ok, shorter. gun for paranoia? trying again for input

[280PLUS]

I've always made it my business to look as destitute as possible. I even mostly drive a crappy 1990 Plymouth Acclaim (formerly driven by a little old lady only to the store and church)(yes, really). The muggers never seem to know the days when I have more than the usual $15 in cash on me. Hence, so far, I've never been mugged.

Go ahead, display your vast wealth

Oh yea, when using the word "paranoid" for this type of behavoir you are stepping over the bounds of it's definition. As pointed out earlier in this thread.

I call it more like "situational awareness".

 

[richyoung]

Hmmm...call me contrarian, but I'm going to wear what I want to wear, and go where I please...however, my Dan Wesson Pointman will be going with me. If I lived in one of the Leftist havens that prohibits such measures...I'd move!

 

[CAPTAIN MIKE]

Wait - Am I Paranoid ???

Okay - I have a fire extinguisher in my home. I have one in my office.
I have a spare tire in my truck, along with my AAA Automobile Club membership card and emergency number - "just in case".

Does that make me Paranoid or 'Prepared'??

I believe the latter rather than the former.

 

[CB900F]

Fella's;

IMO- the most rediculous reason for gun ownership is killing something that's A: not going to be eaten, B: not attacking you.

but even that is valid enough.

True, it is. However, it's a very simplistic viewpoint, but one that's easy to adopt apparantly. Let's see, P-dogs, ground squirrels, gophers: consume millions of dollars of crop per year, cause pasturage to lie fallow because your livestock can & will break their legs in the holes, carry all sorts of really interesting diseases, and are cannibals. Wolves, coyotes, cats, and grizzly bears. We here in the Rocky Mountain West, are seeing game populations of Elk, deer, moose, you name it, reduced by the depredations of the aforementioned predators. We can still shoot coyotes, but woe upon the poor soul who shoots a wolf & is stupid enough to report it.

I'm still trying to find out if the statement attributed to Wyoming governer Freudenthal (sp) is a spoof or not. Would that it were true.

900F

 

[jdberger]

When you not at work remove the coat and tie. Or don't (wear) a $1000 or more suit to work.

What?!!

I, like richyoung, am going to wear what I want to and will not bow to the fear of criminal behavior. Suggestions to the contrary are akin to telling a woman being raped that fighting back is dangerous and that she may as well lay back and enjoy it.

I choose not to drive around a crappy car so I won't get spotted by the bad guys. I choose not to live in a crappy house in a crappy neighborhood so the bad guys won't target me. Money that I have made, that I have worked hard for is MINE to spend as I please within the limits of the law. Any suggestion to the contrary...well we'll just let it lay at that...

And please don't come back with ad absurdium arguments and situations about walking into Compton or East Oakland dripping in furs and diamonds carrying a pillowcase full of cash.

OK....rant over.

 

[whm1974]

I, like richyoung, am going to wear what I want to and will not bow to the fear of criminal behavior. Suggestions to the contrary are akin to telling a woman being raped that fighting back is dangerous and that she may as well lay back and enjoy it.

What we are trying to say here is don't flaut your wealth. When you do that not only are you wearing a sign saying "mug me, please mug me" you are also rubbing into the faces of the "have nots" that you are a have and creating resentment.

-Bill

 

[jdberger]

<Turn Rant Back ON>

Are you :banghead: kidding me?

you are also rubbing into the faces of the "have nots" that you are a have and creating resentment.

Perhaps that is the problem of the 'have nots'. America is a classless society. A class is something you are born into, and trapped in--concepts completely antithetical to the American self-image. Poor folks can rise to the top of power and wealth through hard work and some luck. Look at Condi Rice? Janice Rogers Brown. Both born poor and black and in the segregationist South. One is the Secretary of State, the HIGHEST diplomatic office in the country. The other is a nominee for a Federal Judgeship. Both pulled themselves up and got busy achieving. If folks are going to be jealous, well them.

Wealth is not a zero sum game. If i get $100, it doesn't mean that I took it from you. You can have $100 too. You just have to work for it.

I don't and won't ride along in my Bentley and jeer at the poor, but I won't garage the Bentlely and drive a beat-up Datsun B210 because I'm afraid of hurting someone's feelings.

<Rant off>

(Disclaimer-Bentley was for illustrative purposes only, please don't car-jack me... )

 

[280PLUS]

Don't get me wrong, I LIKE my crappy car! I even did a MAACO on it and it don't look half bad. It owes me nothing, the taxes are like $23 a year, the insurance is like $700 a year and best of all, I haven't made a car payment in YEARS!. I'm not living in fear I'm living incognito. I forgot to mention I am 100% bling free too. But thats to do more with working with high voltage, however, I HAVE been in places where they'd cut off your finger with a pair of dykes and run to get your wedding band. That kind of stayed with me I guess.

Eg. We're walking down the street, you in your $1200 Armani and gold / platinum jewelry and me in my Carharts and tee shirt, no jewelry anywhere. we both pass the same muggers. Who they going to pick? Sure, you can shoot back but I've done even better, I've avoided the situation.

 

[whm1974]

Wealth is not a zero sum game. If i get $100, it doesn't mean that I took it from you. You can have $100 too. You just have to work for it.

I don't and won't ride along in my Bentley and jeer at the poor, but I won't garage the Bentlely and drive a beat-up Datsun B210 because I'm afraid of hurting someone's feelings.

We are class society. We also also have HUGE underclass is that is mostly permanite. I'll bet you don't drive that Bentely in the projects/trailer parks either.

Eg. We're walking down the street, you in your $1200 Armani and gold / platinum jewelry and me in my Carharts and tee shirt, no jewelry anywhere. we both pass the same muggers. Who they going to pick? Sure, you can shoot back but I've done even better, I've avoided the situation.

Thank you. If you look like you will be worthwhile to be mugged then you will be mugged.

-Bill

 

[280PLUS]

Even though I may look poor, I always have a few hundred bucks in my pocket. It just happens to be in the shape of a J frame.

 

[Third_Rail]

What I see a few people assuming is that we are a class society and that criminals are a class.

That wealthy-looking businessman may be a mugger.

That poorly dressed man may be a multi-millionaire.



Something about books and their covers....





In any case, I'm not going to change myself or what I do - to do that is akin to allowing searches from the TSA in the name of "security". I'm not about to live in fear, be it from petty criminals or the government.

 

[whm1974]

In any case, I'm not going to change myself or what I do - to do that is akin to allowing searches from the TSA in the name of "security". I'm not about to live in fear, be it from petty criminals or the government.

It's not living in fear. It called not doing notice to itself.

-Bill

 

[Hypnogator]

Some professions still require (or encourage) a coat and tie. Not much you can do about that...

Nada Problem -- allows you to carry a full-sized .45, a couple of spare mags, OC, and a tactical flashlight, along with your cell phone, without attracting any unwanted attention.

Paranoid? Naw -- Prudent.

 

[280PLUS]

That wealthy-looking businessman may be a mugger.

or a con artist,

or, heaven forbid, a lawyer (shudder) LOL...

 

[1911 guy]

Situational Awareness

Perfect Awareness Is Perfect Paranioa. Someone, somewhere, wants what you have and will hurt you to get it. The goal is to avoid that person(s) but I, like a few others, will not overly inconveniance myself to not "offend the poor". The poor are not criminals. Blacks are not criminals, niether is any other group you can think of. Individuals within these groups are criminals and there's nothing you can do to guarantee absolute safety. If you dress average or below and drive a 1987 ford, that is probably still reason for the crackhead on the street to try you out. You might have ten bucks he's willing to take from you.

 

[whm1974]

If you dress average or below and drive a 1987 ford, that is probably still reason for the crackhead on the street to try you out. You might have ten bucks he's willing to take from you.

Unfortunaly that is very true.

-Bill

 

[thorn726]

yeah 1911 makes a good point.
when i go to shady areas, (ok i never dress all that nice)
i look like i got a little less.......
but reality, there are good people and bad.
the good wont rob you no matter what, and the bad might even pick on the broke guy cause there is less chance the cops will care, and bottom line-

you can buy crack for TINY amounts of money. someitmes even $1-2, generally as low as $3.

so anyone can be worth robbing to the total addict