paranoia

"I don't know what's going to happen man. But I want to have my kicks before the whole shit house goes up in flames."

~ Jim Morrison


I chatted with my friend Mad Max from Kansas today. He indicated a while back he was planning on attending the rodeo at Thomas & Mack in December. I was checking to see if he still planned on doing such - "I wouldn't set foot in Las Vegas for all the tea in China, not after what happened. I have decided it is better for me to stay in my neck of the woods." I wasn't surprised the massacre reignited his end of the world diatribe. After all, that's why people call him Mad Max - "Isn't anyone out there paying attention. How does a guy bring that much weaponry into a place like Mandalay Bay and no one is the wiser?"

I give my opinion on the matter - "All you have to do is break down everything and put it in a suitcase. No one at the resort is going to know. They don't have metal detectors at the door or anything like that. Casino security is more honed in on trying to catch people cheating is my assumption. A maniac with tons of guns isn't at the top of the list - I would guess, and I'm just guessing, they thought something like the massacre was never going to happen. You can't live your life thinking something like that is going to happen. Who wants to live like that?" Apparently, he does - "You have been calling me an idiot and every other name when I tell you the country is headed towards guerrilla warfare. Answer this for me genius. How many other motherfuckers are out there who could go postal at any moment?"

"How am I suppose to know that?" I then add - "Look, like I said, people can't walk around life thinking the worse. I certainly don't think that way." Like I said earlier, his end of the world rhetoric was back and as prevalent as ever - "I will not go to a place that won't allow me to carry. I know I can't bring a weapon with me to Vegas, so I just have to rule it out. Now, if one of these motherfuckers wants to come to Northern Greenwood County and try their luck. Well, at least I will be well equipped to respond. The last thing in the world I want to be is a sitting duck."

I reassure him the odds of being caught in a One October sort of tragedy are highly improbable and encourage him to reconsider coming to Las Vegas for the rodeo - "Sorry my friend. Not going to happen," he then adds, "You know the thing that sticks in my mind most about the slaughter. I'm a country music guy and I can see my girl dragging me to something like the Route 91 festival if we were in Vegas - From now on I go no where without a weapon. If it's not allowed...I don't go!"