While Out to Dinner with 8 Friends

[Lochinvar]

My wife and I took eight friends to dinner the other night before then going on to a local fundraising event. Of course, we knew all of the couples well and some of them knew each other, but not all. The point being that we purposely selected a set of friends that, while they had things in common*, did not necessarily know each other at all...or at least well.

I can't remember what initiated the common realization but get this: by the end of the evening we had discovered that out of the eight people at the table:

2 women with current plastic (Engineer, aged 49; Teacher, aged 45)
1 man w/ current plastic (ISP Provider Business Owner, aged 46)
2 men w/ paperwork already turned in (Landscape Business owner/rental property owner, aged 46; Me, aged 48)
1 woman seriously considering the course but not sure she would carry (my wife, Realtor, aged 45)

The remaining two were a couple that were not at all put off by the fact that everyone else at the table was licensed or soon would be.

Welcome to Texas.


* Church, school, non-shooting hobbies, etc., i.e. NOT the local gun club.

[lawrnk]

Now the most important question. Were the CHL's armed, and what do they carry?

[Lochinvar]

That was the weird part. We did kind pretty much find out what everyone's perferred carry weapon was but....etiquette must have intervened because it was like everyone knew not to ask if someone was carying right then and there.

Not so weird, I guess, when you think about it.

[lawrnk]

That was the weird part. We did kind pretty much find out what everyone's perferred carry weapon was but....etiquette must have intervened because it was like everyone knew not to ask if someone was carying right then and there.

Not so weird, I guess, when you think about it.

True, I wouldn't ask a stranger, but I'd ask a CHL I knew pretty well

[frankie_the_yankee]

I think the whole thing is pretty cool!

Nice choice of friends.

[Keith B]

As they say, 'Bird's of feather...." Even if you didn't know they were CHL'ers, you can almost guess the other things in common have them in a like mind-set as you. Over the years there have been several times that I ran with folks on a casual basis. As we got know each other better, I found out we had done many of the same things over the years (law enforcement, bowhunting, music, etc.) even before we knew each other.

[GalaxyFE]

That is pretty cool. The wife the realtor NEEDS the CHL. It took months of convincing my SO to get one since she is a realtor. She didn't want to carry because of the weight in her bag! AND....she was a PI for a while!!! After I sent her the story about the agents down in GA that were killed in a model home for 20 bucks, she was FINALLY convinced she needed one.

Speaking of that, anyone in San Antonio need an agent who is CHL friendly?

And here is a story about agents and violence. You be able to help her "see the light"...

http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20040927 ... dition.htm

[tbranch]

I'm an active broker and I'm always armed. The P3AT drops in the front pocket of almost all my dress pants in an Uncle Mikes pocket holster. I consider it as essential as my Garmin. All that said, you have to learn to trust that little voice that tells you that something is not right.

Tom

[locknload]

I have known my best galfriend almost as long as I've known my hubby. We, and a couple of other ladies, practically raised our kids together, sharing sitting duties, when one of us needed to be out without the kids, doing Den Mother duties, etc. Well, the kids are grown and her Mom is living in one of those elder apartments, now. Her Mom knows that I have a CHL and carry all the time. So, my friend and I invited her Mom to a tea room for her Birthday, and told her that she could fill up the seats in my mini-van with her friends, if she wished. Long story short, we took 4 ladies, whose ages ranged from early 80's to 92 out for lunch the other day. What a hoot! They have more fun than we do!

Well, her Mom mentioned to one of the ladies that I carried. So, when Thelma got in the van, she asked, "Are you loaded?"

At first, I didn't know what she meant. Then, it dawned on me. So, I said yes. They all fought over who was going to get to sit next to me in the tea room, because they felt safer sitting by me. Now, that was a revelation! When I asked why, Berniece, the 92 year old, said: "We might be old, but we aren't stupid!"

The old ladies get it.

[Venus Pax]

They all fought over who was going to get to sit next to me in the tea room,

That's priceless.

[Rugrash]

The title of your post had me waiting for the part...

While out to dinner with 8 friends, we were all condition yellow and noticed some strange activity in the restaurant. I was positioned to watch the door and my wife was situated to where she had a nice vantage point for the rest of the establishment...etc etc...

LOL...

sounds like you have some nice friends.

-Rug

[Lochinvar]

The title of your post had me waiting for the part...

While out to dinner with 8 friends, we were all condition yellow and noticed some strange activity in the restaurant. I was positioned to watch the door and my wife was situated to where she had a nice vantage point for the rest of the establishment...etc etc...

It is almost like I did that on purpose.....

[Liberty]

The old ladies get it.

They lived a large part of their life in a different time. Its likely they always got it.

[jimlongley]

I wish that was the way of one of our recent dinners out with friends. While we were finishing our meal some excitement broke out near the cash register and one friend's first reaction was to ask me if I had my gun.

Said friends have long known that I carry but have resisted all of my best attempts to recruit them into our community.

I shamelessly used the situation occurring as a chance to proselytize once again and suggested that she wouldn't have to worry if I was carrying if she was.

The situation defused rapidly as it became apparant that it was someone who was having a medical event rather than sticking up the place, and the conversation, per usual, veered off in another direction before I could consolidate my position.

[Photoman]

I can't remember what initiated the common realization but get this: by the end of the evening we had discovered that out of the eight people at the table:

2 women with current plastic (Engineer, aged 49; Teacher, aged 45)
1 man w/ current plastic (ISP Provider Business Owner, aged 46)
2 men w/ paperwork already turned in (Landscape Business owner/rental property owner, aged 46; Me, aged 48)
1 woman seriously considering the course but not sure she would carry (my wife, Realtor, aged 45)