Armed And Fabulous
One of the most eye-opening classes from last year’s TacCon was John Hearne’s “Who Wins, Who Loses, And Why.” I filled up almost an entire notebook with notes in just eight hours of classroom time in that class, it was truly a life-changing experience.
One of the pearls of wisdom he dropped was on setting the narrative after a defensive encounter. The cops are going to roll up on the scene, looking for a bad guy, and the less we look like a bad guy, the smaller our chances of being labeled the bad guy.
End Part One.
Part Two begins in the lobby of the official hotel for TacCon, after the classes were over. I, along with two dozen or so fellow attendees, were hanging out in the lobby bar enjoying a drink, and it struck me just how much we stood out. I was wearing my usual t-shirt and jeans, which in theory is pretty normal, but it’s not normal for a hotel bar that caters to the business crowd.
And I was one of the least-obvious dressed. Here’s the thing: Most guys who hang out in Marriotts do not wear plaid long-sleeved shirts. They don’t wear 5.11 khakis. They don’t wear Merrill shoes, and they don’t carry, ah “messenger bags.”
They just don’t.
There’s a certain point in your concealed carry journey where you strive to be “the gray man,” the person who blends into the background and is unseen, but is ready to deal with whatever might happen. However, “blending in” is a relative term. What works on the streets of Brooklyn makes you stand out like a sore thumb in Arkansas
Look around as you go about your routine. What are people wearing in your grocery store? In the restaurants near you? At the theater? Dress like them, not your buddies at the range.