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Alrighty, lights, camera, action!Punta Cana 2011, staying at the Grand Paladium with a large group of friends. It’s the first time in DR for several of us, and we quickly notice the differences in how the Dominicains wheel and deal on the beach. A bunch from our gang head down the beach toward the arts & craft market one of girls had spotted earlier. The gals were looking for deals on pareos and paintings, whilst the guys’ mission was to find the cheapest rum and cigars.What could go wrong? The ladies were champions in their field of expertise (haggling)…and the boys, their testosterone flying in the wind, felt like they were going to a playoff game without the wimmins!As the guys are venturing into their chosen territory, a Caucasian shop owner comes forward smiling and yells "Allô les Canadiens!" Well, this Quebecois quickly got the attention of the 5 French-speaking Acadian fellas, who cheerily greeted him back and sauntered over for a chat. One of the guys took advantage of the opportunity of meeting a "local" and asked him where they could get rum at a good price. The chap answered that altho he sold only clothes in his shop, he DID know where they could get some at a good price a couple of doors down, should they be interested. So off they all go (I will spare the "hopping and skipping like kids in a candy shop"!). The quebecois shop owner, true to his word, brought the guys to a shop 2 doors away and introduced them to his amigo, stating that they spoke French and were friends, so to give them a fair deal. The Quebecois then bed them a wonderful visit to the area and turned around to return to his shop. What happenend next was, as they put it, like something out of a movie. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, what looked like a violent escapee from a psych ward comes running toward the Quebecois, baseball bat in hand, screaming Spanish bloody murder, and attacks him. For a split second, everyone just stepped back in horror. One of my friends, a 6ft3 RCMP, was among the group. He related that the "perp", for lack of a better word, proceeded to beat the guy with the bat-like stick, his other fist, and with kicks, absolutely purple-faced with rage. Several locals did intervene to stop the fight, and our guys were quickly told to leave before the police arrived. The RCMP buddy checked to see if the victim was tended to (minimal injuries) and they all rapidly left the area and the crowd gathering outside. Whew!
Turns out the armed man, a local rum mafioso, owned the shop across the alley from the Quebecois and had had enough of the guy for "stealing his customers" so wanted to teach him a lesson to mind his own business! Yikes! Talk about perro eat perro!
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