Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Oops, work and an AR-15 shirt

Oleg has shirts from 1791Apparel.com around his house, as he's been taking photos of them. I needed a shirt at one point, and he offered one of them to me. (Sorry to disappoint the minds in the gutter, but no, not like that. I don't remember, but it wasn't as exciting as the life you think I have.)

Earlier this week, this shirt came up on the top of the stack of clean t-shirts, and in my pre-caffienated state, I put it on without a second thought, shrugged into my safety vest, and continued on with my morning routine. Everything was just fine, until right after the morning meeting, when one of my subordinates came up to me. (Not unusual; I encourage comments and questions to my face, to avoid having to try to answer the rumor chain or clean up the "I tried to figure it out myself" mess later.)

He grinned at me. "Is that an AR-15?"

I blinked, grinned, and shrugged. "Well..." Meaning, huh? What AR-15?

Another subordinate, nearby, chimed in. "What's an AR-15?"

The first one gestured at my chest and said, "It's the rifle the military uses. Those are the sights for an AR-15, aren't they?"

Oh, yeah. That. I grinned wider, and nodded. "Yeah. It's kind of a joke."

"That's pretty awesome! Where did you get that?"

Now, I'd be more inclined to say the military has the M-16 than the AR-15, personally, but this subordinate has never struck me as being one of the many prior-military and reservists among the ranks of my company. (We have lots. I fully endorse this practice, because vets are self-motivated, bright, problem solving, and understand the critical difference between the time to point out there's a better way to do something, and the time to drop everything and do this right now.) Still, he may have been the first to ask me openly, but he wasn't the only one to glance at my chest and grin.

Yeah, that's me. Providing logistics, leadership, and a gun nut in-joke because I didn't check the t-shirt stack for differentiation between work and not-work shirts. I probably should resist the temptation to get a few more, and see if my crew can recognize the rest of the designs. What could possible go wrong with wearing a Gasden snake curled around a AR-15 during meetings?

(As an aside, it's a good shirt, stands up to work and wear really well. Wish it was a little lower-quality in this muggy heat, actually, as a cheaper t-shirt might be a little less... insulating. But it wicks sweat well, and holds up to grime. And FCC, about your disclaimer rules? I got it free, I like it, I plan to buy a replacement. Resign and go do something useful in the real world instead of being a useless parasite on my taxes.)

6 comments:

  1. "Resign and go do something useful in the real world instead of being a useless parasite on my taxes."

    Oh, quit holding back and tell us how you REALLY feel. :)

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  2. I like the AR-15 bolt face shirts. Even more obscure then the sight picture shirts.

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  3. LOL, actually those got started as sights on the M-1 as an inside joke for M-1 shooters...

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  4. Paul - I would, but my IA and my parents sometimes read this blog. Besides, not only do I try to be Christian, but my vocabulary when truly out of control is sadly non-creative and limited, unlike drill sergeants you may have know. (Last time I slipped on stairs and bent my foot enough my toes touched the back of my calf, I found I only had one impolite word coming out of my mouth, though with great force and vigor behind the common vulgarity. If I'm going to be so boring, why can't I just say "ow" instead?)

    NFO - I know nothing. Sure didn't know that! I even tried pointing out once to one of Oleg's models that I was the only non-gunnie sitting at the dinner table. The gentleman leaned forwaard and grinned at me as he pointed out mercilessly "You're the one wearing a shirt with rifle sights on it."

    So I was. But Calmer Half and Oleg were discussing something about different powder loads by different manufacturers for some caliber, and the gentleman across from me understood and cared enough to comment. Me, I was there for the people and the baklava.

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  5. Maybe if the FCC goes, the IRS and ATF can will go with them.

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