People Lurking in the Shadows

I went to my trusty Thesaurus to look-up the synonyms and antonyms of the word 'terrorist.'  I could not find 'terrorist;' only terror. Terror is fear, alarm, dismay, horror, dread or fright.  I checked a second Thesaurus and still no 'terrorist' word listed. I certainly wish to have at least one additional synonym for 'terrorist'...something will pop up, surely.

Meanwhile fear of stuff, horror of situations or fright of some people is nothing new; we had those fears, and horrors 'back-in-the-day' just as we do today. School bullies (then and now) are not a new phenomenon. Usually, the bully was disarmed when stood up to or a bigger boy in the neighborhood stepped into the mix. I recall two gang-groups feared back in the 1950's East St. Louis. The 'Dukes' and 'Pachukes' were greasers who sported 'duck-tail' haircuts and some noticeable gang-member tattoo. Interestingly, these 'gang-guys' were tough when presented in groups but lost some courage when isolated one-on-one.

Recently, I viewed that television program hosted by Chris Hansen (NBC) which deals with trapping pedophiles attempting to 'hook-up' with young kids; nothing new!!  I remember once waiting in a ticket line at St. Paul's Social Center in East St. Louis. I was waiting for the doors to open for a professional wrestling match event that night. I was 13 years-old. My friends already had their advanced tickets and waited for me to meet them inside the Center. I must have been in line for 10-minutes when an older gentleman standing behind me tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I had ever had 'oral-sex?' I cursed him and called him a couple of choice names; he left the line immediately and disappeared into the night. Once inside the arena, I told my friends what had happened and 'Poochie' Gigalotto was pissed. At intermission, I spotted the guy who had made the 'sick' remark and pointed him out to my buddies. 'Poochie' walked over to the guy and dropped the guy's ass to the floor with a right-hand to his jaw. 'Poochie' then walked to the concession counter and bought a 'Baby Ruth' candy bar and went back to his seat. Me, Terry and Eddie each got a bag of peanuts and a bottle of Pepsi; we all liked to pour the peanuts into the soda and then eat and drink as we swigged. World Champion pro-wrestler, Lou Thesz was the featured wrestler that night. Thesz was a St. Louis native.

I guess the first ever 'terrorist' attack that I recall in my lifetime was that 'sneaky-surprise' attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. Of course more recently, we have had similar terrorists attacks; 911, Atlanta and Oklahoma City bombings and this week's Boston Marathon bomb-attack...oh, Oh, OH, I just thought of that synonym for terrorist>>>CHICKEN SHIT!! It's an East St. Louis (street) colloquialism. Hot Damn, I knew something would come to mind!!