Good luck with that. It's a never ending struggle. I'll be eligible for a Medicare card late this year and I still have to throttle back to keep myself from wanting to strangle some folks.Originally Posted by Nephrology
Good luck with that. It's a never ending struggle. I'll be eligible for a Medicare card late this year and I still have to throttle back to keep myself from wanting to strangle some folks.
There's nothing civil about this war.
That pretty much describes me. I am a few years younger, but that is my personality. It is one of the reasons I prefer to drive at night and go to the office so early in the day. Fewer drivers means fewer idiots and more chances to create separation.
Totally agree. The 6 or 7 AM commute is a breeze. Starting every weekday pissed off is probably not great for you.
Bob Loblaw lobs law bombs
One of the oddly good things about the absolutely terrible road conditions in PNG is that you get fewer drivers playing the Stupid Game.
The road is our common enemy here.
Saw a new one in church this morning. Two guys "joking" about who could outdraw the other, they squared up n the lobby of the church and one guy lifted his jacket and fully exposed his weapon like he was going to draw on the other guy.
Who in the Hell does that?
I was raised in government assisted projects once seen in a big movie. You either fought or were a perpetual victim. I came out of there with 28 stitches in me from being hit with all sorts of things, even a 2x4 across my forehead. I lost only one fight and that was because it was 3 against one. However, I hunted them down one by one and beat them silly. One I grabbed while in his parent's house while his mother looked on. My mom used to get a lot of phone calls about me beating up kids. My school principal used to call as well as the parish priests. For me it was like being in prison, if you did not strike back as soon as someone said something rude to you, you were considered a punk and they would eat you alive. I was carrying a switchblade when I was 9 years old and had a zip gun at 10. We hung with the real gang members who used us to do things that if caught would put them in prison but for us, only juvi.
I was saved when my parents moved us to the suburbs. It took a few years before my mom stopped getting calls from the parents of kids I beat up but I eventually learned that I could not beat up everyone who said or did something nasty to me. I also learned that even when winning I usually ended up in the emergency room. My folks put me in a Catholic School and that saved me. There I learned that my IQ put me in the top 1% of the population and I could use words instead of my fist. I was put into a class with very gifted kids that would be called nerds today. It was weird for me since I was a starter on the high school football team, played drums in a rock band and went through girlfriends and cheerleaders 2 or 3 each month. I found an outlet for my aggression in football and developed my intellect.
At the age of 18 I volunteered to go to Vietnam with the US Army. Spending a year in combat made me grow up fast especially since I was a squad leader and my decisions went life or death to members of my squad. I also saw what anger and guns can do to even the most religious and peaceful of men. When I was discharged I got married and got a full time job. I was promoted to branch manager and moved to Texas when I was 21. That was when I first started to carry a gun. In Nam I carried a GI issued 1911 but in Texas the .357 revolver was king. 1911's were great but at that time in history they were not reliable feeing JHP ammo unless you spent bucks on a gunsmith to make them so.
There were many cases when verbal arguments or the wrong thing said ended up in a shootout. Lucky for my I learned that carrying gun is a grave responsibility and I had seen my share of what a bullet can do to human flesh while most only knew the sanitized Movie version where a guy gets shot and falls down with no or little blood. It was then that I started to ignore words. They could not hurt me and I avoided people who were stupid. Avoiding hanging out with stupid people is the best thing that you can do. I got rid of my immature friends who taught it was still fun to go out and get drunk then start a fight. I avoided my friends who liked to trash talk to the wrong people. I avoid guys who thought it was OK to bash gay and black guys. I started to hand out with guys I met through my business who were educated and refined. Most never had been in any kind of fight but they had money and knowledge. They liked to shoot but not get drunk every night.
Now I live in Florida and carry a gun. I go out of my way to avoid trouble. I swore that I would use my gun only in defense of me and my wife but a few years ago I ended up facing down a store robber and his accomplice. It was a store filled with old ladies, as we are old too, and I just reacted. Luckily they both bolted for the door. I had stopped three muggers many years prior in Texas but they were not armed with guns like these two. I just pulled back my suit jacket to show them my Colt Detective Special in a shoulder holster (watched too man Dragnet and James Bond movies).
I hope that I never have to shoot anyone since it took me many years to get over my PTSD from NAM. I used to attack my wife in her sleep thinking she was VC. I sometimes get upset in other forums when guys cavalierly talk about making sure that if they shot someone, he is dead. They talk about blowing away people, etc.. They have never fired a shot in anger and have no idea of the psychological effects of even a justified killing has on a person, not to mention the financial toll and stress.
So I know that my gun gives me no liberties and in fact, demands that I behave above reproach, walking away from things that would otherwise cause me to say bad things or do bad things. The only thing that sets me off these days is if anyone puts their hands on me. Then a physical response is warranted and will be given. Sometimes others look at us old men and never think of the training we have had or the deeds we have done. Many a bad guy around here has learned the hard way.
Sorry for the long post but just wanted to show how carrying a gun, maturing and learning from experience, can make you act more responsibly. It really is a terrible thing to take a life. It is not something that makes you feel happy that you killed a bad guy. I would rather give someone the benefit of a doubt than shoot first. That may kill me but I rather be dead then go through the hell I went through before. I would need concrete justification to shoot and not just bad words or being frightened.
Vic, reading your first paragraph brought me back to my own youth in NY back in the 50's and 60's. I was in the jv version of the local gang, the "Centurions". If it wasn't for a teacher or two I had in 6th grade and junior high, I don't know that I'd ever have had a career in LE.
I had to laugh when you mentioned fighting inside someone else's apartment. When I was a kid we moved out of one development into what were called "garden apartments" which were a step up. The first day a pair of brothers whose apartment I moved in above, started up with me and I chased them into their parents home and beat them both up in their bedroom. Did the same thing with a guy next door who picked on my sister and pushed my mother when she tried to scold him. I knocked his father over a coffee table while running after him to administer justice. Ah, the good old days.
Now I do everything I can to stay out of trouble even if my temperament makes me want to engage. Now it's just..."why I oughta..."
There's nothing civil about this war.
I'm a ball breaker by nature, but only to people I know. I never talk to people I don't know voluntarily. My wife and I are both very busy people. We only go out alone without the kids once or twice a year. We went to a local watering hole for our anniversary that is known for excellent food and drink. This is not a rowdy bar. Middle aged sports bar atmosphere. We got a table, ordered drinks, her some fufu fruity drink, I got straight Whiskey. I noticed this guy who was in a group of 3 that kept eyeballing our direction and while I thought it was odd I didn't think much of it. He was soft and pudgy, with the glassy eyed blood shot face look of someone who drinks too much too often. I'm no super scary looking bad ass, but if I were someone else I wouldn't pick me to fuck with based on the fact I resemble Shrek without the green skin.
The mean mugging sorta reached a point where I felt it was best to go someplace else to eat. My wife had noticed the guy without me mentioning it and she agreed. By the time we paid for our drinks to leave, the group had gravitated outside to smoke. Ol' iron lung soggy liver looked at me and said "You a fighter?" to which I replied "No". He said "Why you wearing a fighter shirt then?" I realized that he was referring to my tshirt from the gym I go to. I said "I never turn down a free t-shirt" and we proceeded to walk around the cars to put distance between us and them. He mumbled something else but that was the end of it. The guy was sizing me up none the less based on a shirt from a MMA gym. We got in the car and drove off and my wife told me how proud of me she was for deescalating the situation.
Moral of the story is there are assholes everywhere and even something as innocent as wearing a martial arts tshirt can bring you unwanted attention. Plan accordingly.
Last edited by Casual Friday; 03-04-2017 at 07:01 PM.
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