I have been musing on the topic of what would American Males do if they didn't have their guns, but the
Commongunsense post "I Almost Died Laughing"
pointed out the insanity of US gun culture. Here we have deadly and
dangerous weapons which people mistakenly believe is their "right" to
own (Sorry, but the Second Amendment right is to belong to a Militia set
up according to Article I, Section 8, Clause 16, but few people want
THAT right).
A
far more productive pastime comes to mind when I go to the DIY Centre.
What is more masculine than building things? That is being constructive
rather than destructive (although one can demo old buildings to build on
them). The pride I feel when I know that I can handle power tools to
build projects. Although, it was dangerous when shopping for tools when
the sales person said "you could build a deck in an afternoon with
that!"
Not within earshot of my wife, please!
Her abode is a
Wendy House
as is a large,expensive one, but a Wendy House nonetheless! It would be
an even more intricate Wendy House with me spending my free time doing
that (of course, that is much more productive than blogging).
But
the feeling that you made something on your own is far more empowering
than shooting a tin can that is unable to shoot back at you.
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| Trainspotters |
Of
course, there are my other passions, Archaeology and Astronomy. Even
playing with a metal detector can be considered archaeology of sorts,
although most archaeologists dislike metal detectorists who just dig
things up without consideration for what they have found. Metal
detectorists have, however, made some significant archaeological finds: I've mentioned the the
Crosby Garrett Helmet and
Terry Herbert’s Anglo-Saxon hoard before.
There needs to be archaeological sensitivity on the part of metal
detectorists.
There's trainspotting as well. That's much more
productive. I remember a rail journey where I saw both trainspotters
and hunters. The trainspotters were having much more fun with their
flasks of tea and anoraks, whilst the hunters were stalking a dear that
was several miles from where they were slogging (and would have been a
dangerous shot to take). What's the fun of spending hours in the cold
trying to kill something that eludes you because it is much smarter than you are?
I can think of several commenters who would be much better trainspotters than they are gunslingers.
Or much else for that matter.
Perhaps,
that answers my train of thought that these people are incapable of
tasks which require complex skills. Even trainspotting require than one
is numerically literate to track which train one has seen (and where).
I can imagine that the gunsels are lost on dry land, let alone trying
to look at the heavens to find messier objects. These pastimes require
thought, which is a characteristic sadly missing in the American mind.
