I got the shit scared out of me once in an encounter group. I don't know about in other programs, but in daytop, How loud you oculd scream, was like almost your worth in a way. iT was the way you asseted yourself. Like if compared to a male ostrich, the vloume and visiousness of your scream, was like the size and beauty of feathers.. So the dudes there, worked a lot on their scream, and refined it to perfection.
Anyway, I remember this one time, we were all packed into a staff member's office for encounter group. I don't know why. It wasn y usually in there, but resulatantly, our circle was not a perfect circle. In Daytop encounter groups, there was really no warning.. People wouldn t always give a intro, so to sp4eak.. They would judt start screaming out of nowhere. The way this circle was organised, I had a guy sitting kinda behind me. He was a good screamer. His name was Dave Pitts.
He was funny. There was the rule, that you couldn t get out of your seat, just so everyone knew you weren t gonna hurt nobody. Dave use to hold onto his chair, with one arm, and violently swing his other harm while he screamed.. LOL.. His chair use to slide forward from the swining of his other arm, and he use to just sit there and go for the ride, and by the time he had worked his way into the middle, he'd stop for an instant, and slide himself back with his feet, while symultaneously catching a breathe, and then he'd start again. I use to always say he was like a humna type writer.. He had his system down pat.
Well, at that really had nothing to do with anything.. just thought it was kinda fuuny.
But anyway, this one times I was sitting behind him, and the dude starts screaming out of nowhere. I belive my nervous system almost died on that day. I nearly jumped out of my fucking skin.. I think it took me about 5 minutes just to catch my breathe.. I had no warning that was coming.
It was kinda good though, cause I interrupted Dave right in the beginning of his flipping out, and he actually couldn t continue, and for about the same 5 minutes where I was recoverring Dave was laughing his ass off.. maybe even longer then that.. The whole group was laughing their ass off.
It was the first time I saw good natured laughing in an encounter group, and it lightenned up the mood of the whole scene. I always hated those groups.
LOL.. I guess sometimes ya gotta take one for the team.
Paul St. John