Well, following the discussion about Concealed vs. Open carry, I decided to open carry for a while and see what kind of responses I recieved, as it has been a while since I carried openly.
Someone said that if you are going to open carry you'd better have eyes in the back of your head!
I feel uniquely qualified for that because my trade and living is made by washing windows. These provide a great mirror to watch my "6" as I am working and because I am in front of them nearly all day it works quite well!
Just recently I pulled an all nighter cleaning a grocery store. As I was pulling out my equipment the young man that was waiting outside for his friend asked me, "What do you carry a GUN for?"
Me:"Because it's my right and obligation."
Him:"But why a gun?"
"What do you think I should carry? A bat? A knife? I have the right to defend myself."
(I know I should have stopped after asking the first question and let him answer it...)
"Why do you carry at all?" (He was being quite beligerant... and it rather threw me off...)"you should be able to talk your way out of anything! I've been in just about every situation and I was able to talk my way out of them all!"
Me:"Why do you think the police carry guns?"
"The police?"
"Do you think their lives are worth less than mine and yours?"
"For 30,000 a year? Yeah!"
"What do you mean?!"
"Hell, they can't be THAT intelligent to take a job that risks their lives for 30k a year!"
"I have friends that are police and I take great exception to what you just said! And just what do YOU do for a living?"
"I'm a loan officer. How old are you?"
"32"
"Oh, that explains why you think the way you do. We're in XXXXX for crying out loud! This is a safe place!"
"Then why are there police here?"
About this time he had moved close enough that I could smell that he had been drinking. I had no idea how much, but I wanted no more of what he was dishing out in his disrespectful, beligerant tone of voice and superior attitude. It was time to end the conversation with this young man of all of 23 years of experience. I turned to walk away and he said, "I still don't understand why you carry a gun to clean windows!"
My response, "I DON'T carry a gun to clean windows. I carry a SQUEEGEE."
That's about how the conversation went. My memory is not perfect.
Of course, after the conversation, delayed intelligence kicks in and I go over all of the "I should have said..." responses. Oh well. I hope his lesson comes in a non-lethal way. But I was surprised at the generation gap that was indicated by his statement connecting the way I think with my age.
The other conversation occured that very same day just as I was finishing this store. the Pepsi delivery man was walking by and said, "You carry your Glock with you?!" (incredulous tone) (At least he knew what it was.)
"Yeah, why?"
"At work?!" (Incredulous)
"Always."
"What, so you can shoot someone if they try to steal your Windex?"
Egad! "No, my life."
I get all twitchy just thinking about these two...
Someone said that you need a thick skin when you carry openly. Well, I'm discovering that in order to get a thick skin you've got to be abraded a lot.
Other than a few startled looks I've caught out of the corner of my eye, those have been the only negative experiences. And I really can't call them negative for me because my response conditioning training has started.
I did have one gal comment that she wished her employer would allow here to carry on the job (she worked a grave shift), and she was glad that I could, and did.
Anyway, I've rambled quite enough. I just wanted to share those with you. I hope that those who have seen and chose not to comment will not be so startled the next time they see someone carrying openly, even if it is me they see again. That's one of the main reasons I have chosen to do this.
------------------
John/az
"Just because something is popular, does not make it right."
[This message has been edited by John/az2 (edited March 27, 1999).]
Someone said that if you are going to open carry you'd better have eyes in the back of your head!
I feel uniquely qualified for that because my trade and living is made by washing windows. These provide a great mirror to watch my "6" as I am working and because I am in front of them nearly all day it works quite well!
Just recently I pulled an all nighter cleaning a grocery store. As I was pulling out my equipment the young man that was waiting outside for his friend asked me, "What do you carry a GUN for?"
Me:"Because it's my right and obligation."
Him:"But why a gun?"
"What do you think I should carry? A bat? A knife? I have the right to defend myself."
(I know I should have stopped after asking the first question and let him answer it...)
"Why do you carry at all?" (He was being quite beligerant... and it rather threw me off...)"you should be able to talk your way out of anything! I've been in just about every situation and I was able to talk my way out of them all!"
Me:"Why do you think the police carry guns?"
"The police?"
"Do you think their lives are worth less than mine and yours?"
"For 30,000 a year? Yeah!"
"What do you mean?!"
"Hell, they can't be THAT intelligent to take a job that risks their lives for 30k a year!"
"I have friends that are police and I take great exception to what you just said! And just what do YOU do for a living?"
"I'm a loan officer. How old are you?"
"32"
"Oh, that explains why you think the way you do. We're in XXXXX for crying out loud! This is a safe place!"
"Then why are there police here?"
About this time he had moved close enough that I could smell that he had been drinking. I had no idea how much, but I wanted no more of what he was dishing out in his disrespectful, beligerant tone of voice and superior attitude. It was time to end the conversation with this young man of all of 23 years of experience. I turned to walk away and he said, "I still don't understand why you carry a gun to clean windows!"
My response, "I DON'T carry a gun to clean windows. I carry a SQUEEGEE."
That's about how the conversation went. My memory is not perfect.
Of course, after the conversation, delayed intelligence kicks in and I go over all of the "I should have said..." responses. Oh well. I hope his lesson comes in a non-lethal way. But I was surprised at the generation gap that was indicated by his statement connecting the way I think with my age.
The other conversation occured that very same day just as I was finishing this store. the Pepsi delivery man was walking by and said, "You carry your Glock with you?!" (incredulous tone) (At least he knew what it was.)
"Yeah, why?"
"At work?!" (Incredulous)
"Always."
"What, so you can shoot someone if they try to steal your Windex?"
Egad! "No, my life."
I get all twitchy just thinking about these two...
Someone said that you need a thick skin when you carry openly. Well, I'm discovering that in order to get a thick skin you've got to be abraded a lot.
Other than a few startled looks I've caught out of the corner of my eye, those have been the only negative experiences. And I really can't call them negative for me because my response conditioning training has started.
I did have one gal comment that she wished her employer would allow here to carry on the job (she worked a grave shift), and she was glad that I could, and did.
Anyway, I've rambled quite enough. I just wanted to share those with you. I hope that those who have seen and chose not to comment will not be so startled the next time they see someone carrying openly, even if it is me they see again. That's one of the main reasons I have chosen to do this.
------------------
John/az
"Just because something is popular, does not make it right."
[This message has been edited by John/az2 (edited March 27, 1999).]
