A day in the gunshop
Maybe you think it would be fun to own your own business. A lot of people tell me having your own business is wonderful. They tell me you can set your own hours, work when you want and do everything at your own pace. I knew better before I started but I didn’t know how interesting it would be working with the public! You just never know what is going to walk through that door!
It was 630 am and a man came in looking a little weak. He sits and ask if I have a blood pressure cuff. I say yes but then ask why do you want your BP checked at a gunshop at 630? He says he has chest pain but doesn’t want to go to the ER and put up with all those test. I try my best to convince him to let me call 911 but he refuses. I even have an old EKG machine and print out an EKG. It shows abnormalities but I still can’t get him to go. Later the pain gets worse and his wife takes him to the ER. Doctor says his EKG shows abnormalities and he needs to go to the heart unit. He tells the doctor his gunsmith told him that at no charge. Doctor calls me to find out if I’m a doctor. I end up explaining and doctor brings out two pistols for trigger work.
Another day a man comes in early and ask if we are alone. He just got a call his wife was having an affair with another man. When he asked the woman why she was calling to tell on her she said she was seeing her too and cheating on her. He said he needed to talk to somebody and dropped off a rifle for cleaning and sight in. I had to make sure he was planning on using it to hunt deer instead of Dear!
Charlie comes in and ask me help to catch some cows that are out. They are in town in Cove City and running behind the houses. There are 6 cows each over 1000 pounds. I developed a new found appreciation for cowboys.
A mother brings in her daughter that has pushed an earring up her nose and can’t get it out. I can see it with my bore scope but I don’t try to remove it because she might aspirate it into her lung. I sent that one to the doctor! The mother tells others about my flexible bore scope and local people come in to look in their ears and noses. One ask if she can take it home overnight but I don’t loan tools.
A man comes in and was waiting to talk about his rifle. He is looking at a calendar and is upset from looking at a picture of a B52. He explains that he was in Vietnam and his small unit was almost wiped out by a force of 6000 North Vietnamese troops. They happened to be in front of this force that was headed to attack a Special Forces base. It was sunset and there was no way to evacuate. They were given all available ammo and instructed to dig in. Their officers came by and thanked them and said it was an honor to serve with them. They expected enemy contact shortly after midnight. When the enemy was less than one mile a huge flight of B52 bombers were rerouted from a mission to bomb North Vietnam and they started pounding the enemy force. The enemy force was stopped and forced to dig in. They evacuated his company at daylight with helicopters and he came home 2 weeks later. He didn’t know why but all these events had come back to haunt him in dreams over 40 years later.
The town drunk comes in extremely intoxicated at quitting time. I feed him some soup and take him home in my truck. I come back to the shop the next morning and find his false teeth on the table.
Two men come in with a woman. They are huge and barefooted. They have heard that my wife passed away and they have brought me their sister. They tell me she can cook and skin game better than a man. She doesn’t talk but smiles and she is missing more than one tooth. I look around for the hidden camera but there isn’t one.
Maybe because I’m a little unconventional I attract situations or maybe it’s because I’m a one person business. Don’t know for sure but it sure is interesting.