A couple of days ago I was at the gun counter in a national sporting goods chain. A customer told the counter guy he was just looking, but then commented that he noticed that they seemed to have sold a lot of scopes in the past week. Counter guy said, "We are selling a lot of everything!" He said people are even coming in to buy .22 long guns for home defense. I knew the reasons behind that.
Another counter guy and customer were talking, and I overheard that customer expressing his opinion that Trump had been the defender of liberty, and that Biden would basically be the end of America.
I bit my tongue to stop myself from pointing out that while Biden is openly an anti-gun bigot with big plans for your guns, Trump was sneakier about it. He pretended to be on your side while violating your rights the first opportunity he got. Trump is no friend of gun owners; unfortunately, Biden-- with the help of a majority of anti-liberty congressvermin-- will probably be much worse.
But, yeah, I said nothing. I just stood there looking complacent and oblivious. It's the best I can do in such situations.
Long ago, I decided it is best to not comment on politics while in a gun store. Other than my favorite gun store back in Colorado, but that was different (...I believe).
During my time in Pennsylvania I had visited a gun store in my first couple of days there, and as I was leaving-- on foot-- it began to rain hard enough to drown frogs. Another customer who was also leaving noticed I was on foot and offered me a ride back to my motel. On the way, he warned me that the gun shop owner was a former cop and that many of its customers were current and former cops. He told me to watch what I said in there to avoid problems. (I hadn't said anything to anyone, so I was safe.) I thanked him for the warning.
You never know when there might be a snake in the grass. Yes, the popular (with cops) thug-rug haircut can be a dead giveaway but don't rely on it.
And anyone might be Stasi.
There's a time to speak up and a time to observe and collect data. Wisdom is knowing which time it is.
Excellent advice. Freely expressing your opinions wherever you are to anyone is a luxury people who live in a free country can safely indulge in. No one residing in 21st century amerika lives in any such place.
ReplyDeleteI wish it weren't true. In the past I've met some wonderful people because they expressed opinions around me that would not be popular to the w0ke/karens. That's less likely to happen today. My life has lost something.
DeleteMaybe too many people being silent is why we are in this mess.
ReplyDeleteThat's very likely.
DeleteThat's part of why I write-- including the newspaper columns that draw attention to me locally. But even I can see this isn't always the wise path. I'm basically unemployable now, and my attempts to make money online have been less than successful. I don't expect anyone else to put themselves in this position by speaking up.
I have been an active and vocal proponent of freedom, responsible behavior and self-sufficiency since my early adulthood and this has accomplished absolutely NOTHING in my entire and long lifetime for the advancement or even the maintenance of these positions in this country. The blame for this does not rest on anyone’s ‘silence’ but wholly on the actions of power hungry meddling tyrants who do not listen to anything but their egos and do not care for anything but their power and control.
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