The Secret Life of Todd

"Young man! Another Mai Tai, please."

He knew he would never drink it but the girl would and it helped to convey the "tourist" look. He was wearing plaid bermuda shorts, a loud, flowery shirt and a floppy cowboy hat and mirrored sunglasses. His flowing blond hair was tucked into the hat. The oversize shirt helped hide his muscular frame and the comfortably concealed AMT .380 in his waistband. The girl wore considerably less and yet was still appropriate for the Brazilian beach.

"Tot, oh, Tot...", said the girl.

"It's Todd. Todd." he said.

Her language was as beautiful as she was but she had trouble with words ending in "d".

"Yes, Tot. Please to rub more lotion on my back. Don't want burn." She turned her already bronze back toward him and scooted closer between his legs on the chaise lounge and pulled her long black hair over one shoulder expectantly. Todd was looking over that shoulder and not paying attention to the leggy native. His attention was focused on the man with the briefcase walking casually in their direction down the beach. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt on the beach and carrying a small, plastic briefcase, all of which made him stand out to Todd's trained blue eyes. He was looking nervously around but trying to act casual.

When he got to what Todd estimated to be twenty feet away he set the briefcase on the sand.

"Hold your ears", Todd told the girl.

"What?"

"Put your fingers in your ears, quick!"

By the time she had reluctantly put her fingers to her ears Todd had pulled the .380 from his waistband and sighted in the man's thoracic cavity at the same time the man pulled a large-frame revolver from the briefcase and was bringing it up with both hands toward Todd and the girl.

Shots rang out across the sand.

"Yap, yap, yap" said Dori. "Yappity yap, yap."

The dog was looking up at Todd expressing her desire to get back in the car. The other two dogs were also ready to go and standing by the car patiently. Todd realized where he was and walked toward the car, his feet dripping from the Lake Worth water. He glanced back over his shoulder at the sun going down over the small beach area but continued toward the car.

All four hopped in. Todd slowly eased the car out of the park toward the street.

"Bo, get back. I can't see. Sarah, you ok? Dori, don't roll the window down, baby. Good girl. Good girl."

Open Carry

My Dad sent me his thoughts on Open Carry. I concur on everything except Miss Kitty. I think she's hot.

Why I am Against the Open Carry Law
I have my license to carry a handgun. However, I object to the Open Carry Bill.
I carry a pistol almost everywhere I go but I am very much against an open carry law. I have a license to carry, but do not want everyone to know that I am armed. Why? Here are some reasons:
1. Some of my Christian friends would argue that I should not carry a gun. I am a Christian but I am not a pacifists. I will defend myself, or others, if necessary. However, I do not want to openly carry a gun and get in arguments about why I carry it. I simply do not want to have to defend my position for carrying a gun with just anyone.
2. Wearing a gun openly would certainly provoke questions and a lively discussion. I do not want to use my firearm as a topic of conversation. I do not know a lot about guns and would rather talk about other things. There are certainly other topics to talk about other than why I carry a pistol.
3. I do not want someone to ask to see or examine my pistol. It’s too dangerous and I don’t want to have to say no to a friend.
4. I do not want some half-drunk jerk to think I am a smart aleck, or trying to be a big shot, and attempt to goad me into an argument or fight.
5. I do not want some child, mentally disturbed person, or someone strung out on drugs to come up to me and try to grab my gun.
6. I am not a law officer. I fear that someone upon seeing me wearing a gun may expect me to come to their aid when I am not qualified to help them.
7. I am fearful that if the law is changed to allow a person to openly carry a gun, that some people will use their gun as a device to bully or intimidate others, whether they ever draw the gun or not.
8. I also fear sitting with my friends in the coffee shop and a couple of armed punks come in rob everyone. If my gun is openly visible, and they decide to shoot someone, I would be the first person they will shoot.
9. It seems possible to me that if a carry bill passes that our culture could slip back into what it was in the late 1800’s. The legends of Fort Worth’s Luke Short and Jim Cartwright are fascinating but I am not longing to be a cowboy trying to get one up on the bad guy in front of the local saloon. I have no interest in Miss Kitty and I find riding a horse all day to be mighty uncomfortable.

XXXChurch

Grace?

"Grace? She passed away thirty years ago." No, not that Grace, Aunt Bethany. God's grace. I was thinking about it this morning and was thinking about how amazed I am by it especially in relation to my own sinfulness. When I realize my own "badness" it makes God's goodness even "gooder". But then I realized that God's goodness has nothing to do with my "badness" and conversely my relative goodness does not make me deserving of God's grace.

I don't understand it either.