Friday, December 7, 2012

You shoot..GUNS??!!

So here's how my day started the other day. I walked into a clients office, the new-ish secretary jumps from her desk and yells.."Wait..I have a question.."

Me: Whats up?
Her: You shoot..(insert long, awkward pause)...GUNS??!!
Me: Yes..why?
Her: Your like..an NRA gun person?
Me: I'm an NRA member, NRA Certified Pistol Instructor and NRA Certified Range Safety officer, is that what you mean?
Her: Why?
Me: Why what?
Her: Why do you shoot guns?
Me: Because shooting rubber bands isn't nearly as much fun..whats your point? (At that point, the other secretary burst out laughing..)
Her: You have kids, aren't you worried?
Me: Worried what, that they won't share? My girls both shoot..again, whats your point?
Her: Oh..nothing..I just didn't know..
Me: Why would you need to?

Turns out that last week, I sent some information to them via email. I used my personal Google email address. Apparently she saw my personal Google profile in which my bio states the above information, along with some adorable pictures of my horse. She Google stalked me.

Do I care that she knows? Heck no, I've got nothing to hide, in fact, I'm proud that I shoot. Was I surprised by her reaction? Yep! Will I ever send work in using that email address? Probably not..it might be time to make one just for my business services clients. Does it matter? No..I am what I am, and I do what I do..and I really don't care who thinks what of it.

What I don't understand is the negative reaction she had to it..the whole.."you shoot....GUNS?" (My defense mechanism clicked on in my head at that point, and the rubber band line just kind of shot out of my mouth..)

And to question my girls safety? Well that just makes the assumption on her part that all gun owners are irresponsible, and I guess that's the part that bothered me the most..she automatically assumed my kids might be in danger from my hobby.

I guess we just need to educate people the best we can when they ask questions like that..because it happens here in my part of New York..a lot..sigh..

1 comment:

  1. I had a similar experience when my sister heard that my girls were shooting with me. She actually pulled them aside at a family function and quizzed them to make sure I wasn't "making" them shoot. It was irritating at the time, and later, very ironic as my sister worked her way through her own concealed carry permit and purchased her first handgun.
    I have stressed to my girls that shooting doesn't belong to men or women, guns are gender neutral. Society puts a bias on shooting and they can work to eliminate that bias, by shooting!

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