tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2732988644864592247.post1126611926394398883..comments2023-10-17T22:49:49.144+08:00Comments on The Downtown Diner: What Beijing Traffic Taught Me About Mass ShootingsMelanie Gaohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17288533681881691687noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2732988644864592247.post-73263851204175404482018-03-24T03:52:30.218+08:002018-03-24T03:52:30.218+08:00I usually hang out at Jocelyn's site but haven...I usually hang out at Jocelyn's site but haven't been doing so due to some really rough work schedules. Alternating two jobs between a night shift convenience store clerk and over-the-road (short-range) trucker really puts a drain sometimes, plus any downtime I do get usually involves a lot of alcohol and sleep so I almost get no chill time.<br /><br />In an ideal world, people would stop shooting each other. However, we live in a world that is hardly ideal. That is why in case I am ever involved in a situation where shooting is involved, I will shoot back harder, more lethally and more ferociously. Same thing goes with knives. I have grown up in the streets for some time and I have long ago realized that when I play hardball A LOT harder than the scumbags that want to start s*** with me, I tend to be left alone rather quickly. I am a law abiding citizen who carries weapons at all times. I have my .45 automatic Colt with me wherever it is legal for me to carry a gun. I have learned from experience that life is nothing but a gigantic food chain. You don't survive by pacifism or spiritualism. You survive by being even more vicious, psychotic and depraved than the SOB trying to hurt you. A short while ago I was involved in an altercation where some coked up street rat actually waited for me outside the store that I worked, brandishing a knife and threatening to carve me up because I refused to sell his homeboy cigarettes since I suspected he was using a stolen credit card. I did not flinch one bit but drew out my own Schrade tactical folding knife and picked up a can of concrete pavement cleaner that was laying by the dumpsters. I told him, very calmly and softly, that I will gut-stab his pathetic a** a hundred times after I blind him by dumping the caustics all over his face and then do a Jeffrey Dahmer with his severed head as a f***-toy until it starts to decompose. The POS looked at me for one long minute, then at my hands holding the knife and the solvent can, and realized that I probably WILL do what I said I would do, and took off running. Now, would I really have done what I threatened I would do if he had advanced on me with his knife? Best be sure I would, and I am sure the a**hole had seen that look in my eyes that clearly expressed that I was not playing any false cards. I think the only thing that prevented me from doing a prison-yard rush on this f***er and laying him dead right there on the pavement was not because I cared about that POS's life but because I REALLY wanted a drink and getting arrested would mean that I would not be able to get s***-faced today, even if the DA realizes that it was a self-defense case and lets me off.<br /><br />That is sadly, the reality of life. And this is in a supposedly "civilized" United States, as opposed to some war torn hellhole in the Middle East or Eastern Europe where an IED detonating in a crowded shopping bazaar packed with women and children is a daily fact of life and the threat is as real as getting an inch of snow on a random March morning. There is an excellent novel written a few years back called "The Mongoliad", a ballad about a group of warrior-monks desperate to protect their lives and very existence on the plains of what is today Hungary against the approaching tidal wave of Batu Khan's invading force of 100,000 Mongol horsemen. The story draws a stark parallel between this insane realm of one of the darkest epochs of human history, and the world that we live in today. We are all thrust into the Circus Of Swords just by being born. And if we want to make it out alive, we better pick up a shield and a blade and be prepared to go down swinging like madmen.Blue Sky Countryhttp://blueskycountry.tumblr.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2732988644864592247.post-69209891720864879562017-11-07T19:36:38.860+08:002017-11-07T19:36:38.860+08:00Well that makes me smile, thank you!Well that makes me smile, thank you!Melanie Gaohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17288533681881691687noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2732988644864592247.post-24588697072178850222017-11-07T12:22:11.736+08:002017-11-07T12:22:11.736+08:00I always love reading your thoughts. Always. Kee...I always love reading your thoughts. Always. Keep them coming. I smile. CCAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2732988644864592247.post-24351002215601521072017-11-07T04:24:59.882+08:002017-11-07T04:24:59.882+08:00Thanks Amiram! How funny that my Beijing traffic ...Thanks Amiram! How funny that my Beijing traffic buddies are here in the comments section. :). I agree, kindness has never been as important as it is today. Melanie Gaohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17288533681881691687noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2732988644864592247.post-6544552171459569302017-11-07T00:37:14.392+08:002017-11-07T00:37:14.392+08:00Well said and written. This world is really getti...Well said and written. This world is really getting insane, which makes kindness even more important. As you said, at the very least, stop shooting...Amiram Hayardenyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05705323400837481745noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2732988644864592247.post-47769054969336799952017-11-05T22:32:44.607+08:002017-11-05T22:32:44.607+08:00So nice to hear from you Linda. Especially since ...So nice to hear from you Linda. Especially since we went through our Beijing indoctrinations together. A lot of my observation happened while I was riding home from work with Mike. Please give him a hug for me.Melanie Gaohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17288533681881691687noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2732988644864592247.post-68497684825500269832017-11-05T22:21:59.944+08:002017-11-05T22:21:59.944+08:00Beautiful, Melanie. Something to think about and k...Beautiful, Melanie. Something to think about and keep myself a little saner in these crazy times.Linda Haydennoreply@blogger.com