Re: Austin, TX, Things to do, Places to See?
Update: I'm back from my Texas trip.
I just thought I'd update the forum on how it went.
I flew out of Birmingham, to Houston, and then got a connector to Austin. Reverse on the way back. First of all, no porno scanners were up and running, I saw no pat downs, either. I, of course, had a lot of audio and video running on me in case I had to call local LEO because someone touched my junk. It appears the protest have done some good during the holiday season. It will be interested to see what happens when the holidays are over. The TSA were mainly friendly and jovial. They were much better than some of the :3hat: in the Continental crew. Freaking Unions! I'll pay the extra next time and fly Southwest.
My contact out there took me around Austin. I really liked it. I got to see the bats, I also walked around the campus and saw the tower where that nut job shot a bunch of people. The bars were pretty cool as well. The SRV museum was awesome.
The food was incredible on the entire trip, BBQ was unbelievable, steaks as well, and of course, the Mexican food was like nothing I had ever had here in Georgia. I think you could make an argument about moving to Texas just on the food alone.
In the Brenham Cafe, I noticed a huge sign that said bringing a firearm into the restaurant was a felony that carried a 10 year prison sentence! :shock: Talk about Draconian laws! They served beer there, but not one person was drinking when we went there. They were obviously a restaurant that served alcohol, not the other way around.
Now for the kicker, Continental was a freaking mess. In Houston, I had about three hours to kill on the way home before hoping on my flight to Birmingham. I'm sitting in the terminal when this nice fellow named Dale came and sat beside me and we just start talking, small talk VERY QUIETLY. I really didn't think many around us could hear us or anything. We were being quiet. He brought up politics, something I don't try to bring up with strangers unless they do first. If it seems we're going to butt heads, I usually just try to stay as nice as possible, and not completely tick the other person off. I just try to be as nice, pleasant, and persuasive as possible. Give facts ya know.
Well we get to start talking about what's wrong with the country, the root causes, and how our government continues to further encroach on our privacy, freedoms, and economy/business, ect. We were having a great conversation when a "self-proclaimed" Marine sat down, and I really didn't even notice him that much. We're still talking rather quietly, trying not to let everyone around us hear everything we're saying. I guess a few people right there in our general area could hear us. He did look and pretty much act like a Marine, but I have no way to be sure he was. Very lean, muscular, taller than me by quite a good bit, and clean cut hair, high and tight. I guess he sat there and listened for a while. Next thing I know he announces to everyone around us, very loudly, "Ohh my God! Not another one of you, have you ever been overseas? Ever been to Iraq?" I tell him no, I haven't. He then goes on to tell me that "I need to keep my mouth shut, because until I've been to a country like that, I have no idea how free we are here." I told him thank you for your service, I greatly appreciated it. I told him I understood how bad other countries are, but that doesn't mean we still couldn't change our country back to the founder's vision for our State and Federal governments of 1789 and make it better, and ditch the unconstitutional Nation government that we have now. I tell him that we can still strive for change, and restoring our government, and making our country and our citizens better off in the end. Then it really sets him off, "Ohh you're one of those people." I tell him that I'm not any kind of person, I just want my lawful, provable government back. He doesn't understand, so I tell him some facts, court cases, and laws to look up, and I tell him to please research if he likes, don't take my word on it.
We may have said a few more things, but I don't recall them all right now. I'll write more if and when I remember it.
Then SHTF. He stands up, gets in my face, goes all drill sergeant on me, looks crazy and possessed out of his eyes, starts calling me a whiny
and starts cussing me out, freaking out, calling me all types of names and raising his voice a good bit, just below shouting. Apparently, if you're not in the military you're not allowed to speak, state facts, or express an opinion on anything in his eyes. I tell him that I'm not just whining about things, I actually get out there and do things to try to get the right kind of change in our country. Completely shouting over what I said, he then starts to shout that I'm an Obama voter because I said the word "change." A lot more cussing, yelling, name-calling. I correct him very nicely on that as well. This entire time, I never raised my voice, I just said concise corrections, in a nice, friendly way, never raising it, normal voice, just as I would be talking to anyone around me.
At this point, about 50 people are all sitting around staring at this guy as he freaks out, turns completely red in the face. I, of course, ask him to please calm down, before TSA or law enforcement comes over. He then, gets all huffy and red in the face, stomps off for a few seconds, and TSA, is just staring at this guy keeping an eye on him. I'm glad he's gone, but I'm still waiting for him to come back. After that, everyone just kind of sat there, awkward, and I'm thinking to myself, whoa, that guy needs to calm down. I hope he doesn't have any mental problems or anything.
A few seconds pass and he stomps back, very quickly, gets in my face, same crap, name calling, yelling, cussing, and then he tells me he wants to go outside and whoop my
. I start to try to defuse the situation, but nothing is calming this guy down. He starts to push me in the chest, I'm sitting he's standing, and I fight the urge to grab his arm as he's pushing me in the chest. He's pushing me hard enough to move my chair each time. All the while he is talking about going outside and settling this like men. I'm still trying to diffuse it without getting physical.
Some things I know, he may or may not be a Marine or trained, I am not, I've got 3 herniated Lumbar disc in my back for a total of 21 mm, and if I get into any type of physical confrontation with this guy, I'm toast. On the ground, screaming, crying, blood curdling pain. Getting physical with this guy is the absolutely last self-defense option that I want to engage in. Of course, I'm not armed, so if he starts to stop my brains into the carpet, there is nothing I'm going to do about it. Everyone just sits around... doing nothing.
Finally, after what seems like an eternity, TSA and Law Enforcement arrive. One of the officers restrain him and take him away. Thank goodness! :whew: He doesn't fight, he just keeps talking crap, as he walks away with them. He finally starts to calm down right before he disappeared from my sight. A TSA agent and an officer start asking questions. They were really nice, and apologized it had gone that long, and they were sorry they didn't get there sooner, before he came back. He said they were hustling to get there.
I answered all their questions, and they talked to a few people around us. All agreed he was out of control, and it all had started with a simple political discussion that he butted in on. They also said that I never said anything aggressive or mean to him that should have set him off. They all agreed that the guy had issues, and I didn't really do anything to escalate the situation. I then wrote a very short report up about what happened. A few others did too. I never asked if they were going to charge him with disorderly or anything. LEO and I never talked about assault and battery charges, as I think the guy needed some help, and I doubt jail time would help this guy out. This guy may need therapy. If not for PSDs because of war, then maybe he was just a civilian with problems, but I will say he looked like a Marine, and acted like one. I have no way to prove that he was, though.
Of course, by this point, I'm sweaty, nervous, heartbeat out of control, breathing heavy, adrenalin pumping, and I can finally start to calm myself down a little bit, and get back to normal. Of course, then I had to sit there and think about what I would have/could have done had he swung on me, and started kicking the crap out of me had I gone down. I was completely unarmed, besides I had my car keys, but it would have been hard to get a good wound placement while laying on the ground. I would have had to strike before he did. Probably something that would have been illegal. When I think keys, I think soft spots around the face, neck, ect.
Funny thing is, earlier, I had a conversation with an Army guy about legalizing drugs. He disagreed with me on it, but everything stayed cool, and we agreed to disagree.
This was one messed up situation, and I really hope this guy gets the help that he needs. Anyway, just thought I would share that, as it shows you can find yourself in a bad place very quickly at the most "secure" and benign places.
I didn't talk politics with anyone else in public for the rest of the trip, even when they brought it up, I'd change the subject.
Word to the wise, never talk politics in public today, even if the other person agrees with you, because of who might be listening in on our conversation.
Its a shame that today, in America, you cannot express an opinion, facts, or just have political conversations, without someone freaking out, and then threatening to beat you up. Its getting ridiculous.
