Who called you paranoid?

thereisnospoon:

I think you posted in the wrong thread. That story belongs in the "you know you're a gun nut when..." thread.

My wife always accuses me of being paranoid. Until a hurricane hits, or the power goes off, or a tornado is sighted, or there's a lot of noise at an odd time, or....

I've stopped worrying about it. But I think the next time the lights go out, I may get confused about where the spare batteries are.

I'm from the government and I'm here to help you.

My current ladyfriend put me through the "are you paranoid" inquisition when we first met -- about 5 years ago. All the why do you need a gun, why do you need to carry a gun, how come you have a gun if nothing ever happens ( ), sort of stuff for a few years. Not every time we got together, not every time we went out - but often enough for me to be more than aware of it as an "issue." Went on for about 3 years.

One night we were coming out of a classical music concert at the local university. Late night (after 11:30, but I do not recall the exact time) and very overcast. As usual, streetlights do not work, and we are parked about 3 blocks away. Now I used to be a college student myself, even if it was when racoon coats were still the rage . So I am already set to defuse the alarms quickly if we see college kids out and about. Instead, I pick up on a shadow in an alley we have to pass by. It's just beyond the edge, not far enough in to be somebody wanting not to be noticed (drunk, sick, date a bit more willing than first presumed - what?) and too far in to be somebody trying to avoid the wind (of which there was none).

So I steer her over to the edge of the sidewalk closest to the street and move to the inside position while telling her I may want her to move out into the street quickly. She gives me the deer-in-the-headlight look for a second and then asks if there is something that is "bothering" me. As we get to about 10 feet from the alley I decide we are going to walk in the street and as I tell her to move I sort of nudge (OK, I pushed her, but in a loving way) her into the street. My off hand goes from around her waist to grabbing a bit of clothing at the small of her back so I can steer her while my strong hand gets a good combat grip.

We clear the alley and return to the sidewalk after about 20 feet, and I do a quick check of our 6, swing around to the outside again and we go merrily on our way.

Next AM's paper has a story about a couple who were mugged there about 30 minutes after we went by. I show it to her.

I am no longer "paranoid."

stay safe.

skidmark

Just ask them how crazy anyone would have sounded on September 10 if they had thought of the possibility of someone flying a highjacked plane into a skyscraper (let alone two). Truth is you probably would have gotten locked up and your head examined. Doesn't sound so crazy now, does it?

Do your friends & relatives think you're paranoid, too?

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They think it's part of my charm.

Yes. People think i'm paranoid. Then again, I don't think they're paranoid enough.

My (immediate) family feels about the same as I do regarding the government(or what passes for such these days) so I'm simply better prepared than they are. I pick and choose friends so I don't have any problem there, either. Beyond that tiny group everyone is just an aquaintance and so what they think isn't known...or cared about.

Depends a little whether you treat the word in dictionary definition terms, or in ''vernacular'' terms. Many folks forget the true meaning and just use it suggest a person is ''worrying too much''.

I do not regard my outlook as paranoid per se - way too stong a word - tho some I have come across consider my constant carry and other attitudes do comprise paranoia! They are welcome to their opinion!!

I prefer to just use the label ''eccentric'' - it makes folks laugh more

I consider daily life to be plain ol' condition yellow - enough to keep aware and observant of the environment around me and the stataus quo at national level. If you will - low level threat analysis.

I don't regard this as paranoia - just a wish to survive!

Paranoid, What?!, Who Me?!, Who told you to ask that?!!!!!

Paranoid, What?!, Who Me?!, Who told you to ask that?!!!!!

You are one of them, Yes yes I see it now.
The voices, the voices they say they don't like you!!!!

All kidding aside some of my friends think I lost it when I moved out of town and went to working odd hours to be a rancher and shooting enthusiast.
One even asked me if I had become a survivalist, Not realizing that my family had been ranching since the 1890's and I had always wanted to be a cowboy.
If you change your life and do what you want people will always think you have gone funny in the head.
Woe be unto he that does so with an enthusiasm for shooting you will be called every thing from paranoid survival nut to a creepy militia member.
Hey I am normal and I am still me I am just doing what I have always wanted to do.
And to all of you poor bastards out there still just getting by to get by, you will never feel better until you do what you want, come on out of there and join me on the self reliable happy at doing a good days work for your self conservative fringe.

DarthBubba

No. It's just that I think about what might posssibly happen beforehand , instead of when it happens or after. Those who are in condition 'white' deem situational awareness paranoia until after the fact.

A friend of mine, when seeing that I had a gun stashed in a odd (to her) place, called me paranoid. I disagreed, but didn't get too deep into it.

I feel about it the same way I do about insurance on health or property. Why pay for something that you hope you never need? Because you'll be glad you had it when it's there. It's only expensive if you never need it. Hell, at least I can sell my guns or pass them on if I never need them. Can't say that about my health plan or my auto insurance. When did it ever hurt to be prepared? I'm sure some people go overboard, but if the aliens do ever land with rayguns, there's going to be some formerly paranoid weirdo who becomes our last, best defense, tin hat and all.

jmm

Some may call it being paranoid, I call it being prepared.

I'm an Eagle Scout and our motto is to be prepared. You're only paranoid till you need to use it, then you're prepared.

Just like some will say that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, I call that practice.

They called Burt Gummer paranoid, too....

..then later in the movie, they said they'd have to stop making fun of his lifestyle. That's because the giant pre-cambrian worms had....uh, never mind. I just figured out how silly that sounds.

Nahhh. I don't believe the world is coming to an end. And I don't think the waiter is going to mug me. And my wife doesn't even think I'm crazy. After going through the Loma Preta earthquake, and then moving to FL just in time for Hurricane Andrew, she sees the value of being prepared.

So nobody gives me any grief.

"Paranoid" is just the 'burden of fear' argument.

We all have fire extinguishers and smoke alarms in our homes, not because we have created reasonable-sounding but fallacious arguments regarding the actual level of threat of fire in our homes, but because such items are prudent and have been shown to save lives.

This just happened yesterday:

Video Link

That's one of our clients. I knew those people, and worked with them regularly. Excrement can hit the fan anywhere, anytime...

Shane

Several people have tried to raise the issue of "paranoia" with me; no one to date, however, has been able to counter my objection that there's nothing "paranoid" about keeping a flash light, first aid kit, water, and some old clothing in my car, along with spare tire and some tools.

I've never encountered an accusation of "paranoia" that wasn't thinly disguised anti-Second Amendment bigotry.

Like I always say, it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

My dad went off the deep end when he found out I carry. He's not anti-gun (though he doesn't see why anybody would "need" a .50BMG), but he's convinced that 1) I don't need to carry, and 2) I'm more likely to get in legal trouble for carrying than I am to need the gun. On the latter point, I'm inclined to think he's the paranoid one: the last person I recall hearing on the news using a concealed handgun in this area was just across the Arkansas border. He used a .22, wounding a would be carjacker. The official response came when the mayor called a press conference, called the guy a hero, and presented him with two new, larger caliber, pistols.

Mom's cool with it, and she's starting to think about carrying herself. Dayton (and surrounding areas) is starting to get ugly. The first thing she needs to do is dump 5/3 Bank, though.

Friends? Every one of them is cool with it. In fact, a couple have asked me to take them shooting and asked for my advice on what they should get for their own defense. One even asked me to take her shooting to help her get over her fear of guns (posted about that several months ago).

In general, no, people don't seem to think I'm paranoid, and I don't make much effort to keep quiet about the fact that I carry.

The official response came when the mayor called a press conference, called the guy a hero, and presented him with two new, larger caliber, pistols.

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WOW! Anybody got a link to that story?

Shane

Be polite. Be professional. And have a plan to kill everyone you meet


That about sums it up. My current GF calls me paranoid. I laugh at her. She's no anti and shoots competition once a month, has grown up around guns all her life, but she sees no real reason for my Target FAL with 20x Scope and bipod, the 12guage, the AK, the handful of handguns or the .45 that is strapped to my hip even while cooking dinner...or the thousands of rounds of ammo, my field surgery kit, my bug-out bags or my tactical vests...

But someday she'll get it, I think.

Used to.

At work? I had a bad feeling. Bad, bad, bad feeling. I was a short timer and about to go back to the States, so people laughed it off as me just being 'nervous' and 'paranoid'. Our replacements showed up, and I briefed them and warned them. They laughed it off also. Very shortly after I got back to the States, I was proved right. SHTF, in a bad way.

Some of my friends got trapped in a church, Alamo style, fighting off people trying to molotov the place with them inside. Few weeks beforehand, we were at the range, cracking jokes and shooting off plenty of rounds. For a couple seconds, my brain kinda locked in "I gotta help them! Where's my rifle!" mode and then reality kicked back in. I was half a world away, and I could see my replacements screwing up live on CNN.

No US fatalties, but a fair number of civilians died because of the inaction of the replacements. My buddies were reinforced by a relief column. (Say they were rescued, and they'd likely punch ya in the face.)

My coworkers don't call me paranoid anymore. Now it's 'insightful'.

I've been told by so many I'm paranoid because I not only carry, but for the fact that I own rifles and shotguns too.

So let me get this straight:

Our soldiers have advanced military weaponry, so this means they're super paranoid, right? I say to those soldiers, "Show no cowardice nor paranoia. Be Brave! Lay down your weapons and extend out a hand shake to your enemy".

Our police must be paranoid too ... go figure.

Firearm industries are in the business of manufacturing weapons of mass paranoia. They are an evil empire who prey and capitalize upon everyone's fears.

Then there's all of you here. You're all so frikkin' paranoid!

It was the Scott Eizember case back in late 2003; the would-be victims were Dr. and Mrs. Samuel Peebles, but I can't find any information on the mayor's presentation. I do remember being impressed, though.

My best friend thinks I'm completely paranoid. I posted a thread awhile back about him. He thinks that, just because our little neighborhood is nice, that none of the dirtballs from the surrounding areas are going to bother me or my wife.

It's like talking to a wall when I explain that the manager of the Burger King around the block was shot in the head in the parking lot, or that the manager of a bank nearby was kidnapped, taken to the bank to open the vault, then shot. No matter what incidents I cite, he thinks that I wouldn't be able to shoot in such a situation. He believes that because he believes he couldn't shoot anyone. Projection.

Oddly enough, my parents (who are in their upper 80's) understand completely. My oldest brother has been attacked several times. So, when he's in town and we're showing each other our carry guns, the folks don't get upset.

Sorry pax, I have no interesting stories, I probably would if I had a better memory though.

I've been called paraniod by a lot of the girls I've dated for the simple reason that I own a gun and carry it. At that point I know its going downhill and I'm pretty much ready to take her back home, which would normally happen when I mention that I have a lot more (at the moment, I think 12) at home.

Some members of my family used to call me paraniod, which is odd given the experiances that some of us are old enough to remember. They used to call me paraniod because I got sick of hearing it and normally replied with "Dont you remember when [something happened]."

I cant remember the circumstances of when my grandmother called me paraniod, and it wasnt what I said in my reply that I felt bad about, but the tone I had when I said it. Evidently I got my point accross because she hasnt said anything else about it. Then again, she may still be thinking the same thing, but she doesnt say anything about it, even on when a lot of the family is over at her house and I put my pistol on top of the fridge to play some football. I guess it would fall into the same catagory as my hair, she hates the fact that I have long hair, but she doesnt say anything about it, anymore.

Ironicly, the two youngest never said anything about it. Outside of a few jokes, Mom hasn't either.