deserve.. the state department run by dutch irish for 8 years! ... umm.. in reality.. maybe some people are actually getting over the whole black/white thing??
nah! fuck that ! thats no fuN! we won't stand for it! let's rage! where are the bats?!
Cripes.. Just to clarify, I don't cruise around beating up white supremecists, but I do get a kick out of it when I see people held accountable for their words. I suppose it would be nice if, in some fantasy world, a "word was just a word," but that's not the case. I'm sure even relatively pacifistic people would be a bit offended if, when at a park with their daughter, some dude strolled up and said, "I wanna assrape your daughter, what's the going price?" I don't know too many fathers who would chuckle and say, "Fufufu, what a pathetic individual!" This is a very unlikely situation of course, but then again, I'd like to think that someone dropping an N-bomb to get a black guy "riled up" is pretty unlikely too.
My main overall point(s):
1) A word is not "just a word"
2) I get a kick out of seeing people being held accountable for their words, because these days words are cheap and people think they can say whatever the christ they want without any consequences.
ps: I liked the John Blackthrone reference, though I confess I had to google it. I'm such a fraud :(
reviewing my previous post i sense a hint of aggression in my tone. forgive me. something in the original post must have grabbed my B-sack just right. i actually remember the last time someone tried to buy an hour with my daughter. you're right, it hurt. but the money sure came in handy. i guess that's life. i had actually expected you to lash out at me for my observations, but you were controlled and moderate. nice. nice is cool.
Lash out? Me?? Well, if your post was unoriginal/banal/hilljackish/generic left wing pamphlet propaganda/etc, then yes, there would have been some lash outtage. But originality goes a really long way with me, even if I don't necessarily agree with it.
While the idea of a Jewish guy, a black guy, a mexican guy, and a white guy enjoying a picnic of baklava and yakisoba chuckling at and dismissing the jokes of a decked-out-in-robes Grand Dragon's burning cross/holocaust jokes is a nice image, it's still kinda teletubbyish. (Was that a run-on?) Sorry, that world shown on the teletubby show is the only place where I could see that happening... And the people at the picnic would probably be the graduating class from the Barney show, because let's be realistic, where besides Barney, Sesame Street, and lame commercials do people with those backgrounds hang out? Maybe an international festival or something - that's where the baklava and yakisoba comes in...
Alright, I'm getting off track. I'm hungry and kinda hung over.
The situation you described is a grown man calling out another grown man to fight. Or maybe even many men. The concept is personal accountability is good to go. If you challenge someone to fight, don't pretend to be surprised when a fight ensues. That's why you don't make threats lightly. Fights hurt.
When folks are fall-down drunk, we have to cut 'em some slack though. There's not a whole lot of glory in smashing someone when they are out of their mind.
I don't know how drunk he was cause I wasn't there and I don't really care. My main point is that I agree with you. Words have meaning. We can't pretend like they don't.
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