Friday, February 19, 2016

Holding steady in Orygun

It was time.

I had to get it done.

I could not put it off anymore.

I walked into the store that liberals love to hate.  All because of that one thing.

I walked without even casually looking around at anything there.  I was a man on a mission.

I reached.  I stopped.  It was all mine.

I sat down on the seat at the blood pressure measuring machine.  I erased the display and slid my left arm into the designated slot.

I looked up as I hit the "start" button.  Waiting for the pharmacist was a white guy, about 45 or 50 years old.  He had a camo-colored baseball cap that had the letters "NRA" in bold and uppercase.  On his side, was a gun in a holster.

A white guy with a gun in a store.

The machine whirred and whizzed and the tightness on my arm eased.  I shifted my attention to the display, wondering whether the sight of the gun would have caused a spike in the numbers.


Steady Eddie, despite the gun!

I don't care whether or not liberals or conservatives love that store; I am not going there anymore.  This pacifist does not want to witness people parading their guns in public spaces.

If the stereotype holds good, then the gun-carrying white guys won't come to shop at the places where I get edamame and paneer, and I will gladly restrict myself to those stores alone ;)

It is so bizarre that people--almost always white guys--publicly walking around with guns is apparently acceptable, but the sight of a woman wearing a hijab makes this country go ballistic!

America, what a country!


3 comments:

Anne in Salem said...

121/73 and 70? That gun did a number on you. Sunday morning, I was 80/52 and 53. Couldn't even take the meds I needed. Maybe I need to get riled up about something. Hmmm, so much from which to choose.

Ramesh said...

Oh dear, I just mentioned a couple of posts ago, and you are back to doing it again. Incidentally, it may interest you to know that such machines at stores are notoriously unreliable and that you really ought to get it checked by a nurse. For all you know it might be 80/52 and 53 (lady - do you have ice in your veins :):))

Nobody on earth can understand the American fascination with guns. A defining feature of Homo Sapiens Americansis. Historians of future ages will puzzle on how an otherwise advanced, sensible and outstanding "sub species" can have this one completely nutty obsession.

Sriram Khé said...

Ahem, the nerd that I am, I have always kept track of the BP measurements by a real human at the doctor's and at the dentist's offices ... they match up perfectly with this machine reading. The small ones for home use are not always reliable, yes.

80/52 and 53? Call 911 ;)