Today I was at work and I realized that we were almost completely out of earplugs. Normally I order them online with my credit card and my boss reimburses me, but we've been quite broke lately (thanks to an overweight dog and a wonky axle) so I haven't been able to get to it. Then I realized that we have two very loud shows coming up in the next week, and the four remaining pairs of earplugs won't even outfit the staff, much less any customers who might choose to preserve their hearing.
So we went to the gun shop. The people there were very nice, tremendously helpful, and, of course, armed. I do not have a problem with this. Of course you want people to be armed when they work in a gun shop. I mean, we wouldn't want them getting robbed, right? Of course not.
The b.h. was kind enough to come with me. The transaction was fairly quick and easy. We were in and out of there in five minutes flat. But the thing is, the ear plugs were all the way in the back, in a room behind a counter. While I waited for the extremely helpful gun guy to find me the right case of earplugs, I was staring at a wall- a very long, very tall, wall- full of ammunition. And the glass counter in front of me was home to around fifty or sixty hand guns. It was weird.
Again, I don't really have a problem with guns. I have been to a shooting range. I have fired a few. And shit if it isn't a lot of fun. But being in the gun shop was to me lot like being in a butcher shop: Nothing there for me. And all of it in one place is, for some reason, very disconcerting.
Neither of us said much the whole time we were in there. I'm sure the guys that work there had to realize how hilariously out of place we both were. As soon as we got in the car, we both kind of exploded with sighs of relief and remarks about how weird it was. Next time, I'm sending somebody else for the ear plugs.
2 comments:
Another yawning gulf opens up between our countries. There is a nice old-fashioned gun shop in the next town. If you go in, you're greeted by a nice tweedy gentleman who obviously shoots a mean pheasant, but there's no question of him being armed. It's against the law. And of course, so are handguns.
Yeah... another reason I suspect I might be more comfortable over there.
But as I said, I did go shooting once and it was fun. I think knowing how to do things is good. It was a good learning experience, but I wouldn't want a gun in my house.
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