this thread's gonna be sparse over the next few months, since i'm now in concealment mode. i get cold when the temperature drops below 60 degrees, so i'm wearing sweatshirts, jackets, and coats from now until April. i did have an occasion to reveal my gun yesterday, though.
i stopped at a coffeeshop in Scranton for coffee, of all things. it's a very cliched coffeeshop, full of the hipster-type, with books and newspapers laying around, and some kind of odd music playing on the radio behind the counter. i asked for an Americano; the server asked what i wanted, and i tried to explain the type of coffee i normally make at home, which is like an espresso, but with milk and sugar. she said that sounds like an Americano, so i ordered it.
it wasn't anything like what i make at home. meh.
anyway, as i sat and sipped it, i saw a guy using a laptop...openly carrying a Glock. he was younger than me, i think, probably early 20's, thinning brown hair, and wiry. my first instinct was to go over and say hi, but he looked like he was busy, so i left him alone. the coffee was hot enough that it took me awhile to sip it. at some point, he got up to order something, so i got up and walked over.
"whatcha got there?"
he turned to look at me, shrugged, and said, "a Glock."
"yeah, i can see that, but what? a 26? a 27?"
that startled him a bit. "oh! uh, it's a 36."
"oh, the .45ACP one?"
"yeah! you carry?"
"yup," i said, opening my jacket, revealing my 1911.
"cool...who makes that one?"
"Taurus."
we chatted a bit. he admitted he was put off by my appearance at first; i had on an olive drab jacket with buttons on it, a scruffy beard, messy hair, and was sitting in a coffeeshop, so he made the same assumption i would have made. so much for the effectiveness of profiling, right?
i wrote down the website URL for this place, told him my handle here, and hopefully he'll be around. he was from Hazleton, but was in Scranton on business.
after he left, i sat to finish my coffee, and to use to computer they had in the shop. as i got up to leave, i overheard two people talking about the man with the Glock. "yeah, he's probably one of those Tea Bagger idiots, hahahahaha, gonna carry an assault rifle to the bookstore next, hahahahahaha, he thinks this is Texas, hahahahaha...." they were a young couple, also probably in their 20's. the man wore a trucker cap with some Kanji on it, a corduroy blazer, skinny girl jeans, and white shoes. his female companion had short, black hair, glasses she probably didn't need, a blue coat with a faux-fur lined collar, and Mary Janes. i recognized the male from our own local OWS crowd. i won't bother differentiating who said what in the following exchange, because it doesn't matter.
i stopped, and asked, "you talking about that guy that was in here earlier with the gun?"
"yeah, hahaha. did you see that ****?"
"yeah, i saw. i talked to him a bit."
"oh yeah? weren't you afraid he would flip out and shoot you? hahahaha."
"uh, no. he was alright."
"yeah, riiiight. what a tool that guy was. i mean, seriously. this is a freaking coffeeshop? really? you needed to strap on a piece to buy a latte? really? afraid the Man is gonna come and steal your scone? hahahahahahaah."
"well, it's his right."
"please...don't tell me you believe in that crap the NRA puts out there, about the Second Amendment and all that. hello? a well regulated militia? that's for, like, the National Guard, or something. i don't see that douchebag in uniform, hahahahahaha."
"i hate the NRA."
"sweet, we do too. like people really need guns, anyway. what kind of @$$hole thinks they need to carry a gun around, unless they're a cop or something?"
i stepped back, and drew my jacket back, revealing my gun. "i'm not a cop, so i guess i'm one of those @$$holes."
they weren't laughing anymore, and just sat there, a little dumbfounded.
"as for the 2A, it's not for, like, the National Guard, or something. it doesn't give anyone any rights, it recognizes that the right exists, for self defense, from a common criminal to your own corrupt government. and, anyone who automatically assume that a person with a gun is going to flip out and start shooting people has a serious anger management issue."
the female got indignant. "what's that supposed to mean?"
"when i see a cop with a gun, i don't think to myself, oh, he's gonna shoot me. i see a guy doing his job. when i see a citizen with a gun, i don't think, oh, $hit, he's gonna flip out and kill everyone. i think, huh, i wonder what he's got there, and i think, huh, he obviously must not be a criminal. violence isn't the first thing that comes to my mind. in contrast, the first thing you two thought of was a mass murder scenario. that's sick. how sad it is you think everyone around you is trying to kill you."
"i'm not the one carrying a gun around!"
"good. if anyone's the type to go on a shooting spree, it would be someone like you." i turned around, and walked off.
yeah, i know, i shouldn't have bothered, but i can't abide rude people, especially intellectual elitists who have such poor fashion sense. stupid hipsters.