A Quick Moment with Carol
Today I am staying in the office rather than going with the rest of my department to shoot clays all afternoon. I could have gone; I'm not that busy. But I chose not to.
Why?
Well, though the part of me that actually wants to be Chow Yun-Fat in The Killer can't wait to get her hands on a firearm, the part of me that finds real guns disturbing and the idea of going to a shooting club in Jersey with the marketing department unsavory won out. I'm a little torn between feeling mildly principled and kind of like a douche.
Oh well, such is the plight of a pinko-commie-vegetarian working at a hunting and fishing magazine owned by a huge media conglomerate. Woo, I got paid today!
xoxo,
Carol
posted by Carol at 12:15 PM
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13 Comments:
you gotta go with your gut. but i have to say, my pinko-commie vegetarian pacifist squeamish friend went shooting recently. and found she really enjoyed it. as long as it's clay pigeons.
I've never understood how people can find guns themselves disturbing. Gun violence, yes. Guns in the hands of criminals/maniacs/idiots absolutely. But to my mind, a gun's not too different from any other tool. People get their heads caved in with hammers, but not many people are disturbed by hammers.
Oh, I admit it's a little irrational on my part, but it's not an over-the-top fear. My dad has a pretty amazing collection of old rifles and shotguns, so they don't terrify me. But in my mind there is a clear difference between a hammer and gun even though both are tools and both could be used violently; the primary use of a hammer is not to kill something. In responsible hands, a gun may not be currently killing something, but if it's put to use it may well. And I think it's that air about it that makes me edgy.
But part of the reason I took this job was to understand the other side. I've had many a coworker bring up the exact point you made, and I don't 100% disagree with it. Still, my perspective is different. I don't understand, for instance, how you've never understood why guns themselves would make some people nervous. It just seems obvious to me. I like swords and throwing stars, but they still make me nervous simply because they're weapons. Of course, I may just be a pussy.
Carol, I totally get it. You're not a douche. People who say "What's so disturbing, it's just a gun," have probably never had one pointed AT them. Or lack the creativity to imagine such a thing. And, anyway, what a tacky office outing! It's like the "rewards" the kids get for winning tasks on "The Apprentice."
Guns were made for one purpose and one purpose only: To kill things.
Other tools, such as a hammer, have other other, obvious uses. I mean, sure... You can use a hammer to crush someone's skull, but I doubt a 22 guage shotgun would be much help with the new cedar shingles.
I think you mean a 12 guage shotgun
Still won't help me with my siding...
But yeah, I didn't think that sounded right.
So that's why my neighbors called the cops when I was putting up shingles the other day. I thought that was kind of a funny looking hammer...
I think you meant "gauge."
Hey, a principled douche is still principled.
Carol Hartsell... you are a douche... I've had 3 guns pointed at me and i don't find them disturbing. I don't own one, but they're still cool as hell. hey check this one out ---> http://www.glock-guns.com/(a2l1s045mplfdx55dac0cr55)/modelinfo.aspx?model=Glock-30
What kind of an Alabama girl are you? You don't fire guns? You don't eat meat? Next you'll be telling me that you don't drink sweet tea or something. But still, going skeet shooting as an office event does seem kind of odd, even for a hunting magazine. I know that I wouldn't trust any of the people /I/ work with firearms.
To You of the Anonymous Multitudes: so if true, does that mean she's self-douching? I suppose that would be convenient. Anyway, I'm gonna go and have someone point three drinks at me and remain undisturbed, because I'm such a non-self-douching man.
I'm in the same boat as you, Carol. I'm a 2nd dan in tae kwon do, own martial arts weapons, and enjoy shoot'em ups at the arcade.
Yet, I refuse to allow real guns in my house. Living in a red state, I get a lot of strange looks when I say that. Here's my reasoning:
1) When I shoot things on a screen with a light gun, I'm not hurting anybody.
2) If a kid finds one of my swords, it's not going to be sharp. So there's no way s/he'll accidentally kill someone while messing around with it.
3) It's too freaking easy to kill someone with a gun. You pull a trigger and an object the size of fingernail comes hurtling through the air at thousands of miles an hour. When I punch or kick someone, I know I'm not going to kill them.
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