So i'm at the gun store...

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magsnubby

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I was at a local gun store yesterday just browsing around kind of looking for some type of subcompact .40. The owner has been in business for years. The staff is a friendly and knowledgeable bunch. The store was packed with customers.

There was an elderly lady asking about pepper spray. "Sure we carry pepper spray". "When i renewed my permit Officer Bob asked me if i carried pepper spray. He said in addition to a handgun, it would be a good idea to carry pepper spray". "Well, we have pepper spray but i just carry one of those little packets of pepper like you get at McDonalds. After i shoot him i just sprinkle pepper on him and when the cops get there i just say i peppered him but it didn't work so i shot him."

After the laughter died down (she was the only one that didn't get the joke) she bought her pepper spray and left.
 
The staff is a friendly and knowledgeable bunch.
Click to expand...
... who like to make jokes at the expense of an elderly lady who just seems to be trying to do what someone recommended. Classy joint there. :rolleyes:

I'm sure next time she's looking for something she won't think twice about going to the store where everyone laughed a joke she didn't understand.
 
I get the joke. And wonder if we lost a 2A vote over it.

I don't know how anyone can cry about the erosion of 2a rights when women (half the voting base) are treated with such disrespect at the gun counter.

Whether that was INTENDED to be sexist behavior or not, whether that joke would have come out on a 25 y/o male in a high and tight or not, you can BET that woman's perception was that she just got crapped on by the good ole boys club. No girls allowed.
 
come on guys, lighten up. it was a joke, and want directed at the lady. telling bad jokes isnt a crime. the lady is already packing, I highly doubt a vote was lost, and it didnt sound like it was related to gender in any way.
 
I'm not saying you did anything wrong, but just have to point out that elderly ladies are people you're supposed to go out of your way to accomodate and be nice to. Some of us might remember all that training to help them across the street in Scouts?

It's also possible that the little old lady didn't laugh because that joke was about 1300 years old when she first heard it, at age four.
 
For those of you that didn't get the joke here's a hint: He's a retired cop. Hint: When the SHTF save the pepper for your steak and just shoot the butt hole.
 
The point of the story is this:

People who work in gun stores are too often (though not always)
a**h***s who are lacking in compassion and understanding
who think that their knowledge of the world
is more important than helping others,
including those new to guns
who came to them for help.

I wasn't born yesterday.
I own several fine guns
(since I was 7; I'm now 57)
carefully chosen with lots of research on THR.

Yet I've experienced a**h**ism at a store in my town,
and will never return to the store where I experienced it.

(And if the owners of that store are reading this,
know that I'm telling that story of how
you dissed me to everyone I know. :fire: )

That woman - aged or not - should do likewise.

When gun store owners become more jester than helper,
then let them burn in their own pepper.

:cuss:

Nem
 
Evidently the entire world has lost it's sense of humor.

Let me explain it: He's a retired cop trying to tell the lady you have a gun. If you find yourself in a situation where you have to resort to self defense, forget the pepper spray and use the gun.
 
Evidently the entire world has lost it's sense of humor.
Click to expand...
Evidently, some gun store employees
have lost their sense of compassion.

I'll argue this until the end of time.

How much time you got?
 
I, too, dont see how the joke was in any way offensive, sexist, ageist, or even directed at anyone.The women wanted pepper spray.They told her they carry pepper spray.They didnt try to tell her not to use peper spray, or pepper spray is ineffective, or to buy a gun instead, they simply sold her the pepper spray sha asked for, and a clerk, while selling her the spray, made a cheesey pepper spray joke directed at no one and nothing, with the obvious sole intent at just being funny, and that was it.If I went in to wal-mart to buy an unbrella, and while selling it to me, a cashier made a joke about the weather, should I be offended and never shop at wal-mart again?
 
I'm a professional educator at the college level.

One thing I learned - starting in the first grade - is this:

If you want to turn someone off from learning,
make them the butt of a joke in front of a bunch of others.

Not only will it shut down their learning,
but they will hate you for the rest of their life.

On the other hand,
if you laugh with them instead of at them,
they may actually get it.

That woman left that store being laughed AT.

If someone had reached out and said,
"Hey, babe, we're only joking.
Here's the joke. Have a beer with us while we discuss it",
then, it would be different.

But they didn't do that, did they?

Nope. They just let her walk home
with her pepper spray,
laughing as she walked out the door
about how stoopid she was.
 
I agree with the substance of your post.

However, two comments: One--women aren't necessarily looking to learn anything. She wanted to buy pepper spray. That's all. It was not a teaching moment. It was a customer service moment.

On a somewhat related tangent: a lot of people seem to see women with guns a teaching opportunity or as a neat "hey we got another one" moment. Nah. Just people. With different plumbing. That's all. Yeah, there's fewer of us with guns. Not by that much, and we don't all need or want teaching or encouragement or help. Female does not equal needs help.

Two:
"Hey, babe, we're only joking.
Here's the joke. Have a beer with us while we discuss it",
then, it would be different.
Click to expand...

Please tell me you are not serious. Don't call random women "babe". Ever.

Babe, baby, honey, and sweetie are all diminutives commonly used to belittle women. Some people use them trying to be friendly and those people are seriously off base. "Babe" is utterly beyond the pale, most especially for an older woman.
 
i see it as the woman leaving the store not understanding a joke, and the other people having a good laugh at the joke, which was throwing pepper spray on the body, not making fun of an old lady.

"and trust me i know funny, im a clownfish" - finding nemo :evil:
 
One--women aren't necessarily looking to learn anything. She wanted to buy pepper spray. That's all. It was not a teaching moment. It was a customer service moment.
Click to expand...
I don't even think its limited to women although I'm sure women have more issues with it than men. It seems like many gun stores seem to have the problem guy at the counter who knows what you want is all wrong and will tell you what to buy. I'd quit shopping at the grocery store that told me I was buying the wrong groceries and I'll stop shopping at the gun store that tells me my shopping list is wrong too. Shame on them for not being polite and helpful to an elderly lady.
 
Babe, baby, honey, and sweetie are all diminutives commonly used to belittle women. Some people use them trying to be friendly and those people are seriously off base. "Babe" is utterly beyond the pale, most especially for an older woman.
Click to expand...
Ah, intelligence and compassion peeks out.

I completely agree.

I would not have said "babe" in that instance.

Nor - as you correctly point out - should anyone else.

(But then, they shouldn't have made her the butt of their joke, either.)

My use of the word "babe", misdirected as it was,
was intended to indicate to her, "You're our friend".
We're here to help you, not ridicule you.

Call us "redneck", "bud", "jethro", "bubba",
even "ah" if you wish.

We'll laugh with you,
not at you.
 
I don't even think its limited to women although I'm sure women have more issues with it than men
Click to expand...

I completely agree with you. It seems lots of people have trouble with attitude at guns stores.

Perhaps women are more sensitive to it because we tend to be faced by several guys. It's pretty unusual to encounter women working at gun stores and for women, it can be pretty off-putting to encounter that sort of negative, superior attitude from a bunch of guys. Creates a very adversarial atmosphere.
 
It's pretty unusual to encounter women working at gun stores and for women, it can be pretty off-putting to encounter that sort of negative, superior attitude from a bunch of guys. Creates a very adversarial atmosphere.
Click to expand...
Every male employee in every gun store
should not only read that paragraph several times,
but ponder it, then discuss it with other male employees.

After that, they should begin to reflect on
how they treat all their customers
regardless of gender.

Start with compassion.
Listen to the customer's needs.

If you don't have time, go take a break,
then come back when you've got time to listen.

After a few minutes,
and some earnest explanation,
if the customer still doesn't get it,
and/or if they are being obnoxious,
then - and only then - roll out the ridicule.
 
Meh

It's not about humor vs compassion.

The store owner mis-judged his audience.

It may be that his "humor style" only has one template, born of years in the same rut.

He would have said that if I were there. I would have responded with "Spock eyebrow" and continued my transaction.

I've known mechanics that cussed as an integral part of their vocabulary and had to be isolated from customer traffic. It was the only template they knew.

People who mis-judge their audience often enough will eventually have no audience. Maybe they'll get lucky and someone close enough to them will say, "Bob, just play it straight with the newer customers, okay?"

Not many people are willing to dismount the lens through which they view the world and check to see if maybe it needs cleaning or adjusting.

When you're buying groceries, and you mention the twenty-five-dollar loaf of bread, you'll get some Spock eyebrows. When you explain that this loaf used to be twenty-five CENTS and now it's ten times that, and that, in another twenty years or so could it be twenty-five DOLLARS, you actually get some traction. Sometimes. Other times you still get the Spock eyebrow.

It depends on the audience.

Firing off a joke, having not made sure of your target and what's behind it, is a rules violation.
 
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