by Darcia Helle
How well do we really know the people we frequently interact with? This is the question my parents and many of their friends are asking themselves these days.
We live in New Port Richey, Florida, which is a small city in Tampa Bay. My parents are members of a private club here in town. The club has approximately 1,500 members, though only a small percentage could be considered regulars. Many of the members are “snowbirds”, spending the summer months in northern states. Consequently, the club rarely reaches its 300-person capacity during our sticky humid summer nights.
The majority of members are middle-aged to senior citizens. This is not a young, boisterous crowd. There are no bouncers at the door or security personnel wandering about. You won’t find bathroom drug deals or parking lot brawls. In fact, you won’t even find late-night parties. For the most part, the evenings include an early dinner, a band, dancing, some drinking, and people home by ten. Not an environment conducive to bar fights, which is just one of the things that makes the events of June 2 so baffling.
This particular Monday night was fairly quiet at the club. The band was playing, people were dancing, drinks were poured and enjoyed. The atmosphere was, as usual, happy and lighthearted. One couple in attendance was 84-year-old Audrey Nichols and her much younger boyfriend. Audrey apparently felt the music was too loud that night. She complained to her boyfriend, who in turn got up and complained to the band. This is not the protocol for complaints at the club. If members have a problem, they are to go to an elected trustee. If one is not in attendance, the complaint should be taken to the bartender. But breaking protocol does not explain what happened next.
At approximately 8:45 p.m., bartender Patricia Smith approached Audrey and her boyfriend. Patty was upset that Audrey hadn’t followed protocol, and admonished her for bothering the band. Audrey’s response to this was to call Patty a “bitch”.
A rational, professional reaction to the insult would have been to go back behind the bar. Bartenders at the club are effectively in charge. Patty could have reported Audrey’s behavior and had her membership revoked. She could have called the police and had Audrey escorted out. But this is not what happened. The details differ some, but here is what we know for fact: Patty grabbed Audrey by the arm to usher her out of the club. Audrey, a frail woman under hospice care, resisted. She lost her balance. Patty proceeded to drag her out the first door and into the foyer. At that point Audrey’s boyfriend pulled Patty away, and Audrey was left lying on the floor.
This reaction to being sworn at is not only irrational but, by all accounts, is totally out of character for the bartender. Patty has served drinks at the club for several years and has never once shown the slightest inkling of aggression. Her boss, the head bartender is shocked, as are the members. My parents tell me that Patty was always smiling, always joking with the club members. Everyone liked her and no one understands how or why the exchange between Patty and Audrey escalated to such extremes.
Police were immediately called to the scene. Due to conflicting witness statements, at that time police did not have probable cause to arrest Patty. Audrey was taken to the hospital, where she was treated for assorted minor injuries.
Later, the damning surveillance video was viewed by police. Patty was arrested on Friday, June 6, and charged with ‘battery on a person 65 or older’. She has since been released on $5,000 bail.
Patty claims that Audrey was the first to get physical. After Audrey called her a bitch, Patty says: “Next thing I know…the lady slapped me. And then she grabbed my clothes and tried to rip my clothes off.” This claim, however, is not supported by any of the surveillance cameras inside the club. At this time, it’s unclear as to whether witnesses can or will corroborate her version of events.
Regardless of who did or didn’t strike first, no one is arguing that Patty’s behavior was justified. Except, perhaps, Patty herself, which further baffles the people who thought they knew her. Patty claims she was merely escorting the obnoxious woman outside. “And about that time she [Audrey] lost her balance. She fell on the floor. I just dragged her a couple of inches to get her through the door.”
Even those who like Patty have to admit that “just” dragging her “a couple of inches” is not what the video shows. Nor is it exactly a statement of remorse.
In fairness to Patty, Audrey Nichols has a reputation for stirring up trouble. Word is that she’d already had her membership revoked from a different club. She is not the blameless victim the media has made her out to be. Still, being obnoxious is not reason enough to warrant an assault.
Patty Smith
Club members are further shocked by Patty’s physical appearance on local news. In interviews, she looks rugged, rough, almost thuggish. In viewing these images and listening to her interviews, someone who doesn’t know Patty would easily be forgiven for jumping to the conclusion that she’s the sort of person who has a nasty temperament. According to those who regularly interacted with her, this image of her is out of place. She’d always looked put together and, some say, “cute”.
All this leaves us wondering who the real Patricia Smith is. Granted, we all have a slightly different work persona, but rarely do we stray that far from our true personality. Or maybe we do. How well do we really know one another?
We might never know what prompted a seasoned, even-tempered bartender to suddenly snap as she did. Patty has been fired and will likely have a difficult time finding a new job. Hindsight, of course, is a glorious thing. Patty now says, “I never thought this would happen in a million years. I did not want to hurt that lady in any way.” But “hurt that lady” is exactly what she did. Now a lot of people are left shaking their heads in bewilderment, wondering if they’d missed the signs that Patty was anything other than the happy, well-adjusted bartender and friend they thought her to be.
Please click to below to view Darcia’s Helle’s many excellent posts:
Frank Lloyd Wright and the Great Gasoline Mass Murder
“The Wrong Carlos”: Non-Violent Manchild Executed for Murder He Did Not Commit
The Electric Chair Nightmare: An Infamous and Agonizing History
Autopsies: Truth, Fiction and Maura Isles and Her 5-Inch-Heels
Don’t Crucify Me, Dude! Just Shoot Me Instead! Spartacus and Death by Crucifixion
To Burn or Not to Burn? Auto-Da-Fé Is Not Good for Women or Children!
The Disgraceful Entrapment of Jesse Snodgrass: Keep the Narcs Out of Our Schools
Why Should I Believe You? The History of the Polygraph
“Don’t Behead Me, Dude!”: The Story of Beheading and the Invention of the Guillotine
Aileen Wuornos, America’s First High-Profile Female Serial Killer, Never Had a Chance
The Terror of ISO: A Descent into Madness
Al Capone Could Not Bribe the Rock: Alcatraz, Fortress of Doom
Cyberspace, Darknet, Murder-for-Hire and the Invisible Black Machine
Darcia Helle lives in a fictional world with a husband who is sometimes real. Their house is ruled by spoiled dogs and cats and the occasional dust bunny.
Suspense, random blood splatter and mismatched socks consume Darcia’s days. She writes because the characters trespassing through her mind leave her no alternative. Only then are the voices free to haunt someone else’s mind.
Join Darcia in her fictional world: www.QuietFuryBooks.com
The characters await you.