Seriously? Grimsby Grudge Match?

You’ve heard of the Punch up at Piestany?

Well, we now have the Grimsby Grudge Match.

Now this is not on the same scale as our Junior boys kicking some Ruskie butt at the World Juniors in 1987, but it was every bit as shocking for the “spectators” on Main Street Grimsby bright and early on Monday morning.

The day started like many others for me, breakfast meeting at 8 a.m. at Grimsby Diner, my morning haunt.

A few minutes into my discussion and I hear shrieks behind me, my back to the door.

Now regulars at the diner will know this is not a wholly unusual occurrence. There are quite a few regulars and they have a good bit of fun from time to time. When the shrieks persisted I turned around to see what was going on.

“He’s keeps punching that guy!!!!”

Zoom! Everybody filtered out the door to see two seniors, and by seniors I mean grandpa-types with teenage grandkids, going at it in the alley beside CIBC.

Next thing you knew, three guys who were close by jumped in to break the men up, each dusting themselves off, and they parted to go in different directions.

To a man, and a woman, the onlookers all were gobsmacked that two seemingly placid gentlemen would opt to drop the mitts to settle any kind of dispute, but drop the mitts they did.

The universal comment, “What the heck could have occurred to bring on that situation?”

My need to know gnawing at me, I ventured down to speak with someone who, completely unbeknownst, was at the apparent centre of the storm: George at Charlie’s Barbershop.

The unofficial cause of the fisticuffs? A dispute over who was in line first for a hair cut at Charlie’s.

Being the smart butt I am, I ventured down to see George (where I have been going for 20-plus years) to discuss his new marketing strategy.

“I can see it now, George: Come to Charlie’s, Where the Haircuts are a Knockout!,” I grinned, thinking myself pretty clever.

“Of course, I need a picture of George in some bright red Everlast boxing gloves.” (Hey, Bill Culp, got a pair I can borrow?)

Now I am making light of what could have been a serious situation if one or the other fell and hit his head. It was clear there were some injuries, but nothing appeared serious. Perhaps that is the best news of all this.

But to simply paraphrase varied accounts of the morning, both men parked in front of Charlie’s before he even opened. This is not an unusual occurrence as there is often 2-3 people waiting for the crew to arrive in the morning.

George noted both men are good customers, both very nice, quiet fellas and he could not imagine what must have transpired to arrive at the end result.

That is something which nobody but those two men know.

This, strangely enough, was the second most bizarre thing I have seen on Main Street in my time here. In spring 1998, my office was located where Donna’s fashions is now. We were working late on a special magazine for Grimsby – myself, my graphics person and a sales rep – at about 1 a.m.

A fight breaks out at what was Carey’s at the time and it spilled out into the street. Within minutes, 9-10 different fights, some with multiple combatants were at full bore.

This went on for several minutes until police sirens and lights could be heard and all combatants were outta there in about 10 seconds.

It was nuts!

It felt like we were ringside for Friday Night Fights. All I was missing was a nachos and a Coke.

Anyways, George might be the only barber in Niagara that has to put a “Take a Number” dispenser outside his front door.