Pro bono

Went to a Chinese buffet for lunch today. They’ve got a good variety of hot dishes, salads, fruits, shellfish, desserts and some damn fine sushi. Their sticky rice is amazing and almost entirely free of lead paint. Ya, it has a tad bit of Cadmium, but since chemistry is my thang I know I can neutralize the harmful effects by chugging a gallon of Yak piss chilled to 13 degrees Celsius. I did a paper on it.

Anywho, I’m the type that simply must have reading material whenever I eat alone. I’ve got reams of amicus briefs, anti rants, fact check reports, you name it on hand at home, work and in my vehicle so I’m prepared should a meal decide to run out in front of my car. So today I was re-reading something printed before the ‘08 elections about the Light-Bringer’s positions, quotes and votes on gun control compiled by “Vote Smart.” I was looking back at it to try and inspire a blog post. I put it down on the table and started making my way for the sushi when, I have to assume, the guy at the table next to me glanced over and read the large bold-faced title. I came back a few minutes later with a plate full of MSG goodness and started to throw groceries down my neck and skim the pages looking for something to write about.

The guy next to me was mopping his plate with a piece of garlic bread and getting ready to leave. He got up, took a few steps, then turned, walked back and faced me.

I acknowledged him and he apologized for interrupting and asked “Just what is his position on gun control?”

I didn’t know if I was about to engage a pro-2Aer, an anti or a neutral so I played it safe and did a brief run down of his senate voting record. Basically a bullet list of everything easily confirmed by a number of government records.

His response of, “I didn’t know that.” didn’t really help me in determining who I was engaging but then he asked me about “that gun thing in Chicago before the Supreme Court.” Ok, I thought to myself, I’ve got a real live anti wanting to talk about “that gun thing” while I’m trying to enjoy some baked salmon with sautéed mushrooms. Before I could respond with what would have been a polite recap of history, he surprised me by saying, “I hope Chicago gets struck down just like DC did.”

I put my fork down and motioned him closer.

He sat down on the other side of my booth in a most familiar way…butt-cheeks on the corner of the seat with one foot under the table and the other foot outside the booth folded back with most of his weight on it.

It was only then that I realized that I hadn’t given any clue as to whether or not I was a pro-2Aer, an anti or a neutral either.

I said, “So do I, the decision should be out before the end of the month.”

Without even exchanging names, we talked for the next 20 minutes as my food got cold. He just moved to Oregon from Texas and had a Utah CCW permit. He was ex-military and had bought an AR-15 right after the election because he had trained on that platform and heard rumors that the Messiah did not secretly wish to wash the feet of Charlton Heston.

All things considered, I felt like I made a difference in some small way. But I was a bit disappointed that I needed to inform someone who was licensed to carry a gun and WAS carrying a gun while slurping hot-n-sour soup next to me.

I’m tempted to tell how I knew he was packing, but for every temptation, there is an equal and opposite anti-temptation.

Carry a gun yourself, even if only on your own property. Watch your body language and really see it.

Then and only then will you see it in others.