My dear friend Jennifer reminded me of another classic Impy moment last night. “Party like Big Chuck” is a phrase we now use to describe a bacchanalian type evening of revelry. For example, if the Patriots win the Super Bowl, I’m going to “Party like Big Chuck”. (Not literally though.) This term came to be one night when one of our local newscasters partied a little too hard here. Now as you might have guessed, his name isn’t Chuck, but I don’t want to get sued by the guy, so Chuck it is. Also, for the sake of staying out of court, this story is highly edited. However if you have lived in San Diego for any good period of time, I’m sure you can figure out who he is. Chuck was quite the character about town. Many of his live, on the street interviews left many viewers scratching their heads. He had a very un-P.C. sense of humor and the loud booming voice that would fill a room. Yep…he was “That” guy. We’ve all known one, right?
Now to the night in question…I was returning from an early night out, and as I walked up the driveway to the Imperial for a night cap, I see our man Chuck sitting on the cement bench out front with a blonde, and a woman who lives in our building. My neighbor was in his lab and his hands were all over her. His giant head was bright red and glistening with perspiration despite the fact that the night was a chilly one. In the few steps it took me to get from the sidewalk to the front door of the bar, his groping excelled from first base to rounding the bases, just sliding shy of third. The trio didn’t care who saw. It. Was. On!
The sight made me wish there was a magic bleach that would wash images from one’s memories, but alas I have yet to find such a magical concoction. I quickly went into the bar to find the next best thing, a strong drink. The debauchery continued as soon as he and the two ladies came back inside. My neighbor’s boyfriend was inside as well seemingly unaware of what our newsman had just been doing to his girlfriend. The four partied well into the night despite the apparent breaking news story in the men’s room that Chuck kept going in to investigate.
Friends of mine arrived. We sat stunned watching the show our newsman put on with his new buddies. Every turn he did on the dance floor, every breast he exposed, every booming laugh, every trip to the bathroom had us in stitches. All knew Big Chuck liked to party, but this was a whole new level! A few months later Big Chuck lost his news gig due to an unrelated incident. Not being a fan of our local news coverage, I have no idea if he ever made it back on the air. Rumor has it Big Chuck is still in town. However, I doubt he’ll ever make another appearance at the Impy. So thus the phrase “Party like Big Chuck” was born. We jokingly use the phrase now and then. It’s much more accurate than the tired old “Party like a rock star”.
Oh, and if you have figured out who our party monster is, please don’t post it here. I really don’t want to piss off Big Chuck. ;)
