Litmus
At one of the local blogger get togethers, I told Dr. Helen (who, by the way, doesn’t like to be called Dr. Helen) that I often had to fight the urge to comment at her site. Here’s one such post. Nothing I wanted to say was OK in polite company. As you were.
April 3rd, 2007 at 10:01 am
I’ve never been in that situation, but before the expiration of the assault weapons ban I was having lunch with a bunch of coworkers who brought it up. I work with quite a few people who hail from anti-gun venues (New Jersey/New York). Most of the talk was centered around “What kind of person would even own something like that?” One coworker mentioned something about people in Texas being able to carry guns around in public. Most people new to Pennsylvania, or who only have lived in the city their entire lives, have virtually no idea their state is just as gun loving, or more in some cases, than Texas.
So I pulled out my wallet, tossed my LTC on the table and said “Texas isn’t the only place you can carry guns, and I’m the kind of sick individual who would own ‘assault weapons'”. That was quite a conversation killer, which was a disappointment, because I did want to relieve them of their ignorance, but I will admit, I thought killing the conversation was kind of amusing. I normally won’t discuss carry with coworkers, but in that case, it was good opportunity to show “Hey, you know, it’s not just crazies who are into this.” I don’t think we do ourselves any favors by being totally silent. It’s good for people to know ordinary people like to shoot, and shoot guns that look scary to them. There’s always risk in talking to coworkers about our ‘hobby’, but staying in the closet, so to speak, isn’t really very good for the cause either.
April 3rd, 2007 at 10:35 am
Oh SayUncle,
Comment anyway–is my blog really polite company? I hope not.
April 3rd, 2007 at 3:25 pm
After having done it the other way, I’d say a litmus test prior to any date is actually a good idea, unless you’re only looking for one-night stands. Depends on your motivation: “Hey, Baby, that was great. Oh by the way, I totally disagree with you on all the issues most dear to you.”
Anyone asking my daughter on a date is going to get litmus tested until he either laughs, gets fuming mad, or runs away crying. When he shows up at the door, I will just happen to be cleaning my scariest looking rifles. I have it all planned out. For now, she’s only nine.