Uncle Bob's Liberty Trip to L.A.

The last time I saw Uncle Bob around 1999, we talked about me living on the West Coast.  He then related his story about the only time he'd been to Los Angeles.  It was during World War II and he was serving in the merchant marine.  They docked in San Pedro, probably to pick up war supplies to take to the Pacific theatre.  The crew were given liberty and they took the Red Car into Los Angeles.

Right away they headed for the bars on Broadway.  There were other sailors in town and in the particular bar that Uncle Bob picked, there was a sailor talking to a girl at the bar.  She obviously worked for the bar and was getting him to buy her overpriced drinks.  Uncle Bob noticed that in addition, the bartender was ripping the sailor off on his change.  Uncle Bob called him on it and that started a row.

The bouncer came after Uncle Bob, but after having grown up with four older brothers, Uncle Bob knew how to take care of himself.  Bob got a hold of the bouncer by his thumbs and bent them back.  The bouncer went down to his knees and couldn't do anything else.  Meanwhile someone had called the cops and they came in.  As they were taking everyone out, Bob accidentally stepped on the police captain's foot.  To make it worse, the captain had a corn on that foot, so it was pretty painful and he was pissed.  So Uncle Bob got to spend his only day in L.A. behind bars.  The next day, they sent him back to his ship.