[Rhodes22-list] Hunting with long-hairs

[Steve Alm]

All this talk about guns and our society makes me want to share a funny
story:

Years ago, I lived in Bismarck, ND and worked in a traveling rock band.  We
were all avid bird hunters and during hunting season we always took our
shotguns and a dog or two or three and hit the road early enough to take the
back roads and do a little road hunting on our way to the gig.  We were
quite a sight:  A rusty Suburban with five long-haired rockers and 1-3 dogs,
and an 18 ft. trailer for our gear.  We'd pull over to walk a tree row or a
ditch or something, pile out with our guns and dogs and go after the
pheasants.  Local farmers would pass by and see these long-haired
characters, dressed in...whatever--we didn't have no camo or any crap like
that--we just walked out there and shot da birds.  The looks on the faces of
those farmers was precious!  They NEVER stopped to talk.  8-)

Many of the places we played were clubs that had adjoining
kitchens/restaurants.  We were well-known and well-liked so the cooks would
usually take our birds, clean 'em and cook 'em for us that very night.  What
a great job perk!  Those that knew us expected us to show up (late) with a
few birds.  Those that didn't know us saw the long hair, the funky clothes
and the shotguns and probably trembled with fear.  8-)

We often played Williston, ND which is pretty much the wild, wild west.
More than once, we got in trouble with the local guys because we were
lookin' at their girls.  You know, that's about all it takes to start a
fight in Williston.  They were the locals and we were the out-of-town "rock
fagots" from the big city, Bismarck...wooo!  More than once, we exchanged
heated words and even fisticuffs.  And once we even had to make a very hasty
exit due to the shear number of adversaries, but never, and I repeat, NEVER
did it even cross our minds to pull out one of the shotguns, even though we
were all armed to the teeth--I'm sure they were too!

The moral of the story is:  Guns should be for sport, not conflict
resolution...at least in Williston they know that.  8-)

"More bad guys have guns than good guys..."  Methinks not.  The bad guys
with guns just get all the press.

Slim Chance and the Gamblers