My wife just got a spam email for a 'tactical pen', which is (from what I can tell), a common ink pen with a black rubber gripping surface.
It claims to be the world's leading choice for military and police the world over.
Huh.
When I was a Marine MP, I carried a pen. A 'Bic'. Very tactical. Oooh, scary stuff, kids.
And I find myself surrounded these days by guys in their twenties and thirties who have never served a day in the military, but they dress the part. Kind of. They try to cultivate the 'operator' look.
It starts with tattoos. Generally an entire sleeve or both arms, and perhaps an edgy "I don't really care if I can't find a job later" neck or face tattoo.
Then we've got the epic beard. I'll give them credit for this, it's usually better than I can grow. I don't know how they do it - I've seen kids in high schools with better beards that I can grow now. Heck, in Marine Corps boot camp, I hardly had to shave - I was mostly cutting peach fuzz and zits.
Then the plaid shirt, or some kind of pseudo military shirt. The 'Tapout' shirts seem to have gone away, but I still see them once in awhile; usually stretched over a belly that is bigger than mine.
Baseball caps for sure - usually designating some military service or another, or a famous police department.
Jeans have to be greasy for some reason - I guess to show they work on cars?
Doc Martens or boondockers round out the outfit.
They love them some jacked up four-wheel-drive vehicles, although from the looks of all that chrome and stuff hanging off them, they've never seen a non-paved trail, let alone really gone 'wheeling'.
Then we have the weapons. Oh dear me, they do love them some black guns. AR15, AK47, and of course all the FN-FAL and CETME and other fine semi-automatic versions of military weapons they can find.
And the accessories! Wow, they sure have a lot of accessories! Besides the weapon itself, they have aftermarket lasers, and usually iron sights AND one or even two optical sights as well. Sometimes they have night-vision stuff. Flash suppressors, hand guards, pistol grips, collapsible buttstocks, shortened barrels, trigger guards designed to allow extreme winter use with polar gloves on. I'm surprised they don't have a thing in the stock which tells time.
They were all operators. Let me tell you, they are all special forces. They have more jump time than I have time in. They have more wings than an angel. More cloth on their combat ribbons than a Turkish bath towel.
Well.
Just had to get this off my chest. My non-hairy, non-tattooed, non-tactical chest.
It claims to be the world's leading choice for military and police the world over.
Huh.
When I was a Marine MP, I carried a pen. A 'Bic'. Very tactical. Oooh, scary stuff, kids.
And I find myself surrounded these days by guys in their twenties and thirties who have never served a day in the military, but they dress the part. Kind of. They try to cultivate the 'operator' look.
It starts with tattoos. Generally an entire sleeve or both arms, and perhaps an edgy "I don't really care if I can't find a job later" neck or face tattoo.
Then we've got the epic beard. I'll give them credit for this, it's usually better than I can grow. I don't know how they do it - I've seen kids in high schools with better beards that I can grow now. Heck, in Marine Corps boot camp, I hardly had to shave - I was mostly cutting peach fuzz and zits.
Then the plaid shirt, or some kind of pseudo military shirt. The 'Tapout' shirts seem to have gone away, but I still see them once in awhile; usually stretched over a belly that is bigger than mine.
Baseball caps for sure - usually designating some military service or another, or a famous police department.
Jeans have to be greasy for some reason - I guess to show they work on cars?
Doc Martens or boondockers round out the outfit.
They love them some jacked up four-wheel-drive vehicles, although from the looks of all that chrome and stuff hanging off them, they've never seen a non-paved trail, let alone really gone 'wheeling'.
Then we have the weapons. Oh dear me, they do love them some black guns. AR15, AK47, and of course all the FN-FAL and CETME and other fine semi-automatic versions of military weapons they can find.
And the accessories! Wow, they sure have a lot of accessories! Besides the weapon itself, they have aftermarket lasers, and usually iron sights AND one or even two optical sights as well. Sometimes they have night-vision stuff. Flash suppressors, hand guards, pistol grips, collapsible buttstocks, shortened barrels, trigger guards designed to allow extreme winter use with polar gloves on. I'm surprised they don't have a thing in the stock which tells time.
They were all operators. Let me tell you, they are all special forces. They have more jump time than I have time in. They have more wings than an angel. More cloth on their combat ribbons than a Turkish bath towel.
Well.
Just had to get this off my chest. My non-hairy, non-tattooed, non-tactical chest.
