I Don't Feel Scary

The other night I was at a brewery, trying to enjoy my beer, when the sounds of obnoxious tween/teens playing some sort of loud popping clap game started getting on my nerves.

They were there because their parents had decided to have a birthday party in the brewery's tasting room.

They were nowhere near their parents making all this noise.

So I decided to, politely, ask one of the adults if they could, perhaps, get their crotch fruit to play somewhere else, like the outside area of the place.

One parent grabs their kids, says they're sorry, and drags them away.

Another is like, "what the fuck?!"

Marv tries to explain that I have hearing issues and his reply is, "I did two tours in Iraq when I was in the Marines and I'm fine!"

So I replied, "try stepping on a landmine."  Because the sound was reminding me of the pop of a bounder.  I think, now, that he thought I was inviting him to step on a mine immediately.

Mr Marine squares up and... visibly reconsiders.  Then he just leaves with his kid to elsewhere in the bar.

I'm thinking, "well, I'm going to get my ass kicked."  Then it doesn't happen.

This sort of thing has happened to me before and I wonder if I look a lot more frightening than I feel when such things are developing.

I am not actually frightening, but I appear to have mastered an effective defensive display.