Got spotted today....

[Matt1911]

Got spoted today....

While at Menards,I got spotted., I'm a 40ish,large (read "lard a$$,300#)white male,who has been shaving his head since "before it was cool"( since i went BALD!!),and today this 50ish(?)black(is that this correct term this week?)gentleman,asked me,"are you a cop,DNR,redneck,or skinhead?"...it was apparent,he spotted my weapon,and my "green" clothing(hey i like green)may have thrown him,(thought this cheesy shirt covered my weapon!!)"Neither sir",i replied"just a citizen,hopin' i can do what is required,god forbid,it ever happens".We exchanged polite smiles,and parted,me feeling foolish i was so easily spotted.Half an hour or so later,as chance happens ,we ended up in the check out line together,and parked next to each other.As we both loaded our "honey do's" in our cars,he said"you got me thinkin', boy"and after a pause,"Not for me,but i sure hope your there,god forbid,it ever happens".
Am not quite sure how to feel about this,on the one hand,i feel quite foolish for being "made" so easy,on the other,it appears i made someone think.
Did i handle it right,or was it a big mistake from the "git go"?

 

[Cliff]

Sir,
You handled it just fine, and saying black to describe the gentleman instead of African-American is fine also. I enjoy being called a black conservative,it pisses off African-American Liberals, and really pisses off liberals in general,which I enjoy doing. I wouldn't worry about being spotted, I get the feeling this particular person just had a sharp eye.

 

[rock jock]

Excellent story. Yuo handled yourself with flair. Maybe the line of thought you started this gentleman on will lead him to seek a CCW for his own defense.

 

[Jerrywahid]

That's a really good story.

Thanks.

 

[chevrofreak]

Sounds to me like you handled it perfectly.



On a side note, I don't consider a person to be an African-American unless they were born in Africa, then became an American citizen.

Blacks living in Canada aren't refered to as African-Canadians are they?

If you are black, and you were born here, you are an American. No hyphen.

I dont say that I'm a German-American. I am half German, but, I was born and raised right here in the wonderful USA. That makes me 100% pure American. Not a hyphenated term used to be PC.

 

[guy sajer]

Good story .

Are you considering changing your mode of carry ? Wondering how many others "spotted" you and were afraid to speak up . In some states I believe it's a ccw violation if you are "made" .

Just curious .

Mitch

 

[El Tejon]

guy, it's Indiana. We do not have "ccw" like in the Souf or the other states that just passed their reforms, just carry. Does not matter how.

Even when I open carry I do not draw comments. When I was a LEO I used to open carry when working Saturdays. The CLEO used to ask if I expected a terrorist attack. Note this was before someone attempted to remove my county's courthouse off the face of the earf with a car bomb. And recently a woman from Illinois wondered what kind of "cell phone" I had (it was my extra mags).

Sounds just fine to me, Matt. Non-provocative and reserved, very good.

 

[Tamara]

El T,

guy, it's Indiana. We do not have "ccw" like in the Souf

You'd think a gun-enthusiast lawyer would be more up on the totin' laws of, say, the Land of Orange or the Empire State of the Souf.




(There's no requirement to keep your firearm concealed in either state, but it may draw strange looks from, say, fellow shoppers at Menard's... Whatteverinnaheck a 'Menard's' is... )

 

[Moparmike]

I will fifth the "You did fine". I also like Whoopi Goldberg's take on hyphenated Americans: "I am a black woman. I am not from Africa, therefore I am not an African-American." I too often wonder what label a particular member of a race prefers. Hell, I am so white I may as well be called "reflective", "flourescent", or "phosphorescent".

(My take, not intended to offend anyone.)
Screw the hyphen, you're an American. Stop trying to be different and special with a label and make your actions shout your greatness from the mountaintops.

 

[4v50 Gary]

You did well, but work on the CCW.

 

[igor]

Pardon the non-native speaker for his ignorance,

asked me,"are you a cop,DNR

what's a DNR?

edit to add: thanks for the explanation... sounds like some sort of game warden, hence carrying, am I getting it?

 

[bullfrog]

igor DNR is The Department of Natural Resources or as some of us refer to as Do Nuthin Right

 

[El Tejon]

Tamara, well, Floriduh was the breakpoint of the carry reform movement in the '80s and Tejas in the '90s. Both are large states and thus received an enormous amount of press and I believe are down in da Souf somewhere. The Land of Orange and Joe-juh while important reforms were achieved, received much less media attention.

Indeed, look at the endless threads about "printing" (whatever the heck that is) on TFL/THR. I should have been more specific. I apologize for lumping the Land of Orange and Joe-juh with the rest of da Souf.

 

[Tamara]

El T,

Indeed, look at the endless threads about "printing" (whatever the heck that is) on TFL/THR.

I've seen plenty of those threads started by folks in hairy-chested, swaggering open-carry paradises like Arizona and Hoosierville. (You won't draw a second glance strolling down Main Street in Evansville with a Model 19 in a Border Patrol rig on your hip, right? So y'all don't worry about printing up there? )

 

[El Tejon]

Carried down Main Street today here in the Land of Liberty and Opportunity. Did not swagger, just limped (as usual)!

 

[grampster]

Bullfrog,
Nice to see someone else from Meeechigan sees the value of the DNR.
Heh.

 

[bad_dad_brad]

One thing I would suggest is to evaluate why you were made and prevent that in the future.

Some of us are not so fortunate to live in states that allow CCW, so we, in such conditions, must make absolutely sure that our CCW is totally invisible when we cognate that we must walk in that condition.

 

[Kcustom45]

Whatteverinnaheck a 'Menard's' is

It is very similar to a lowes or home depot, but exponentially better.
I do however have a biased opinion.

I think you handled the situation perfectly Matt1911. Just curious, but which store were you shopping at?

 

[swingset]

I'd have whipped it out and screamed "FREEEEEEZE" at the top of my lungs, but then I've always had a weird sense of humor.

 

[Monte Harrison]

I'd have whipped it out and screamed "FREEEEEEZE" at the top of my lungs, but then I've always had a weird sense of humor.

A sense of humor like that is going to get you arrested, sued or killed some day.

 

[Jesse H]

Got sarcasm?

 

[blue86buick]

It is very similar to a lowes or home depot, but exponentially better.

I agree.

I do however have a biased opinion.

Me too...I worked in one for 2 1/2 years.

 

[HankB]

If you were "made" you need to evaluate your carry. When I'm carrying, I try hard not to be noticed.

On Menards: Up in Minnesota, the two big chains were Menards and Knox. No matter which one I went to, I could only get about 3/4 of the stuff I needed for a project - every major undertaking meant going to both. I've had much better luck from Home Depot and Lowe's.

On the other issue raised . . .

Not everyone likes a hyphen. A friend of mine, born in Kali, has Japanese ancestry, and spent some of his childhood in one of FDR's internment camps during WWII because of it. He detests the term "Japanese - American" and simply refers to himself as American.

My own attitude can be summed up in the words of a noted author, hunter, conservationist, environmentalist, and President, a man immortalized on Mt. Rushmore, a man who won the Nobel Peace Price back when it actually meant something:

"A hyphenated American is not an American at all. This is just as true of the man who puts 'Native' before the hyphen as of the man who puts German or Irish or English or French before the hyphen. Americanism is a matter of the spirit and of the soul. Our allegiance must be purely to the United States. We must unsparingly condemn any man who holds any other allegiance."

THEODORE ROOSEVELT
12 OCTOBER 1915

 

[spacemanspiff]

went down to the kenai peninsula this weekend ( no luck at fishing) and stopped in a diner before heading back. in the parking lot was a truck with "peninsula firearm academy" emblazoned on the door. guys an instructor, nra certified, says so right there. the guy who was driving it had a gunny hat on, and a button down shirt. his weapon printed the worst i've ever seen. butt was sticking out of his right hip like there was no tomorrow.

 

[Cliff]

"A hyphenated American is not an American at all. This is just as true of the man who puts 'Native' before the hyphen as of the man who puts German or Irish or English or French before the hyphen. Americanism is a matter of the spirit and of the soul. Our allegiance must be purely to the United States. We must unsparingly condemn any man who holds any other allegiance."

Thank you for that HankB.