The year was 2005, and I was having a small get together with friends in the basement. We spent the night drinking enough beer to fill a tank at Sea World. Typically we were pretty calm drinkers, with nothing spilling out into the town or in public. It was all kept in house so we didn’t disturb anyone. We never had a severe incident, until this night of course.
We all gathered in the garage to smoke cigarettes, and grab another beer. While in the garage, someone turned on the radio to provide a soundtrack for our debauchery. To our surprise Pantera came on the radio, and I was suddenly inspired to drink more.
Attached to my mouth, I tipped the beer bottle upright and chugged the entire thing in under twenty seconds. When the bottle became empty, I smashed it on the ground in celebration of stupidity.
My friends began to watch as I leaned over and picked up the broken glass with my left hand. Pantera was getting louder, and I was getting a surge of alcohol fueled adrenaline. I held a pile of broken glass in my hand, looked at my friends with a careless grin, and squeezed the glass in my hand.
With blood trickling down my skin, everyone looked on in shock. I dropped the glass and reached for another beer. While walking away I noticed a cool breeze on my hand, but blowing almost inside my hand. I gazed down and saw the blood soaked hand, to which one of my friends suggested I clean and bandage immediately.
Running my hand under soap and water, I noticed a very large flap of skin peeled back off my finger thus exposing bone. I wiggled my finger and made the observation that it looked like the Terminator’s skeleton hand. One of my friends stated I might need stitches, while the other claimed I would be good with a simple band aid over it. Clearly I needed stitches.
After a long visit to the Emergency Room, I was sewed back up and good as new. The doctors couldn’t understand why I would do such a thing, other than simply being a dumb drunk kid. Little did they know that it was the power of Pantera which infused my blood with a surge of adrenaline.
Ive listened to Pantera several times after that without incident. Its clear that my stupidity was truly to blame, but it also provided quite a unique story. Thankfully Ive outgrown my drinking and partying days of old, but there are still plenty of stories to share for decades to come!
