OK. It wasn't at a folk club, but it should have been.

"Big John", my son's father, told me this one on himself with great delight.

Big John is in a raunchy C&W club, looking for his girlfriend of the moment, a bisexual white trash junkie "ho" he thinks he can save, altho he needs saving so much more. He's come to her favorite bar to haul her out, and if necessary take her away from bad biker bitches and bad biker boys to sober her up. Doesn't know if she's trickin' or just cruising to score dope, but would prefer she not also be drinking!!! (He himself does not drink and never frequents bars or clubs, except small, quiet neighborhood corner taverns where lonely/horny older women go.]

The club he is in is loud, smoky, and built as a series of convoluted, connecting rooms. The joint is so crowded he can hardly move. How is he going to find the slip of a girl he seeks in this mass of roiling humanity? Well Big John is tall enough to see all before him, and keeps cruising from room to room. He's really worried about her.

Suddenly, as he turns a corner, he is confronted with the biggest, meanest-looking character he has ever seen, dead ahead, snarling right into his eyes. This fierce creature is at least six foot four, an enormous bearlike hulk, with wild and thick curly red hair and beard. His face is bright rage red, and there is fire in his eyes. Big John is a big guy, but this is too much even for him, and his heart lurches in his chest. He prepares to back up, fast, never to return, when....

He sees that he is facing a mirrored wall. Looking at himself, looking at what the world sees when they see him. "No wonder people say I scare them!" he said when he told me this story, laughing hysterically on the 12th or 13th telling. "I always thought I was a pretty gentle guy!" And mostly I guess he was, although often he would snarl and be quite unapproachable.

BTW, not long after this experience John beat a full size horse (big enough to be Big John's horse) to within an inch of its life, with his bare hands, when he was angry one day, and tossed it to the ground in a heap. It needed back surgery and was never ridden again.

I guess you can see why I had the child but skipped the wedding, and my taste has improved considerably since then!