I pulled this animated timeline from a PowerPoint presentation I recently worked on. It is insane how accurate the cameras they are using in the aiports and other .gov installations have become. The timeline was taken during the week of Shot Show look at the migration of professionals to Florida.
I read all of these expert opinions on CCW forums telling you to be the “Grey” man. The one who doesn’t stand out and isn’t remembered. Their reasoning is that if you don’t stand out the bad guys (and even the good guys) won’t single you out with undo attention when the hammer drops. Well to them I say, you are welcome to your opinion but I am also welcome to mine. Firstly I am sick of guys telling me I should be a grey man and try to blend in more. Yes they are in jeans and a Warner Bros. cartoon tee shirt but somehow can’t completely let the tactical go as they are wearing a coyote tan ball cap with the shooting school of their choice prominently displayed on their gourd for all to see. To those guys I say fuck you, go back to your IT job and lay some cable and let the big boys handle the real work. Also, for all of you who have successfully altered your “walk” and are now slouching like a pot smoking hippie and have covered all of your tells and blend in. Good job, you are now one of the sheep and have a fun acting like something you aren’t for the rest of your life. Or does art imitate life and you become a sheep, paralyzed when something does go down because you have completely immersed yourself in the general cowardice of the population.
Let me flip the grey man and say I want to be the White man (not racially assholes), I want people to perceive that I can handle my business. I want them to sense the confidence I have in myself and my skill set. I’m not talking about being some open carry asshole, or running around with my agency’s logo on a dark blue polo. I’m talking about keeping my hair short, which helps with the heat and looking squared away. Walking upright like an alpha male should. I am an alpha male and I fully accept the responsibility that carries. Am I “made” as a .gov agent from time to time? Maybe. Do people ask if I’m in the military? Sure, but I stow that as a compliment and politely tell them I am not. To your doomsday scenario of the military trained terrorist that is looking to take over the mall and eliminating you first because you look like a threat I raise you a hundred times that a predator looking to accost some poor civilian thought to look somewhere else because they had that question mark about the sheepdog in the area.
Don’t be a grey man, that’s gay…man. Stand upright and walk amongst the sheep like a sheepdog.
