Nothing happens to us unless we permit it to.
If you let unhappiness and resentment, bitterness, jealousy and fear past your personal gate, you simply have to round them up and herd them right back out the doors again. That kind of visitor can rage and howl and perform outside, but simply cannot be allowed inside to track up the floor, behave badly and break the china. Inner peace means occasional intruder-hunts and as good gate-keeping as you can manage.
The corollary to this is: Friendships are the fire in the hearth.
Nicely said, also includes rounding up and herding right back out “toxic” people. True friendships are rare gems indeed.
“Resentment is allowing someone to live rent-free in a room in your head.”
– Roger Ebert
“Whatever we put our attention on grows strong in our life.”
– Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
good plan, rounding up not always so easy … 🙂
How does your koan (yes, I know what a koan is) extend to the people who have greatly differing opinions from yours?
I didn’t ask this while I was at ShejiCon3, because I couldn’t find an appropriate time to ask it, but given the number of people in your stories who are armed, one wonders how the author stands on personal defense. I do not ask you to put yourself on the spot, and if that is an uncomfortable question, please feel free to say so. My own personal opinion is that I have the inherent right to defend myself against violent attack that could result in serious bodily harm or death. I also have the inherent right to defend my family (humans, sorry.)from the same kind of attacks. There are friends of mine who believe that only the military and law enforcement should have the right to have firearms. However, Bren-ji carries one, he’s a civilian, a diplomat, and generally a peace-loving fellow. He’s managed to shoot and kill how many people? He doesn’t go out of his way to do that, but circumstances force themselves upon him in such a way that he has no choice. Now, if I go to a friend’s house and they ask me not to bring my lawfully carried firearms with me, I will abide by their request. If I go to a store and they have a sign on the door saying “No firearms.”, I will abide by their request, but will also let them know I do not feel comfortable in their store. Even the Rhomandi brothers, except for Mikhyel are armed, and he doesn’t choose to, since he’s got a trusty gorman to do the dirty work.
Just curious, since so many of us love sword-and-sorcery as long as the swords are in the stories and not in peoples’ possession.
Please, this is not intended to be a debate on the morality, the rightness or wrongness of the issue, or whether or not you personally own/carry a firearm. It’s just wondering how your personal thinking compares to the thoughts you give your characters.
If you’re rather not, please feel free to delete this entry, I will not be offended if you do so.
No problem. I own a gun. It was grandad’s, via my father, so you may imagine it’s not exactly high tech, and grandad carried when he was a cowboy, for real, in the old Oklahoma Territory. I have never fired at a living thing and hope to keep that record intact. If it were legal to carry, I wouldn’t, because I just don’t live where it’s a reasonable choice.
I have carried, illegally, only twice, once when I put it in a glove compartment when I got a filling-station phone call from an elderly and confused friend who had had a car with 2 flat tires in the worst possible rural area neighborhood at somewhat past midnight, and where navigation was going to be some places you just didn’t want to get lost in. I recovered her without needing to reference it, and never mentioned it to her.
The other time was when I heard somebody prowling about outside and my neighbors guard dogs having a fit: I didn’t know they were home, but at that time I lived on the very edge of town—a field was at the left side of my house, that went on forever—in a place where taking cover behind the brickwork [as opposed to the paneled part of the exterior] was a good thing. Gunfire would break out catty-angled across the street at all hours and it was a good thing to duck, because one of my neighbors was a really wild shot and her housemaid was even worse. They routinely fired at various ex-husbands and never did hit anybody, but they were careless of richochets. [One smoky Saturday night we had several police cars, a firetruck, no, two firetrucks, an ambulance, and a car full of lawyers at 2 am, all for them.] And the house behind me was fencing guns for nefarious purposes—the house on the street over at one point had their living room used as a stakeout by federal agents—they said FBI, but I think maybe ATF [Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms] by the business I know these guys were running….finally they arrested those guys, so we had a derelict house behind us while the bank sorted that out…
On the second occasion I ever took the gun out, with some sort of prowler outside, I tucked the piece into my robe pocket and, being fearlessly stupid, went out to see if, instead of a prowler, one of the neighbor’s guard dogs was in trouble—I had had recently had to disentangle one of them who had wound herself painfully into a long-lead; and I didn’t think he was home. Neither my neighbor nor the dog was my favorite, though admittedly there were worse.
So I round the house with my hand in my pocket, and this towering big shadow comes around the corner from the other direction. Due to the fact I am not a panic-type person, and do not walk with my finger on the trigger, I did have time to recognize my neighbor, who was also armed, and called his name before he shot me.
Which, (with my across the street neighbors with the exes) amply illustrates my opinion of the folly of an armed population. Our prowler was probably wildlife from the field touching off the dogs. But one more beer, and my neighbor might have opened fire.
So I really don’t support carry-laws, for the very practical reason that I’ve lived in that kind of zone, ducking for cover every weekend and hoping nothing came through my house wall, and don’t care to again.
I learned to shoot when I was about 6, plinking cans—my uncle taught me. And I’ve shot skeet, with a little success, not so long ago, so I still have some ability to hit what I aim at. But as soon as I could move out of that neighborhood, I did, and that was many, many, many years ago. If it were legal and if I carried, I would be living back in that neighborhood, mentally, and I don’t choose to live there again. I will say when I was there, I did not live there in fear, more in matter-of-fact acceptance of the reality—but it wasn’t the most pleasant place I’ve ever lived.
I think I’m going to be in Spokane around lunch time with my family. Any recommendations on a good place to eat?
If you want quick and dirty there are several I would recommend, far from fancy places: The Swinging Door, general bar food with a huge menu, on Francis at Monroe. On Division, north of the river, Hong Kong Express, a tiny little restaurant with no atmosphere except an occasional insult from the gal at the door [she’s fun] but dim sum and very good food; and The Onion, either downtown on 2nd Street near Ruby; or on Division north of Francis; a fern bar more upscale, great nachos, good hamburgers, but really lousy wine—stick to cocktails.
Way upscale, Anthonys on the River, somewhere near Boone and Mallon, right by the bridge, great view of the falls, a spendy place. Clinkerdaggers’ opposite the Arena, in the old Flour Mill, a shopping opportunity, and free parking if you get validated. Spendy. I like Anthony’s better.
Kiloecho, I’ll add Tomato Street on the north side — intersection of Division & Francis. Very good Italian, and all the garlic bread you can eat.
If you go to Anthony’s, save room for dessert & get the Huckleberry Slump.
There’s a new place on Northwest Blvd with fabulous pizza (& beer): The Flying Goat. It’s across from Downriver Grill and near Audubon Park. (509) 327-8277; 3318 W Northwest Blvd.
The Elk Public House in Browne’s Addition, near downtown, is good. 1931 West Pacific; (509) 363-1973. Burgers, salads, beer.
Tomato Street is midrange in price: entrees around 15.00, cheaper at lunch.
Thank you. I do not tell people when I’m carrying. They do not need (and sometimes, do not want to know). Other times, if they were to know, they give me a hard time, such as, “Why do you need to carry a gun?” “Why do you HAVE a gun?” “If there’s a problem, tell me which way to jump so you don’t shoot me by mistake.” I didn’t bring one with me on the trip out to Spokane in June because I didn’t believe I’d need it. I don’t carry a gun because I’m afraid. I carry it because I want to be able to go to the places I normally go to (none of which are in a high-crime area) without fear. Have you noticed that of the mass-shootings, they’ve mostly occurred in a “no firearms allowed” place, such as a church, a school, a military base (Ft. Hood), a factory? Of course, because the shooter knows that nobody else will be armed, and they’re empowered now, because they can kill until they run out of ammunition. The woman who’s family was killed at the Burger King in Luby, TX and she had been forced to leave her legally carried firearm out in her car, is an example of how effective those prohibitions really are. They only restrict the law-abiding citizen, not the criminal.
I find it amusing that people who say that guns are evil, have no trouble reading stories that are chock-full of murder and mayhem, killings with light-sabers, laser rifles, blowing up main reactors, shot with phasers or photon torpedoes, etc. Yet, in REAL life, it’s abhorrent to them to even consider anyone other than the police or military carrying a firearm, legally or not. They wish that nobody had a gun, but ignore the basic patterns of human history. If we see something we want that someone else has, and we don’t want to have to earn it ourselves, we’ll take it by force. That applies to whole nations as well as to individuals. Empires have been built that way for thousands of years before firearms were invented. We’ll use whatever weapons are available to us in order to achieve our nefarious ends.
Bren is a diplomat. Yet, he’s shot Tamun, Murini, a few atevi assasins, such as at Tirnamardi, when they were trying to intercept Direiso and Deanna Hanks, and oh, a few other places. All of those actions are illegal, I’d presume the Treaty forbids the paidhi from being armed, as it probably prohibits most of the people of Mospheira from being armed. Yet, Bren’s aishid willingly keeps a lid on that information. So, aside from being a government offical, he’s a criminal, too. Yes, the Aiji has giving him the weapon, taught him how to use it, but all of that is in violation of atevi law, as well as the Treaty. Bad, bad boy, Bren-ji. But we blithely write that off as, “It’s okay, it’s Bren, he’s the hero in the white hat (oh the symbolism there for the paidhi – a white hat, a white horse, white ribbon, and an ivory-handled pistol), he’s here to save the world from evildoers.”
Nothing is as simple as that, though, and the dilemmas we face every day in life are much more complex than the stories we read. Even Grimm’s fairy tales are violent, in some degree. Hansel & Gretel roasting the witch alive, the Giant falling down the beanstalk after Jack chops it down….
Anyway, thanks again for your insight. I was wondering if there was a conflict between the writer’s beliefs and personal convictions and the writer’s creative products. You’ve settled a piece into the puzzle for me.
My problem with carrying in a public place—I’m well aware of the Luby incident, and I lived in Edmond—going postal as an expression stemmed from that one. But as in a Luby incident, if I were there with a firearm and the police were storming the place, I really don’t want to confuse them. Too many citizens with guns and a) the police could be dangerously distracted to the wrong target b) you could get shot by mistake c) richochets matter, and I’d really rather the police, who are trained and armored for that sort of thing, handle it if at all possible. Do I have a personal problem with guns? I have a serious problem with people owning highpowered armament and living next door to me: if it can fire in bursts and go through brick it has no business in an urban neighborhood. I don’t want their accident ending up in my living room.
And the houseguest who borrowed our washing machine and left 6 rimfire shells in my dryer [she didn’t clear her pockets] did not meet with great approbation in our household, the next time I dried a load of laundry.
This too shall pass/ in the meanwhile, aren’t the/ fruit trees getting big?
We have several friends who have gun collections, mostly safely stored in gun safes and very much believing in appropriate gun safety training. Ourselves, we played paintball for several years but don’t own anything more lethal than our old paintball guns and an air rifle. The air rifle only makes its appearance when an occasional feral chicken wanders through and decides our yard is the perfect place to set up shop. In that case, the number of pumps gradually increases to the point where the chicken leaves, either of its own accord or involuntarily; we’ve had to kill a couple. Responsible gun ownership doesn’t bother me.
Leftover shells in the dryer?!? What’s the HTML code for :faint:?
CJ! the idea of living in a neighbourhood where ricochets spray around because women are scared of their exes, and a midnight walk might result in your neighbour shooting you for a prowler/coyote makes my blood run cold! never mind people arriving in church/or any public place with a hidden gun … yes, leave it to the police, please!
as for Bren, he lives in an alternate universe where scary things are happening all the time, and different rules apply. this is fiction. it’s for fun.
I grew up in a household where there were a lot of guns… and a poisonously high testosterone level. Illegal concealed carry was a bragging point, and threatening a weekly, sometimes daily activity.
Fortunately, innate cowardice was also a factor–enough so that the concealed carries changed to left at home when any chance of discovery was in the offing. Also fortunately, there were enough IQ points attendant in the person in question that a reasonable assessment of those chances of discovery was always present, and the consequences of a mistake assiduously avoided. I sometimes wonder, however, if there had been five less IQ points, and/or five more courage points, if I would be alive to type this today…
I have no problem with reasonable, sensible people having guns. I’ve met Our Hostess, and she certainly qualifies, as do my college roommate, various SCA types I’ve known, and at least one ex-military person of my acquaintance. But having had way too close contact with a person who does not fit those criteria gives me a very jaundiced view of the whole ‘right to bear arms’ issue. I’ve seen people who use guns as a substitute for manliness (both genders) and I avoid them. See, firearms don’t actually make good crutches…
Firearms, shoved down the belt loop or front of the trousers soon settle the question of manliness once and for all – not to mention an honourable mention in the Darwin awards.
I think the biggest problem in the GP carrying weapons is that very few are trained to carry them. Part of the training is learning to be responsible and containing your emotions, and knowing the real consequences of the use of weapons.
I remember my first con where Harlan Ellison was a guest. I’d never read anything by him and he had a mouth like I’d never heard before, but what he said made a heck of a lot of sense. One of his big things was the way in which TV and movies had white washed violence, subconsciously separating cause from effect. (vastly over-simplified, of course.) I’m a big fan of Bleach, but anyone watching it could easily get instilled in them the impression that you can come back in a handful of moments from an arm broken in three places…or being eviscerated.
Fantasy, yes, and viewers know it, but fiction has a very subtle way of influencing thought processes.
And yet, a part of me is all for arming everyone who boards an airliner… How do you like that logic? 😀 I guess it’s because then everyone would KNOW everyone else had a weapon…whatever it is—even a knitting needle…and in an enclosed environment. No possible escape for the bad guy!
On a lighter note:
I recently had a very nice young lady return my Nook to me. I had put it on the top of the car while I loaded up the dog, and (wait for it) drove off without remembering that I had done that. She picked it up at a stop sign where it fell off the car, found my e-mail address in the settings, and sent me a note saying she had it. I called her, she dropped it off on her way out with some friends, and I was reminded that there are nice helpful people in this world.
And I took Katie on her first walk yesterday. Met up with some fellow greyhound owners, and we did a nice hour-long walk through a shopping center, along some streets, and along a river (a southern California river, which means a flat sandy expanse of dry land right now). She did very well… a little spooky when bikes and strangers came by, but not bad at all. Now I am going to try walking her on her own, and see how she does without the other dogs to give her support.
Excellent! What a good day!
The biggest problem I have with weapons, particularly firearms, on aircraft is integrity of the vehicle. That said, I look at current security precautions in airports and such and wonder at the lack of creative thinking involved. What can be done with a silk scarf, a couple of heavy rings and a clear line of sight on a target, for instance…
–@Jane, The one place I don’t want a gun is while I’m in an airliner. Most of the “hijackers” these days are looking for ways to make a political and/or religious statement that necessitates taking as many lives as possible. Since they are already resigned to death, having the rest of us armed is likely to end in a tragic accident for all the rest of the passengers.
–Has anyone noticed the utter stupidity of TSA screening. I’m talking about the trash bins where we are forced to discard our lotions, and too large tubes of toothpaste, shampoo etc. If TSA really was concerned about the possibility of explosives in our liquids they would at least move the bins away from the area where innocent travelers and their own personnel would likely be standing. My worst nightmare is that two terrorists traveling together (in cahoots/collusion) would each dump a large container of a chemical reactant/precursor into a bin at a large airport such as Washington Dulles and then walk away from the scene while the chemicals interact to cause an explosion or a nerve gas or some such other attack…
–When I travel I like sitting next to the lady with the long wicked knitting needles. I’ll have a means to defend myself if the need arises… field expedient doncha know?
Okay, Abdul, you bring the glycerine and I’ll bring the potassium permanganate.
@Jane, How many times to police officers have to draw their weapons in a situation that requires it? How many of them practice what they’re doing? another question: It may not be done any longer, but when I was younger, they taught archery at summer camp. Seems to me that the archers in any army were there to serve as the first defense against a cavalry charge, and also to demoralize the infantry that opposed them. (Even Ninevrise asked Cefwyn about the archers in a battle just before Cefwyn left for Elwynor in Fortress of Dragons.) Aside from the fact that an arrow doesn’t go as far, or as fast, it’s still just as deadly, and if the archer’s hands slip, or the wind catches the arrow, where does it end up. Let’s just stay away from darts – a pint of IPA and a round of darts? I don’t mix my gunpowder with my beer.
The point I was making about the Luby incident is not that I’d be afraid of the police storming the place, because if they’re already there, I’m not going to make the situation any worse by shooting, or even having the firearm in plain sight. In the heat of the situation, they don’t know who the bad guys and who the good guys are, and if they see a weapon, they’re going to make the assumption that you’re one of the bad guys. It might be wrong, but as long as you comply with their demands, you should not be a victim of mistaken identity,. On the other hand, if the 1:00AM call has originated from my home number (which will also show my name on the 911 board), and the sheriff’s office arrives to find o
ne person fully clothed on the floor, and one quite undressed person holding a very small, but ugly .45 ACP on the person on the floor, it’s probably a safe bet that the person standing up is the good guy,.
I’ve been around, been trained in the military in ship’s self-defense, which can mean anything from boat hooks pushing them away, to fire hoses on full 125 psi @ 125 gallons per minute, to the use of deadly force. I’ve also been through the Ohio Peace Officers Concealed Carry Course, I was taught by the sheriff’s offices Special Weapons and Tactics commander. I also practice with my firearm, I don’t fool around, but I do take it seriously. Once that bullet leaves the barrel, you can’t call it back.
I’m the secretary for a shooting association that numbers over 600 members. We have a facility where the members can shoot trap, archery, pistol, high-power rifle, rimfire rifle, smallbore, as well as sanctioned matches. The Civilian Marksmanship Program, founded by President Theodore Roosevelt, is one of our sanctioning organizations. Our ranges have been inspected by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Control Officers, the National Rifle Association, the local county sheriff’s office, 2 Department of Defense agencies, and a couple of local police departments. The things we say the most to any new member, and to the experienced members, too, is that the mission of our association is to promote marksmanship skills in a safe and enjoyable manner for everyone. Our ranges are bordered by two farms, we have a municipal airport just down the road from our range, and safety is taken very seriously. Every member is considered a range safety officer, every member is required to act in a safe manner while on the range. We don’t get into confrontations with people, we just call the sheriff’s office. Nobody wants a firefight where someone innocent gets hurt. Besides, we’re not trained to be cops, we’re not vigilantes, and we don’t take the law into our own hands.
Ohio Law is very clear on the subject: If the business owner has a No Concealed Firearms sign in the front window or on the front door of their shop, you must abide by that. To ignore it could be a Class 5 felony in Ohio. If you walk into a place that serves alcohol, you are not allowed to have a concealed firearm on your person (law enforcement excepted in this and previous instances). Obviously, Federal law prohibits carrying a firearm inside the cabin of an airliner – but the pilots are now armed and they’ve had even less training than the GP! We’re taught responsible ownership and carry. If I’m carrying a firearm, how would you as a bystander know it? If someone finds out I have one, what happens if they try to get me to draw the firearm, even if I’m just “demonstrating” I have one? It’s called brandishing, it’s a felony. If they’re trying to make me angry enough to draw the weapon, and I do, I’ve committed a felony. The ONLY time I am justified in drawing the weapon and firing it is if I am in danger of serious bodily harm and/or death. Even if a criminal court acquitted me, I would still be liable to civil charges. Remember a certain famous NFL star running back, turned car rental hack, turned movie actor and NFL Monday Night Live Commentator? He was acquitted of criminal charges, but was found guilt in civil court of violating his wife’s and their friend’s civil rights. So, the state doesn’t take drawing a weapon lightly, whether that be done by a law enforcement officer or a private citizen, and neither do I, nor should I.
I believe Heinlein said it pretty well, “An armed society is a polite society.” Of course, Heinlein had a Model 1903 Springfield in .30-06.
“…a car full of lawyers at 2 am” – now, *that’s* scary.
Your commenters have, as always, made excellent points. I’ve never felt it necessary to have a gun. Most of them have only one purpose – to kill another human being. Thing is, if someone wants to shoot me, I’m unlikely to get my gun out of my pocket or purse before the other person fires. And the people most often hurt or killed by guns are family members, so I’d have to carry all the time in “self-defense”.
I’d have to be awful convinced that someone was going to really hurt me or my nearest and dearest before I could pull a trigger with the possible consequence of ending someone’s life. (And then, of course, while I was pondering that, I’d get shot or whatever anyway.)
One of the things I love about your violence (that sounds really weird, doesn’t it?) is that it *always* has consequences. Forex, nobody jumps up after being shot, even if they’re lucky enough to get hit on a bullet proof vest (cop shows make me crazy when they show Joe Cop bouncing up b/c the bullet hit his vest and he’s “fine”). I worry that people who have not lived with a death by violence (or a severely damaged survivor) really don’t understand the gravity of being willing and *ready* to use lethal means.
We are not, after all, atevi – we have cars full of lawyers!
I am as always proud of my readers, who can carry on a civil discussion with some humor about topics which frequently, in other forums, go hot and bothered.
Thank you all for exemplary courtesy to each others’ views. Long may it wave.
@WoW, a car full of lawyers at 2 AM, is that a vague reference to the trip across the country in Betty? LOL….since WoW IS a lawyer, I felt compelled to just keep my mouth shut on any arguments.
I have lost a family member to violence, although not an immediate family member, a first cousin. I for one would be devastated if I had to pull the trigger that took someone’s life, even if my own life were in danger. In a choice between a criminal’s civil rights and my own, if the criminal is trying to bash my head in or trying to take aim at me, my feeling is that my civil rights trump his civil rights. To that end, I would also do my best to keep myself out of places and situations that would present such a danger to me. Unfortunately, as we’ve seen, these things all to often happen in churches, workplaces, military bases, and other supposedly “safe” places. Even our homes aren’t safe, especially when you read the case of “Warren vs. District of Columbia” (Not the one about the prisoner who claims he didn’t know…the one about the 3 women who were viciously attacked, beaten, and raped in their home late at night by 2 home invaders. To make a long story short, the District Court ruled that the police have no duty to protect an individual unless prior arrangements have been made. The Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit upheld the ruling.)
On a side note, CJ, how long was the span of time between when the shooting started at the Burger King in Luby and the time the police arrived and actually started their “storming” the building? While it might have been as little as 5 minutes, it was probably more in the area of 20 – 30 minutes, but that’s just a guess on my part. During that time frame, the shooter could have eliminated every person in the restaurant and gotten away from the scene, perhaps to go somewhere else and resume the killing while the police are occupied at the BK. Honestly, I do not know the facts in the case, and do not use that as a hard point of argument.
To echo something that WoW said, but this applies to Bren-ji, Assassins are a special group of atevi, their training allows them to be dispassionate and professional when they do their “dirty work”. Witness when Tano and Algini call Guild Truce with the Katageini Assassins. I believe your observation at the time was that they might be acquaintances in the Guild Chambers, but be at diametrically opposed factions in real life. Bren, on the other hand, being human, being the sensitive sort of person that his job requires, doesn’t seem to have any remorse about the atevi he’s killed, nor the fact that he shot Tamun on the space station. (BTW, Tamun was only wounded, but subsequent volumes say he didn’t survive – because of Bren’s bullet or because of some other reason?). Even the ateva that was beating him senseless in the basement at Malguri wasn’t being emotional about what he was doing, he was a professional. Bren should be exhibiting some sore of human emotion about what he’s done, regardless of whether circumstances could or could not have prevented it.
WoW and I did have some lively discussions before we even met face-to-face, I thought that her points were well-presented, and mine probably a lot less so, but then, “she’s a professional – she does this for a living, and I shouldn’t have tried it at home.” LOL.
I will freely admit I am emotional in this particular topic, but mostly it’s due to arguments from people who do not live in the U.S., and tell me that our Constitution is wrong, the founding fathers were wrong, etc., etc., as if THEIR country’s laws are better. Well, when I get to be Emperor of the Nine Universes, I’m going to make it a universal law that every country require its drivers to drive on the right-hand side of the road. I went to Bermuda once on the first visit to where my wife lived, and even though intellectually, I knew that Bermudans drive on the left-hand side of the road, and I did look both ways before I stepped out to cross the street, I looked the “wrong” way first, and nearly got run down for my reliance on habit. Drivers who habitually drive on the right-hand side of the road are distinctly at a disadvantage when driving in Great Britain or Australia or Japan, and until people from those countries get used to our way of driving, they are at a disadvantage, as well. The United Nations would like for the U.S. to ban the lawful possession of all firearms except for law enforcement and the military, because the countries that push that movement have done so to their citizens. We’re a sovereign nation, the U.N. is a coalition, not all of whom agree, get along with each other (Iran/Iraq; India/Pakistan, to name a few), so I fail to see how the laws of a coalition supersede the laws of a sovereign country. Again, my opinion, but one I feel strongly about. When every country has the same laws for themselves, then perhaps that sort of thing will work. In the meantime, do you think we should “force” Britain to drive on the right-hand side of the road?