encounter at wallyworld - calling all armchair QB's

[jmra]

While reading this thread and doing some reflecting, I have come to realize that I am much less confrontational when I carry than I am when I am unarmed.

When armed I find myself being an observer of events instead of a participant. This places me in a position of being able to “act” instead of “react”.

An example – my 10 & 9 year old sons along with me and some other friends finished an evening hunt at the deer lease and headed to a burger joint in a small town. While waiting to place our order, a 40’s something woman decked out in camo gear began arguing with the owner about her order. The argument became very heated along with foul language and racial slurs (by the white customer). Of course I did not like the fact that my boys were hearing all of this but I also felt that it would result in a teaching moment when all was said and done. At no time did I even consider confronting the woman about her language as this would only have made a bad situation worse.

To wrap it all up, by being an observer in the situation and not a participant, it allowed me to distance myself and ensure my children’s safety. I did in fact place my hand over my weapon when the woman stormed out of the establishment toward her camo painted truck (no doubt in my mind that several deer rifles were easily accessible in the truck). My hand stayed on my weapon until the truck was well down the road.

The person I felt the most sorry for in this situation was the teenage daughter who waited until her mother went out the door and then apologized to the owner, placed a $10 bill in the tip jar, and then turned to the crowded room and apologized to all of the customers. It was obvious that she had spent much of her childhood apologizing for her mother’s behavior.