In my usual pre-work haze this morning I notice the guards now have shotguns. This causes a sense of unease to permeate my car. If these were military troops, I'd be far less worried for the following reasons: soldiers are trained to kill, and trained well. So putting one on guard duty makes them incredibly bored and somewhat docile, the threat of violence where I work is pretty effing low from what I can tell, so working the gate with a shotgun/m-16/pistol/tank is dealt with the same attitude you get at a 7-11 counter… Polite, slightly annoying, but predictable.
Civilians usually don't carry guns on a day-to-day basis, so when they do, you can see the glint of fresh authority in their eye. It was very clear that several of these new shotgun sentries considered themselves "the man" simply because they could blow a hole in my hood if I approach too quickly. It’s a “cool” job for the average to slightly above minimum wage, blue collar male* and trust me, it showed today. Excitement and firearms do not make a good cocktail. I would much rather have the bored soldiers with M-16's back, rather than the civilians with pistols, shotguns, and something to prove.
*note, women had shotguns too but they didn’t have the…how you say…Walker Texas Ranger day dream goin on.
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