While attending a shooting function not that long ago, I had a gentlemen stop me mid-sentence and raise his arm up to my view. Not understanding what the point was, and seeing he wasn’t trying to hit me, I uttered, “Can I help you?”.
He proceeds to then start talking about how he and I have the same great taste in watches. In particular the Steel Rolex GMT II. Then he starts mumbling something about soft drinks and Coca Cola. Which…again…confused me until he explained Rolex slang terms.
The ole boy was pretty proud of his watch and I take it he was some kind of collector who wears different watches for different occasions. Likely a different one for every day of the week. And then probably some for barbecue events.
Sound familiar? Kinda like a gun guy and a, “BBQ gun”. That should come as no surprise, as demographically guns, cars and watches have a lot of crossover appeal.
“Well…”, I said. “I have worn this watch everyday since 1997. It has been on 5 continents. In countless seas. Most oceans. Numerous fist-fights. Soaked up the recoil of every pistol and rifle round fired. Has been covered in vomit, blood, sweat, chemicals, and other substances I won’t mention before lunch in polite company.”
I then looked him in the eye and said, “I seriously doubt you’d be interested in a watch like this”. And then something interesting happened, the gleam in his eye dimmed. Not at what I had just described, but I suspect because after getting a closer view of my watch, it was no longer collector grade. Or…maybe put more appropriately for this blog…NRA 100%.
Collectors are a funny bunch. They idolize items that, “can go there”, but never seem to want any part of actually doing just that. And I get it. I like guns, cars and watches too! It’s just more likely I would buy a well used Lamborghini to actually drive all summer than something that would marquee at Barrett-Jackson.
You get one life, gentlemen. Will it be a life well lived? Or will it be spent star-fucking someone else’s accomplishments? And if you don’t get what I am saying in the slightest? No insult is stated or implied.
Marky
“Shooting Guns & Having Fun”
Areas of focus: Defense and National Security, Modern Light Weapons, Small Arms, Weapons Training.
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