I Did It Again

I went to the gun show yesterday running a tiny bit late because once I got inside the convention center, I wandered around trying to figure out where I was supposed to be.

Luckily for me one of the first people I saw was my Glock Guy and he took me to a very nice man who had the layout for the place and he directed me to the right spot.

I found my table and met the coordinator for the organization I was volunteering for.  He gave me the low down on my responsibilities which were pretty much to tell people about the organization.  A little while later, the gentleman I was volunteering with showed up and we went to work.

The show was pretty slow.  The first show I had been to was packed.  This was nothing like that show.  I asked the head guy why it was slow and he informed me that the reason the other show was so big is because it was in conjunction with an outdoor show.  Interestingly enough, even though that show was packed it did not produce much profit apparently.  I guess the outdoor boat folks are not all that serious about their guns...fools!

So, I signed up a few people for the email list, sold a few items, and had some very nice conversations with some neat folks.

One guy came up to the table and picked up a book we offer for sale on the laws concerning people who carry and travel through the different states.  He flipped through two pages, tossed it back on the table and told me the information was wrong.

I had a brief moment of panic because, of course, I do not know all the gun laws of all the states and I was not sure how to handle the situation, so I decided to ask him if he could show me where in the book he was looking and what information was incorrect.

I thought at the very least I would be able to show the people who know and they could either confirm that the info was wrong and needed to be corrected or tell me why the info was, in fact, correct.

As it turned out he was in the section of the book that was not explaining whether anything was legal or not, but simply explaining the terms that would be used in the book.  So, I was able to explain that to him, he seemed satisfied, signed up for the alerts and went about his day.

I am a huge hit with the over 60 crowd.  I don't know why, but older people love me.  I had several very nice conversations with people in this age demographic and with the exception of just one, I either got them to sign up for the email list, a membership, or purchase at least a bumper sticker.

It was funny because the one guy who was not the least bit interested in getting another email from another organization was not carrying his gun based on information that was either outdated or just plain wrong. He was very excited to converse with me and learn about what had changed and even though that is the exact kind of information this organization provides on a weekly basis for our state, he would not give me his email.

I also had a gentleman that wanted to buy a hat, but he only had a credit card and I knew we took cedit cards, but I didn't see any slips, the other volunteer had left for the day, so I decided to try to use the membership form with the bottom part containing a place for credit card info.  He was not satisfied with this, so I said why not just sign up for a membership and add the hat?  He decided I was a flake and walked off.  Not good.

I asked the man in charge when he returned about the credit cards purchases of things that are not memberships and it turns out, they do indeed just modify the membership paper.  I think next time I just have to be more confident instead of making it seem like it was some cleaver idea I just came up with.  Even though I did think it was a clever idea and I had just come up with it.

When I was done volunteering I went off in search of a pink youth gun for my 8 year old daughter's birthday. I looked and looked, but no one had what I wanted.  Finally, my Glock Guy steered me to a certain dealer.

I went on over and saw everyone was busy, but then I saw this young kid working on a computer and I asked him if he could help me.  I told him what I was looking for and he giggled.

I said, "Hey, this is not for me.  I carry a black .40 Glock.  it's for my daughter".

I smiled. He smiled. We were good.

He wasn't sure if they had the nifty pink piece of weaponry I desired, so he asked.

Yippeee, they had what I wanted.  As I filled out the paperwork for my find, the young kid and I had a very nice conversation and he confessed he didn't know all that much about guns. We traded stories of shared neophyte-ness.

When I completed the paperwork, he told me it was taking about 15 minutes for the checks to come back, so I decided to walk around the gun show and call my husband.

While I was on the phone with him, I passed some wallets that looked pretty snazzy.  My man is forever complaining about his wallet, but for whatever reason he never buys one, so I asked him if he wanted me to pick one of these up for him.

He said sure and we discussed color and other specifics, I grabbed the one we agreed on and waited because the salesman was busy.

My man and I chit-chatted for a few minutes and then I started walking and walking and walking and walking and about 5 minutes later, I realized,

I

HAD

STOLEN

THE

WALLET.

I just walked off with it.

I do not know what it is about gun shows that turns me into a criminal, but I could not believe that I had once again ripped off someone at a gun show.

If you are new to my blog then you need to go back and read my first gun show experience to truly appreciate this post.

In a panic, I hang up with my husband, returned to the booth and confessed.

Me: "Umm, excuse me, I just stole this wallet".

Everyone from about 10 tables around looks at little ol' me.

Me:  "I don't know what happened I was on the phone with my husband discussing color and style and then I just walked off with the wallet".

Wallet guy and everyone else laughs.

Wallet guy: "No problem, but I am gonna have to charge you double".

More laughter

I did purchase the wallet, but he did not charge me double.Instead, he gave me a $3 discount because I was a vendor.  I am not a vendor, but, you know, I was volunteering at the show.

So to wrap things up, I was a little late, someone nice helped me.  I volunteered and got to share my love of guns and advocacy with a few nice people. I bought a gun for my daughter and a very nice young kid helped me. I stole a wallet and a very nice guy gave me a discount.

See why I love the gun shows?

People are just so darn nice to me!