RNS’ Greatest Hits
A couple of people have asked that I dig this post out of the archives, and being a believer in making the people happy, it is done.
However, it was originally posted in July of 05 when we were still using Moveable Type. On Jan 01 of 2006 we switched over to WordPress and some of the HTML and most of the pics in the old posts went haywire, so I may do this every once in a great while just to “modernize” said posts.
So, if you’ll join me below the fold
As I wrote yesterday, I spent most of Sunday on Whidbey Island with Mr. Completely and Kiwi. It is physically possible to drive to Whidbey Island, but it is close to 50 miles out of the way for me, so I took one of the many ferry boats in the State of Washington fleet. While on the ferry ride home, I also ran into one of the many hippies that inhabit the Western Washington area.
You see, I have a full sized truck with a canopy top which basically has a 5×5 area that I have placed a few decals on. It isn’t a rolling billboard by any means, but there are six or seven small things I have attached to my truck. I don’t adhere stickers to the paint because that screws up the paint and when they fade, I want to be able to easily take them off.
I have a couple different “Support the Troops” magnetic ribbons and two smaller “Keep My Soldier Safe” ribbons. One for the folks I know in uniform serving in a rocky and/or sandy place and one for the folks I know who used to wear the uniform but who are now private and working in a rocky and/or sandy place.
I also have one of Raging Dave’s Molon Labe stickers riding high along with a selection of pro2A stickers from LifeLibertyEtc.com and an NRA cling on the canopy glass.
The one that got the conversation started was LLE’s “Peace Through Superior Firepower” sticker, with those words surrounding a peace sign (img is at the bottom of the post due to HTML difficulties).
After the ferry loads for the trip, most folks get out of their vehicles to go use the head or run around on the upper decks. She did.
I didn’t. I got lucky and received a spot on the side of the boat with ample light and proceeded to take advantage of it to read my copy of the latest edition of The Shotgun News that had arrived the day before.
I saw her getting out of her old VW Rabbit in the uniform of the hippie (peasant dress, sweater, head scarf, etc.) and walking towards the bow to the door to the upper deck. As she got to the car behind me, I saw her focus on the back of my truck and was waiting for a reaction.
I got more of a reaction than I was hoping for.
I saw the blank stare on her face turn into a scowl, which oddly enough, looked very natural on her face. She then walked up to my drivers door window and said “Excuse me.â€
Those folks that have met me know that I am nothing if not a gentleman, and I proceeded to fold up my Shotgun News and ask if I could help her. She said that she was offended by the sticker and asked if I had any clue how stupid it was. I proceeded to tell her that in my opinion, it spoke a very simple truth in four words.
Apparently, she thought I would cede the point to her immediately because the look of shock on her face was as if I had hit her in the face with a two-by-four (which I hadn’t).
She went into a rant about how violence creates violence, war is for people who don’t know how to negotiate (or some such BS) and I was waiting for the famous “You can’t hug a child with nuclear arms” drivel, but it never arrived. It probably would have except that as she got a couple sentences into her rant, I started unfolding my Shotgun News and that really made her mad.
Her last line something like “And stupid stickers like that one and stupid people like you will never understand and that really pisses me off!” and it was at full volume, so that folks still sitting in their vehicles around us were able to take notice.
I calmly folded my my Shotgun News back up and asked if it made her pissed off enough to try and hit me.
She said, and I quote “No, because you probably have a gun with you right now.”
So I replied “Isn’t it sad that all of the psychobabble you keep in your head just lost an argument to a bumper sticker?”
I swear, I thought she was going to spontaneously explode right there and I know I was smirking (because I couldn’t help it) as I unfolded my Shotgun News and rolled up my window, the conversation being done. She literally just stood there and was almost vibrating.
If I thought she could have actually broken my driver’s door window by herself, I would have done more than flip open my cellphone and set it on the dash.
After a dozen seconds or so, she walked away in a huff towards the door to the upper deck.
At the end of the boat ride when she walked past my truck to get to her car, I saw a look I haven’t seen on a woman since the time I brought home a car that I had promised the Analog Wife (then the Analog girlfriend) that I wouldn’t buy.
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God I love that story!
That story never gets old. You should resolve to bring it back yearly at the beginning of Natl. Ammo Week.
Priceless.
RNS:
“I would have done more than flip open my cellphone and set it on the dash.”
Gosh…you ARE a gentleman!
I always enjoy surreptitiously urinating on their Birkenstocks while they’re in mid-rant.
They usually don’t even notice.
And if and when they do, I placate them by reminding them that urine, in addition to being biodegradable, is also the traditional low-impact method of tanning leather.
Regards;
Old warriors tend to have better manners than the general population. Hand salute! Too!
The last presidential election I had to vote early due to my job. Two very nice blue haired ladies were in line in front of me. The were discussing how we should negotiate with Al-Qaeda, etc. I used something that was on a pen and ink drawing outside of Attack Squadron One Two Eight’s Ready Room. “You negotiate with your adversary with your knee in his chest and your knife at his throat”
The reception was far from polite. I didn’t know nice ladies like that had a sailor’s vocabulary.
Most excellent story!
As the conservative survivor of a [i]very[/i] liberal liberal arts college, I can see myself in a similar situation.
Allow me to relate a school story: As the “token conservative”, and strong supporter or the 2A, it was suspected that I [i]might[/i] have firearms on campus. In fact, a letter describing what could theoretically happen if it was ever proven that I had guns on school grounds was sent to me once, with no follow up.
When I moved of student housing after graduation, several of the “granola girls” all came up to give me hugs with very sad expressions. When I asked them what was wrong, they said “if something bad happens, we won’t have anyone to go to now”.
As LTC Grossman said… there are sheep and wolves; and luckily, there are sheepdogs as well.
Bravo!
Well done
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