Images of Guns

Two stories here, but for the second I have to credit our foreign friend Peter for sharing at the bar the other day.

1. Plainly Stated in School

For the last day of the "what will you do this summer?" lesson, as part of the plan I had students write three sentences with accompanying illustration on a paper to show what they will do this summer (or this weekend, or after school). In one of my classes, I looked down on my usual rounds and saw a boy had written "Kill a person" on his paper, and was in the process of drawing a nicely detailed M16 underneath it. I asked him "Oh, in computer games?" and he responded with "No. Real life."

I told Taebun, but nothing came of it; the kid was probably just being funny. I, however, have been conditioned to feel horrified. I can only imagine how that would be handled differently in America (Interesting too, considering Scott's recent air soft gun incident). I'm glad nobody can own guns in this country.

2. Peter at the Airport

Peter was at an airport not long ago and shared this observation: Two military men dressed in army fatigues, each walking around with a large gun in each hand. I was shocked just to hear that, because I've not yet seen a real gun in this country although I have seen many military men. He then told us that their free hands were clasped together and "swinging back and forth like school girls." It's very common for men or boys to hold hands here, as friends or otherwise, but in uniform with their guns? that one's new. I think that image will stick with me for a long time.