Lisa Gallagher

7 years ago · 5 min. reading time · 0 ·

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Our Trip To Ft. Lauderdale and What Could Have Been a Fatal Encounter

Our Trip To Ft. Lauderdale and What Could Have Been a Fatal Encounter

I was talking to a friend of mine from Canada this evening and we were reminiscing about a wild time we had when we vacationed in Florida right after I graduated from High School. We met in Ohio when we were young girls because our fathers were friends from childhood on up. My friend's mother was Canadian but agreed to live with her new husband in the States after they married. 

Eventually, my Canadian friend and her family moved back to Canada permanently. At some point, my friend's parents divorced. Her dad moved back to Ohio and she, along with the rest of her siblings and mom continued to live in Northbay, Ontario Canada.  I was lucky because I never lost contact with my Canadian friend, Cathy. She would come to Ohio each summer and spend two weeks with me. I was a bit of a wild child (in a fun way) back then. Cathy and I decided we wanted to fly to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida after graduation.  


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I chose to vacation in Ft. Lauderdale over going to my High School graduation but that's a subject for another blog. 

We were only 18 years old, young and naive. But hey, we knew it all at that age, right, or so we thought! Even though we were of legal age to drink at that time, we weren't able to rent a car, oops. We met two gals that were 21 years old, hung out with them on the beach during the day and would catch a ride to dinner or nightclubs with them in the evenings. 

The French Restaurant and our handsome waiters

One afternoon my friend Cathy and I took a taxi to a French Restaurant because we were so worldly, NOT. We sat down at our seats in the Restaurant surrounded by beautiful ferns indoors looking out onto the grounds which were well groomed with beautiful flowers and of course Palm Trees. We had 2 waiters who handed us our menus. The menus were in French and we didn't know how to read french, so our waiters patiently explained the items on the menu. I listened but obviously my friend, Cathy wasn't listening. When her food arrived, Cathy ended up with soup and 2 salads. She was pissed! I told her she should have listened to what they were saying. She was too busy watching the eye candy instead of listening. Yes, these guys were sexy. I guess some would say she was smitten. I thought they were sexy too but I always had a way of holding back and pretending not to notice. I guess our waiters thought we weren't bad looking either because they spent most of their time at our table flirting and they appeared so gentlemanly. Right before we were ready to pay for our bill both waiters (one was from France) and his name was Michele asked us if we wanted to hit a club with them later? My friend was quick to say YES, like a dog panting for more food! I had reservations about going out with 2 guys that were older than us and we barely knew. So, we compromised and I asked where they would be and we would take a taxi and meet them there. They tried their hardest to talk us out of taking a taxi because you know, they were admirable guys that we could trust- why should we pay for a taxi when they could pick us up? We agreed on the taxi to meet up with them. 

A decision that could have been fatal

Cathy and I showed up at the club around 10 pm that evening. Our two sexy guys were there waiting for us. They bought us our drinks and we danced our arses off. They were both so much fun and they looked sexier after a few drinks or 10? But hell no, we weren't drunk. Ok, yes we were very drunk... mistake number one! Hello, my clear thinking left with the summer breeze that evening.  They offered to take us back to our hotel and we took them up on the offer, hey it was a free ride! As we were driving down A1A I started seeing signs for "Miami" and that's when I asked where are you going?!! Michele with his sexy french accent said we have to stop and "Billy Bob's" house (sorry, I can't remember the other guy's name).  I remember saying, NO take us back to our hotel first. Michele said they wouldn't be long they just had to grab a few things, ya right. As soon as they pulled into the driveway of the home they told us we might as well get out because it may take a while, "Billy Bob" wants to change his clothes before we leave. Ok, my mind was in full attention mode now, and I was like seriously, WTF - just bring us back. No, that didn't happen. 

Every essence of my body/mind knew they were up to something. I felt chills run down my spine and a bit of fear once we entered the house, which by the way my friend had no reservations and kept telling me to stop being so paranoid. Once we were inside the two men sat with each of us in separate rooms, no we were not in bedrooms. I could see Michele trying to put the moves on my friend Cathy and she was telling him NO! While Michele was busy trying to put the moves on Cathy, "Billy Bob," was trying to do the same with me. "Billy Bob" kept mentioning the words "Menage a trois,"  I had no clue what that meant and kept asking "Billy Bob" what a Menage a trois was, he finally told me a 'threesome." Puke, gag- are you kidding me?!! I told Billy Bob to take us home NOW! He said I can't because Michele left and I don't have a car. Yes, Michele was the driver. In the meantime "Billy Bob" said he had to go to the bathroom and would be right back. My friend Cathy was sitting next to me on the couch at this point because her fantasy guy left. I asked why he left and Cathy told me because she wouldn't do anything sexual with him. 

I'm not going to lie, I was scared. We had no clue where we were and the idea that creepy "Billy Bob" said he couldn't bring us home was unnerving at best. Oh but it gets better... "Billy Bob" came back from the bathroom wearing only his underwear and still kept mentioning a threesome! Ok, anger took over inside of me and I told the perv to bring us back NOW or we'd rip off his underwear and pull him out of the house and lock him out. I think he realized I wasn't playing around and finally said, Ok I will get a taxi for you both. Really pervy boy, you finally realized we weren't into you and your friends perverted game? 


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At 5am the taxi showed up and we jumped safely inside. We ended up back at our hotel by 5:30 am. To this day, I still have no clue where they took us and how far we really were from the hotel.  We were lucky, they could have raped and murdered us. It's a good thing "Billy Bob" was just a drunk, geeky horny dude and not a violent person. This is a prime example of how trusting and naive younger girls can be and why they may end up in a situation they aren't able to get away from. Again, we were lucky- we must have had an angel watching over us. 

Lesson: Trust your instincts in any situation: my instincts or that gut feeling we all get were telling me NO. Unfortunately, when your young lust is so strong it can override common sense. Peer pressure is just as strong. Cathy wanted to hook up with these guys in the worst way and I gave in to her. I wish there was a magic formula that gave us insight before we encounter situations like ours but the only formula is learning from bad decisions and/or life choices. 

As a side note, I was dating my now husband at the time. That's why I wasn't attracted to these guys like my friend Cathy was. I didn't tell him about our experience until years later. I'm glad I'm still around to tell the tale. 



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Comments

Lisa Gallagher

7 years ago #18

#31
Laura Mikolaitis you are so right about stories from our past. There are many I probably wouldn't share because people would think I was a wild child ha ha! Even though there was a moral to this story, I was hoping people would get a bit of a chuckle. I laughed so hard at my friend when her food arrived. I laughed more because she was too stubborn (or her ego got in the way) to re-order her food. This restaurant was not cheap either, I can't imagine what she paid for 2 salads and a soup! Can you imagine being 18 years old and asked to participate in a threesome?!! I remember feeling so panicked and gagged at the same time. We think we are invincible when we are younger. There sure is something to be said about listening to your gut, or as some would say- your inner voice! Thanks for reading my buzz Laura.

Paul Walters

7 years ago #17

Lisa Gallagher Cool !!!!!

Lisa Gallagher

7 years ago #16

#27
Looking forward to reading it Deb Helfrich! If I miss it, please send a link!

Lisa Gallagher

7 years ago #15

#25
Alan Geller I need to stop laughing first!! OMG can you imagine... sure let me strip my clothes off... ooops forgot to tell you I still have my male parts! Thanks, I'm glad nothing happened to us as well. Lesson learned early in life!

Lisa Gallagher

7 years ago #14

#23
You're so right James McElearney, it's impossible to shield kids from everything unless they grow up in a bubble. All we can do is be aware, keep the lines of communication open and hope our actions speak louder than words. I would say I learned most of my lessons through the mistakes I did make and my mom had nothing to do with my judgements in error. Part of growing up and we can choose to learn from our mistakes or keep going down the wrong path. Like you, I think we all made our share. I'm just glad those guys fizzled and we ended up back at our hotel LOL! I have to say it was a fun vacation and first vacation I went on as 'an adult.'

Lisa Gallagher

7 years ago #13

#20
James McElearney, LOL- Not sure I wold let them out now either. Kids gamed more back then and used ICQ- I had my daughter's password- that was the deal, she could use if ONLY if we had the password. I worried so much about strange men finding her and luring her.

Lisa Gallagher

7 years ago #12

#19
If you had a similar experience Deb Helfrich when you were 20 years old in Madrid, glad your still here to tell the tale! I would LOVE to visit Madrid one day. It's on my bucket list. Did you have a lot of fun there?

Lisa Gallagher

7 years ago #11

#10
ha ha, how did you know I would have a florida tale Deb Helfrich?! Yes, being an extrovert does cause the senses to not be sensible at all when you're a teen!

Lisa Gallagher

7 years ago #10

#8
Vincent Andrew, yes someone was watching over us! Ah fathers with daughters, yes the worries because you know the psyche of boys/men! My daughter was a handful and part much of it was due to boys because too many were attracted to her and I would have been happy for her to just hang out with her girlfriends like she did when she was younger. We were strict with her and she thanks us now!

Lisa Gallagher

7 years ago #9

#7
Hi @charlene burke, I'm sure many of us made bad decisions as teens and we were lucky enough to live to tell the tales! I'm happy the name Billy Bob made you laugh. For some reason that name just seemed fitting, especially when he came back into the room wearing only his underwear. I was actually embarrassed for him LOl!

Lisa Gallagher

7 years ago #8

#6
Thanks for taking the time to read my story James McElearney, Agree, it goes to show how one bad decision could be a fatal decision. I'm glad we didn't encounter guys that had something more devious in mind.

Lisa Gallagher

7 years ago #7

#5
Julie Hickman, Thank goodness most of us make through our teen years considering the lack of common sense we had due to lack of maturity. I was watching a show on ID (Investigation Discovery) which made me remember this story when I spoke to my friend- yes it's very sad when women are preyed upon and worse yet, killed. We were lucky it didn't escalate.

Lisa Gallagher

7 years ago #6

#4
Quite wise Ken Boddie, can't disagree, youth is wasted on the young and I love your saying about dads with boys vs. dads with girls have the entire neighborhood of boys to worry about. So true. I have a son and a daughter- he never gave me cause for concern as a teen like she did!

Lisa Gallagher

7 years ago #5

#3
Irene Hackett, I don't miss those days! Many funny memories and some not so fond memories. I agree, I wish we could drill things like that into our daughters. I tried my best because I was a social butterfly and she was too. She drove me nuts in HS but she did show some common sense. I'm glad she's grown up now!!

Lisa Gallagher

7 years ago #4

#2
Dean Owen, I was dying laughing when her food came out. She pissed and moaned about it and I kept reminding her she didn't listen to the choices. I told her to re-order but she was a bit stubborn. Oh Billy Bob wasn't French, Michele was. Billy Bob was a Floridian from what I could tell ha ha.

Ken Boddie

7 years ago #3

All goes to prove, Lisa Gallagher, that youth is absolutely wasted on the young. I thank my lucky stars every day that my daughter made it to adulthood and marriage without any encounters she couldn't handle. Also reminds me of some words of wisdom if you'll indulge me. "Dads who have a boy child only have one boy in the neighbourhood to worry about, whereas dads with a girl child have all the boys in the neighbourhood to worry about." 😰

Dean Owen

7 years ago #2

I am still chuckling over the soup and two salads! Now the first signs that something was up should have been a Frenchman named Billy Bob! You almost tempted me to tell my UK politician story, similar to yours, but involving an aged gentleman with a substantial collection of leather equipment.

Lisa Gallagher

7 years ago #1

Cc: Margaret Aranda, MD, PhD

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