Another little boy incident

[PennsyPlinker]

So after going to Cabela's on Wednesday to see if 338winmag really did have his leg fixed, I found myself pulling into the parking lot again today, this time in the company of Mrs. Plinker. I had promised a friend that I would pick up a holster for him as he was going out of town for a funeral.

As we were getting out of the truck, an old guy (about my age or so) exited his own vehicle with two little children, a boy and a girl. The kids were very excited - I learned later that it was their first time ever to Cabela's. We were walking slightly in front of them.

"Papa, that man has a gun!"

(pause)

"Papa, that man has a gun!"

"Yes, yes he does, doesn't he?"

Since the second statement by the little boy was approximately 110 decibels, and we were only a few feet in front of them, I turned and gave them a big smile.

"Yes, I do have a gun. There are a lot of guns inside where you are going. In fact, lots of people carry guns like this. Do you have a gun?"

"Nooo!"

I then struck up a conversation with the grandfather, talking about the various offerings in the store at the gun counter. Then the little boy, who is four years old, said to me,

"That's a very nice shirt you are wearing!"

I was wearing my PAFOA eastern shoot T shirt which has a billboard sized gun on the back.

"Those are also nice pants you have on!"

I thanked him for his compliments and continued to talk with the grandfather.

"Wasn't it nice of me to say those things to you!?!"

"Yes, you are a very kind little boy, and you are going to make sure you get the credit for it too, aren't you?"

Anyway, part of my reason for posting this story is because I am avoiding real work. But a bigger part is this. Here is a little boy who to this point has had very little experience with pistols. Neither, apparently has his sister. They were not frightened. They did not scream or run away hysterically as some (anti) adults would lead us to believe will happen. He was, in fact, very interested in my gun. I don't know that she was, but I do know she wasn't scared. There were no wide eyes of fear, no terror, no tears. They were friendly, and curious, and that is how it is more often than not, until some blissninny parent or teacher tells them they are supposed to be afraid. Perhaps Grandpa found them some of those really annoying pop guns they have there to take home to get Mom and Dad.

[shooter357]

A Grandfather taking his Grandkids to an outdoors store. Brings a tear to the eye.

[FNG19]

Originally Posted by PennsyPlinker

They were friendly, and curious, and that is how it is more often than not, until some blissninny parent or teacher tells them they are supposed to be afraid.

Once again, Bill, you've demonstrated your ability to be a fine ambassador to whatever community you claim membership in. The comment I quoted above reminded me of a talk online I heard not that long ago given by a woman who has two prosthetic legs. She was speaking about what it's like to have prosthetic legs and the research she's done for the advances in the science of said legs. She spent some time in the beginning talking about a group of kids and their reaction to her various prosthetic legs when exposed to them devoid of adult cues.

The woman's name is Aimee Mullins. She gave the talk at the 2009 TED Conference. You can find the talk here. It's about 10 minutes long and very interesting, the latter of which describes many of the talks that TED has available (IMHO).

The takeaway, if folks don't want to watch the video, is that kids generally learn fears. They aren't born with them. How we raise them, interact with them, and -- most importantly -- interact with the world around us teaches them far more than simple words ever would. As the saying goes, action speak louder than words.

[CommonHighrise]

Geez Pennsy, our cycles must be in sync or something. Was just at Cabelas Wednesday and yesterday, must have just missed you.

I love when the wee ones start with "Mommy/daddy, he has a gun", and the parents usually ignore them, oblivious that the child speaks truth.

[mikey]

Little kids seem to be "drawn" to Pennsy. It must be his gravitational pull.

[rmarkob]

Originally Posted by shooter357

A Grandfather taking his Grandkids to an outdoors store. Brings a tear to the eye.

Speaking of bringing tears to your eye: I went to a hunter safety class last night. There must have been 30 or 40 kids (11 and older) getting ready for their first hunting license, and accompanied by 10 or 15 parents/grandparents. You wouldn't believe the enthusiasm! (The kids were pretty happy too )

[NineseveN]

Heh, and here I thought this was gonna be a story about church.


J/k

Another great story, you really do have a way with words.

[Sandcut]

Blissninny??????

I must admit, I was gonna call shenanigans and say that you made that word up but I did my due diligence and looked it up and found that, yes, it appears to be a word albeit one more of recent internet origin.

And being a preternatural Pollyanna myself, I would take offense at your characterization of blissninnies but I realize now that that would make me delve off into some conversation about my cat and I don't own a cat.

[mjfletcher]

Originally Posted by mikey

Little kids seem to be "drawn" to Pennsy. It must be his gravitational pull.

Or maybe they can hear the last kid he came across yelling from inside

[mjfletcher]

Originally Posted by Sandcut

Blissninny??????

I must admit, I was gonna call shenanigans and say that you made that word up but I did my due diligence and looked it up and found that, yes, it appears to be a word albeit one more of recent internet origin.

And being a preternatural Pollyanna myself, I would take offense at your characterization of blissninnies but I realize now that that would make me delve off into some conversation about my cat and I don't own a cat.

Aren't they just the most adorable creatures? Just this morning I was awakened to the sandpapery feel of a cat tongue as it slid across my forehead. Apparently Lynx felt I needed a proper grooming and decided to attend to it without bothering to wake me. The other cats...

Oh wait, this isn't a cat thread lol