Road Trip v. 2.0 (2019) Lawyers, Guns, & Money: Boca to Denver

Well, it is time to pack up the panniers, set a route for my on board GPS, and head for the hills.

On this cross-country trip, I am driving my Harley from Boca to Denver - taking the southern route through the panhandle of Florida, up through Alabama to Memphis, then through Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Kansas before entering Colorado from the east.

My initial concern was: will I be safe riding through the Deep South on my Harley.  I have flashbacks to the movie Easy Rider.  For those who have seen the movie, you know how it ends up - NOT GOOD.  Or Deliverance .... sheezzz.

So, in preparation for the trip, I took the basic course needed for a concealed carry permit, got the license, and then took more advanced concealed weapon instruction from Andrew (who is great should any reader need such instruction).  In other words, I entered a parallel universe hitherto unknown to me in the whole of my 68 years on the planet.  Let me put it this way: carrying a loaded pistol on the inside of my waistband, hidden by a loose shirt, is in itself stressful for a newbie like me.

I have had to confront three major issues:

1.  Why did I feel it necessary to "carry" because I was driving through the Deep South - was I  unduly stereotyping the violence of the Deep South so that I felt that there was a likelihood of violence against which I had to protect myself?

2.  Would I have to change my frame of focus from being happy go lucky on my journey to someone who sees the potential for evil around every corner (at every gas station) and ready to draw the gun every waking second should the inevitable violence occur?

3.  The classic question: do you increase the chances that there will be violence by the mere fact of owning and carrying a gun?  Does it change your karma?

These are rhetorical questions.  Maybe in a future post, I can dig a little deeper into the questions.  For now, I am all packed up.  Riding the Harley will be a completely different experience from last year 's cross-country trek on my BMW R 1200 RT.  My lawyer has been put on notice of potential evil ahead,  I will need a lot of money if anything goes wrong - NAH - all will be good ... just joking.

This year, at least, I may look a little cooler :)

Comments

  1. Robbie, when will you be in Denver? We will be in Estes Park from Aug 20 - 29 and in Central City from Aug 29 - Sep 5. Chris

    ReplyDelete
  2. If you see a kid playing banjo..run Rob, run!!!
    Have fun!!

    ReplyDelete

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