Well, after a long 12 week wait, I finally received my LTCH on Friday. On Saturday, I threw my XD in my temporary holster (waiting on a Crossbreed) and decided to run a few errands and eat dinner with my significant other. I was carrying IWB in jeans, a tshirt and a jacket. All I could think as we drove to Wally World was "This thing is so darn obvious, everyone is gonna see me print."
Get to Wally World, walk by the greeter...nothing.
"Hmmm, well, she's probably half blind anyway, I can see her cataracts from here."
Contine through the aisles, walking by several people...nothing.
"Well, it is Walmart on a Saturday night, all these people are probably drunk or just zombiefied."
Walk by a store manager who seems completely lucid...nothing besides a polite hello.
"Hmmm...he must be an INGOer."
Walk out of the store after making our purchases, again encountering the cataract infested greeter. Nothing but a good night from her. As we are walking to the car, I say, "Wow, that felt really weird."
Her reply, "What?"
"Carrying my gun in Walmart for the first time."
"You carried your gun in there? I didn't think that was allowed."
"I didn't see a sign."
*Laughter*
At this point I'm feeling a little more comfortable, as my girlfriend and seemingly every Walmart dweller had completely missed the obvious print of my XD.
Now for the real fun, of to Applebees in Broad Ripple.
We walk in, the place is packed, great, more people to freak out at the sight of a gun. The hostess comes to seat us, nothing, just a leisurely walk to our booth. I'm sitting with my right side facing most of the restaurant, great, now the whole damn place will see it. We order our food and sit around enjoying each others company and talking about the Boston bombers and their capture. I survey the restaurant looking for fingers pointing and dropped jaws...nothing. Our food comes, and after our waitress leaves, I look down and see that my gun is actually showing.
"Oh no," I thought, "how long had this been showing? I wonder if the police are on their way."
I causally covered it back up, no police ever showed up. We finished off our meal, paid, and headed to the car to head home. Removed the XD and went off to bed.
Today, my girlfriend and I decided to enjoy a nice walk together. Holstered up, threw on a sweatshirt and a jacket as it was a bit chilly. As we are about to leave, I check my reflection to see how badly I'm printing.
My girlfriend sees this and says, "Don't worry, the sweatshirt looks fine."
"I was just checking to see if I was printing."
"Oh, you have your gun?"
"Yes..."
We proceed on our 2 mile walk and see several nice folks without incident, and this time I was even carrying OWB (living dangerously).
I got home and thought about how much more comfortable and safe I feel when I'm armed. I truly don't want to have to go anywhere without it, though being a college student doesn't give me much choice in that regard. I've been carrying without a round chambered just to try and get used to having the big hunk of metal and plastic on my hip. Saturday night at Walmart I would have been uncomfortable with a round chambered. On our walk this evening, I felt uncomfortable NOT having a round chambered. One thing I DO know is that now having the ability to protect myself, the love of my life, and my two fantastic dogs makes me feel MUCH, MUCH better when I'm out and about. In less than two days I've went from being hesitant and scared with a gun to being uncomfortable without it.
CARRY ON!
There is no real moral or point to this story, but I thought some of you seasoned vets might enjoy it, and I thought others new to carrying may be able to relate, or perhaps those thinking about carrying may see that it isn't so scary after all.
If you made it this far, thanks for reading!
Get to Wally World, walk by the greeter...nothing.
"Hmmm, well, she's probably half blind anyway, I can see her cataracts from here."
Contine through the aisles, walking by several people...nothing.
"Well, it is Walmart on a Saturday night, all these people are probably drunk or just zombiefied."
Walk by a store manager who seems completely lucid...nothing besides a polite hello.
"Hmmm...he must be an INGOer."
Walk out of the store after making our purchases, again encountering the cataract infested greeter. Nothing but a good night from her. As we are walking to the car, I say, "Wow, that felt really weird."
Her reply, "What?"
"Carrying my gun in Walmart for the first time."
"You carried your gun in there? I didn't think that was allowed."
"I didn't see a sign."*Laughter*
At this point I'm feeling a little more comfortable, as my girlfriend and seemingly every Walmart dweller had completely missed the obvious print of my XD.
Now for the real fun, of to Applebees in Broad Ripple.
We walk in, the place is packed, great, more people to freak out at the sight of a gun. The hostess comes to seat us, nothing, just a leisurely walk to our booth. I'm sitting with my right side facing most of the restaurant, great, now the whole damn place will see it. We order our food and sit around enjoying each others company and talking about the Boston bombers and their capture. I survey the restaurant looking for fingers pointing and dropped jaws...nothing. Our food comes, and after our waitress leaves, I look down and see that my gun is actually showing.
"Oh no," I thought, "how long had this been showing? I wonder if the police are on their way."
I causally covered it back up, no police ever showed up. We finished off our meal, paid, and headed to the car to head home. Removed the XD and went off to bed.
Today, my girlfriend and I decided to enjoy a nice walk together. Holstered up, threw on a sweatshirt and a jacket as it was a bit chilly. As we are about to leave, I check my reflection to see how badly I'm printing.
My girlfriend sees this and says, "Don't worry, the sweatshirt looks fine."
"I was just checking to see if I was printing.""Oh, you have your gun?"
"Yes..."
We proceed on our 2 mile walk and see several nice folks without incident, and this time I was even carrying OWB (living dangerously).
I got home and thought about how much more comfortable and safe I feel when I'm armed. I truly don't want to have to go anywhere without it, though being a college student doesn't give me much choice in that regard. I've been carrying without a round chambered just to try and get used to having the big hunk of metal and plastic on my hip. Saturday night at Walmart I would have been uncomfortable with a round chambered. On our walk this evening, I felt uncomfortable NOT having a round chambered. One thing I DO know is that now having the ability to protect myself, the love of my life, and my two fantastic dogs makes me feel MUCH, MUCH better when I'm out and about. In less than two days I've went from being hesitant and scared with a gun to being uncomfortable without it.
CARRY ON!
There is no real moral or point to this story, but I thought some of you seasoned vets might enjoy it, and I thought others new to carrying may be able to relate, or perhaps those thinking about carrying may see that it isn't so scary after all.
If you made it this far, thanks for reading!
