Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Miss Manners says...

If you really want to kill yourself this holiday season, please nip off out into the woods someplace and do it quietly, okay? Don't drag a bunch of innocent bystanders and police officers into your crazy little world; it upsets people's digestion and makes a mess on the carpet.

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

Couple of would-be heroes at that meeting...too bad they were prevented by law from having more than a purse and a "please" to whack the whackjob with. AT

Boat Guy said...

Yup, one more example (as if WE need them) of why one should always be heeled.
As for suicide; a considerate person would do it by razor in the shower, so much easier for clean up...

Boat Guy said...

...but then suicide is a largely inconsiderate act anyway...
As a friend remarked "Permanent solution to a temporary problem"

Bram said...

When my father-in-law was in Boot Camp in 1945, a guy decided to blow his head off with his Garand. They were living in a GP tent - so he blew a hole in the top of the tent as well. And his brains sprayed all over everyone’s stuff.

The first DI in the tent was Lou Diamond (a Marine Corps legend). Lou says "If any of you other shitbirds want to shoot yourselves, have the courtesy to take it outside."

Dad got wet every time it rained until he graduated. Rude.

RWC said...

OT - but the Washingtton Post is running a series this week - "The Secret Life of Guns" or something like that. Should be interesting.

I just wish they'd tell me where to get the .50 caliber fully automatic assault rifle. :-(

Tam said...

I just couldn't believe CNN described this guy's Glock 9 as a "small-caliber handgun". Normally it's a 9mm Death Assault Cop-Killer Weapon.

I guess it's because he was a convicted stalker who had the gun illegally.

og said...

Not the woods, please. Chain a bunch of concrete blocks to yourself an jump into the ocean, somewhere deep, please.

Stumbling onto a dead guy in the woods is no fun. Trust me on this.

RWC said...

What caliber for Lego?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smETLCCPTVo&feature=player_embedded#at=70

Weer'd Beard said...

I suspect he wanted to take a few people with him before he offed himself.

But he assumed the school security was unarmed, and at close range you can't miss.

Thankfully for team good guy he was DEAD wrong.

Ancient Woodsman said...

Ditto what Og said - it's not fun looking for nor finding those successful suicides off in the boonies. Keep it in town, just don't involve others. And the more you weigh should mandate closer to the first floor & front door for your act should you succeed.

Of course we're all preaching to the choir here; suicide is the single most selfish thing a human can do, and if also a psycopath will involve others. This dude was selfish & full of ego, short of brains & aim.

Bravo to the purse, lady, though.

Anonymous said...

Note he blasted away at close range and (luckily) missed everybody, just what most of you will do if you get into a shooting situation with a handgun.
Yeah, I know. You're rough and (talk) tough and can shoot the ass off a fly at 40 yds., but you'll miss anyway. Handguns give a false sense of security, just like a bottle of whiskey.

staghounds said...

I cannot BELIEVE that SIX MEN watched Mrs. Littleton sneak up on him, hit him, and struggle- and NOT ONE went to help.

And suicide is NOT always wrong, or selfish, or inconsiderate, or a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

Don't be so arrogant, especially when the firearm suicide demographic and the commenter here demographic have such similar balloons.

Weer'd Beard said...

Hey Look Tam, you got a troll.

I wonder if he hails from Rome!

Tam said...

Anonymouse 5:14,

"Handguns give a false sense of security..."

Mine must be broken, then.

I only plan to use my pistol as the starting gun for the Panicky Intended Victim 100yd Dash...

Anonymous said...

I only plan to use my pistol as the starting gun for the Panicky Intended Victim 100yd Dash...

A wise man once said to me, "You don't have to hit him in the head to make him say owie and stop shooting at you."

Hell, if he ducks long enough to break contact, good enough. If he catches it, then he put himself in that position.

Jim

Anonymous said...

You know what, I just watched that vid again on the teevee news, and those damn sheep (aka local city fathers and pillars of the community) just sat there meekly waiting to be dispatched...WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?

Nobody knows for sure how they will react to a life or death threat until it happens...but I'll be god DAMNED if I will die passively at the hands of some psychotic loon.

How 'bout you nony 5:14...is it just guns you can't trust yourself with or pretty much any kind of self-preservational mindset and means?

AT

comedyrocks.com said...

Interesting blog - trying to decide if you guys are funny - or sick. lol

WilhelmDurand said...

Gotta be the dissenter here. While the woman's actions may have been brave, they were totally ineffective from the face of it. Give her a gun or any sort of serious weapon, and sure, that bravery would be well-placed, but a purse? She's only endangering herself and possibly others.

I admire her courage, obviously, but IMO, it would have been better to either find a serious weapon to use or find something else productive to do.

Having said that, I agree that the actions of the board member were heroic.

WilhelmDurand said...

Also in before Tam makes some snarky comment about the contents of most women's purses. ;)

Joe in PNG said...

Go with sick. We're Wookie Suit Wearing Gun Owning Libertarians, for Heinlein's Sake!

What were you expecting? A Decaff Chai Soy French Vanilla Hazelnut Latte and a smug self congratulatory parroting of the latest DNC talking points? The owner is posing with an Eeeevil Black Death-dealing Assault rifle! While posting about guns! Were you thinking it was some sort of Post-modernist Ironic Statement or something?

Stuart the Viking said...

There is a fine line between brave and idiot. I think the lady with the purse did a fine job of balancing upon that line. I saw part of a quick interview with her where she said something to the effect of "I didn't even consider what would happen next". A sentiment that I can relate to.

However, since the other side says we should never let a tragedy go to waste, I have been using this incident as a springboard to some quiet conversations with my more liberal (anti-gun) friends; pointing out that the shooter assumed that everyone would be unarmed and suggesting that it was a good thing that the security guard didn't follow suit. Since the shooter didn't off a bunch of kids, they don't have an excuse to freak out when it comes up and use that as a reason not to listen. It's a long road, but I think some of them are gradually starting to understand our way of thinking. I have even gotten a few of them to admit that if someone were to shoot up their kids school, they would wish that I could be there (armed) to protect the kids. I don't point out that they just wished a man with a gun would be in their kids school, I'm hoping they eventually make that distinction themselves.

It's a game of inches.

s

Kristophr said...

Joe in PNG: He's just a spammer. Probably got paid $0.01 to put this comment on this post with the website address listed.

10,000 other blogs have exactly the same comment on them by now. $100 is big money for some twit in a third world country to defeat Turing tests and the like.

Tam said...

Kristopher,

Yeah, I'd've deleted it if it hadn't dovetailed so nicely into the conversation.

Anonymous said...

"It's a long road, but I think some of them are gradually starting to understand our way of thinking...It's a game of inches."

True but irrelevant, Stuart...the sentiment of those "liberal (anti-gun) friends" of yours is not what prevents me from legally carrying the means to defend myself on gov premises, gov is.

And when I *am* toting, those parents better not count on me to protect their young'uns; everybody would like to be a hero, but I am armed to take care of me and mine, not to play Vigilante Man.

AT

Joe in PNG said...

Wow, so the spammers are now posting generic troll comments? Kind of tells you something about the average troll that it's kind of hard to tell the difference.