In 2009, I walked by Tom sitting on some stairs in a casino and he had been drinking (nothing crazy). He is always a super fun and quirky dude, but that night he was a bit depressed about something. I patted him on the back and gave him some words of encouragement. Minutes later, my friend and I walk by him again but this time these two guys approach Tom and one of them says, "Is your name Tom Gallicchio?" Tom looked up in a sad haze and uttered, "Yes..." The guy then says to Tom, "I pinned you in high school!!!" He and his buddy walked away laughing and pointing at Tom.
I look at my friend and say, "Oh, boy. This douchebag has no idea Tom is a decorated MMA fighter now and will likely beat the piss out of this kid. I need to stop him so he doesn't get in trouble." Needless to say, Tom, after a couple of seconds of digesting what had just happened, gets up and follows the two guys. "HEY! Why don't you try pinning me NOW?" Oh, boy. I knew it. The other dude is now mouthing off and acting all tough as I hold Tom back, begging him to reconsider his next move since police were swarming the casino. I even had to tell the other kid to shut up a few times. In fact, he and I got into it also and now my own friend is holding ME back. Long story short, I love Tom and so should you.