Augie invited me to go with him to a tattoo convention when I was 18 years old. This particular convention was one that he went to every year up in northern Wisconsin. That year, he invited me to tag along with him. So, we grabbed some friends and off we went.

My curiosity was on full speed during the ride up there. I knew that I would be in a room surrounded by a bunch of  people with tattoos all over and piercings everywhere, but I never expected that I would come face to face with a seriously pissed off member of the Outlaw bike club AND that I was the one that pissed him off.

Did you know that bike clubs frown upon you trying to take their picture? Well, let me tell you….they do! I learned a very good lesson that day and it’s one that I will never forget! Hell, I’ve learned this lesson so well that I’m still not all that comfortable with making eye contact for too long with anyone in a bike club and it happened over 20 years ago. Here’s what happened…..

I had been walking around the convention hall checking out all of the people, snapping pictures and taking it all in when I spied a clutch of bikers down by the Harley Davidson display. They were all standing around laughing and drinking their beers while their ladies gathered next to them. I have to admit, I was so captivated. Scenes from a movie where Sam Elliot played this biker guy dating Cher kept popping in my head. I whipped out my camera.

It took me some time to align my shot because I wanted to capture something edgy. In my mind, I was about to snap a photo worthy of a magazine cover. It wasn't until I moved a bit to my right that I caught the eye of one of the guys through the view finder. This was it! This was going to be the perfect shot!  As I adjusted the focus, he came towards me with serious intent in his eye.

He was walking at such a quick pace that he kept going in and out of focus. Before I knew it, his belly had engulfed my view finder. All I saw was black. Just then I heard Augie say, “I’m sorry, man. She didn’t know. I swear.” I peeked up from my camera and looked at both of them with stark confusion. Didn’t know what??

The guy, who matched Augie’s six foot three frame, looked down at me, then back to Augie and said, “Keep an eye on your bitch.” Bitch? Who the fuh…..Augie had my arm and was pulling me back to where our friends were waiting, apologizing to the guy as we walked away. What the hell just happened?

He flat out told me that I came real close to getting my ass kicked. He explained that the guy didn’t want his picture taken because more than likely, he was wanted for some kind of illegal activity. I could feel my eyes budge out of my head because this is what I heard him say….You could’ve been killed by someone who could’ve killed somebody!

Thank goodness this happened on the last day of the convention. I was so overcome with terror at the meager thought of running into that guy again that I couldn't wait to get the hell out of there. Lesson learned! But that would only be the first of many lessons. I got schooled at a lot of things!