Names of all individuals will be changed, just in case they have issues with my personal accounts of the event.
The experience that keeps on giving. No, I'm not talking STD or anything, but I am talking about the experiences that occur following an MMA event. For those of you who don't know, MMA stands for Mixed Martial Arts (aka Ultimate fighting, Grappling, Cage fighting; as cited by Wikipidia). Let me explain:
Pre-Fight Night:
I was asked via a txt msg if I would attend the MMA event with a friend (for the sake of not getting confused, let me just call her Grace). Grace's company was anti-substance abuse company was sponsoring the event and she had to go. Apparently, she HAD to go and had no one else to go with her. Me, MMA is not my thing...at all. I didn't want to go and didn't know how my week will end up, so I txtd her back saying, "Sorry, I can't go with you. Get your 'flirt' on cuz there is tons of men and try to have fun."
Afternoon of Fight Night:
I've done all my work and I can now go play. I make plans with Pepper, take one car, and head to town to do some errands. On the way over Pepper attempts to convince me that we should attend this MMA fight with Grace. (To lengthy to really go into the details) But, a trusting friend made her feel guilty and suggested that she really go. Stuck in the car, I figure "Do I really have a choice in the matter? I don't have my own car to bail the frack out if I had to." Pepper offered me an out with her car. I thought, "Ok, call Grace and tell her we're coming." I figured Grace to be happy about this, now, I'm not really sure how she felt.
2 hours before the Fight:
Grace decides to leave her car at work (already, this was a bad move). We pick her up, get stuck in after-work traffic, and get lost on the way finding the venue. Grace had to look up directions on MapQuest. I make it known, that MapQuest is not always accurate, but how lost can we really get?
So far, everything is going a bit ok. I'm a bit apprehensive but open to the possibilities. Pepper's getting nervous and has to smoke a cigi. We get lost and it appears we have to double back from where we came. We're stuck at a red light !CAPOW! we get rear-ended. In the midst of our minor collision, Grace is on the phone with the event marketer and she seems to ignore what just happened. Pepper and I get out to investigate and fortunately, no damage (Good thing we were in a big SUV with a tail hitch. I think this saved us for sure). We get back in the car, I'm beginning to feel anxious and I think I hurt my body in the collision.
Ok...(fast forward a bit)...more angst...tension...smoking...drinking day-old cocktail mix to calm the nerves...more smoking...wishing I had something stronger to calm me down. My spidey senses told me that there was a TON of energy surrounding this venue.
(Fast forward more) We, (3 adult ladies, who have never attended a fight like this before) end up sitting in the front row, four feet away from the frackin cage! AAGGHHH! I'm feeling very nervous, apprenhensive of the matter, anxious, and really in need of some valium.
The Fights Begin:
Really? Yes, really? The guys got his arm broke already. They come rolling up along the fence in front of us. The crowd is yelling "Cut off his air, cut off his air." Really? Oh my frackin gosh. Pepper and I are in complete shock. I feel my heart racing faster. Grace, appears to be unphased by the whole thing. Pepper's eyes are wide open, my hands are clutched over my chest. YIKES! We have to leave...we have to leave. I look at the time, we have to leave. Time to go? Get me the frack outta here!
Post Fight shenanigans:
Pepper and I are in absolute shock. Still not sure how Grace is really feeling about the events of the evening; fender-bender, fight...don't know how she's feeling. The drive home wasn't the best ride home; it was filled with utter shock, tensed feelings, anger, disbelief. It was a LONG drive back home.
Days following the fight:
PTSD. I thought I was on the verge of an anxiety attack. I did some deep breathing. I couldn't get away from the traumatic events. Suddenly MMA stuff was everywhere. On TV, at the check-out counter, EVERYWHERE! EVERYDAY! Pepper says it's like a cancer.
Not only have I experienced emotional trauma, but also physcial trauma (I'll post pix later). And so has Pepper!
Well...after all this, I can only say that it was a learning experience.
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