OCC#5:
2012/07/10: Bojangles: an elderly couple engages in small talk with me, but I can’t hear much of what they say over the chatter of the other customers. Something about my job, maybe asking what I do given that I carry a gun. They’re all smiles, so I just nod and smile back. 🙂

OCC#6:
2012/07/10: Food Lion: One employee, who has seen me before and noticed how I stacked my groceries in such an organized way, asks if I have OCD. I say, “Absolutely!” She then makes more small talk and asks if I’m a detective. This is where I overdo it and go on about how I’m glad I moved down here from MA seven years ago and it was a feeling of “finally, freedom!” She says something about “some people” trying to “stop it” meaning people carrying guns I guess. I say, “well, good luck to them.” I really should have kept this conversation a bit more brief. But no harm done. Another employee walks by me and says, “Sir, you have a gun on your hip,” just trying to be funny. I just laugh and say, “Thanks for telling me!”

OCC#7:
2012/07/17: IHOP: One of the waitresses who has waited on us before and asked, “What job do you have that you carry a gun?” a while back. She had made some silly comment about being glad to know where she can get a gun if a bad guy comes in, implying that she would just pull mine out of the holster. Yikes. Reminder to self: check holster retention real good before going into IHOP from now on. Anyhow, that was a while ago. This time she was pretty funny, saying that “that’s a big-ass gun” and asking what it was. I told her it was a 1911 .45, and she when on and on about how she shot a Desert Eagle 50 cal and how it dislocated her shoulder (probably exaggerting a bit there) and that she then went and bought the gun. Anyhow, it was a fun conversation (or funny, at least).

OCC#8
2012/07/22: Bojangles: Some customer asks me if “that’s a 1911.” I respond my usual way with, “it’s all I carry.” He asks if it’s a .45 and I say yes. He says, “that’s kind of big,” I think meaning he thought it was a bit inconvenient to carry. I just say that it’s not a big deal when you’re carrying openly. He says he’s “more of a Glock guy.” I acknowledge it, but purposely trail off so he can’t hear exactly what I say, signaling that I really don’t want to take that conversation any further. I think he got the message. All good, though, there didn’t seem to be any negative feedback.

I also have another general open carry post coming up. More people on the internet are wrong, so I guess I have to address it.

*sigh*

😉