Many of you know that my wife and I sell vintage jewelry. We are on pace to do about 40 antique and jewelry shows this year in Houston, Austin and San Antonio. This weekend, we did a show because we had the weekend free and the show happened to be in Houston. The Gem & Jewelry Show perhaps? Nope. The antique show in the Astrohall. What antique show in the Astrohall? Thanks for asking. The antique show associated with the Gun Collectors Show. Now, why in the hell would a pacificst vegetarian like me (and my wife also) do a show associated with the Gun Show? Extremely good question. I'm still trying to answer that one. It wasn't too expensive and we thought we would be in a separate building. We figured that we would be with all the antique dealers and it would just be another show. Wrong. Not only were we in the same building, but there were a number of issues that I think I should point out about this show. Now, this is in no way a shot at those who own or collect guns. My dad has quite a few and I like him pretty well. It isn't the guns that were the problem at this show as you'll see. Let me just give you a rundown of the events beginning at set-up on Friday... We load in easily enough and I go to sign up for electricity. I make my way past the talbes full of rifles, handguns and AK47's (you heard me) to the sign-in desk, which was near another loading dock. After completing my transaction, I took literally two steps back into the show when some old guy in a cowboy hat sitting next to a cop says... "Yew got a badge?" (meaning the classy orange and white Gun Show button they gave dealers to wear) "Yes, back in my booth. I just got here." "Well, git it awn if'n you wanna keep goin' in 'n out." "Um...ok." On Saturday, we got to the show before it opened and finished setting up. The show opened at 9am and was FULL of people in camoflage. Maybe they thought no one would see them when they made their purchases. Who knows? Early on in the show, a loud voice that sounded like Merle Haggard comes over the speaker to announce the innauguration of George W. Bush ("from Texas" - well, duh!) as President of the United States. Cheers go up from the crowd - loud cheers. I half-expected to hear a few people fire guns in the air like they do on New Year's Eve. Fortuntately, not. Knowing that there was a lot of area to the show, I had brought along my scooter (cool Xootr!) to get around quickly and easily. It is not uncommon in large shows to see people on even small motorized things though this is just a simple push one. If nothing else, the big open flat area without booths would make for fun during the slow times if I didn't cough up a lung from all the smoke I was inhaling (more on that later). I decided to scoot over to one of the other dealers' booths to say, "Hi". She and her husbad are at nearly every show we do. There were very few people in the show as it hadn't even reached 11am yet. As I scooted up to their booth, some guy in a VERY bad blue polyester jacket, 70's tie, headset mic and no hair (with a badge that said, "Ray - Astrohall" - was that his name?) said, "You can't ride those in here." Why? "They are too dangerous." The woman dealer said to him... "You mean it is ok to walk around with an AK47 but unsafe to ride a scooter?" He just walked away. At this point, I'm starting to wonder just how many problems would be solved if this place just blew up - lock, stock and barrel. Probably none, but I digress. There was a booth not far from the antiques area that had a banner "Conceal 'n Draw." They sell hidden holsters and a special purse for the ladies that allows easy access to their purty little pistols. One antique dealer said she wandered in there out of curiosity and overheard one of the customers in the booth saying: "I knew this was gonna happen. I got a new gun and now I'm gonna need a new shoulder holster." Yahoo. I took a walk around the show and might I say it was frightening. Oh, the hunters are what they are. I've seen enough of them at fishing, campign and boating shows when I was a kid with my dad to not be too bothered by them. What did unnerve me was the fact that the only black people in the place were working at the concession stand, the smoke from cigarettes was so thick it caused my wife's asthma to flare up badly enough that we had to...(well, you'll see) and there were more than enough skinheads, white supremicist looking guys and people that looked frightfully like the unibomber. Eek. There was another booth sign that caught my fancy: "Gun Fun" Anyway, the show was loaded with people (all puns intended) walking around with rifles, AK47's, etc. strapped to their backs. I don't think we've ever sold jewlery to someone packing (though I could be wrong) but there's a first time for everything. Of course, I did speak with a woman who used the phrase "Jewed them down" at least twice in the conversation. Didn't this get someone from the Sports Authority in trouble last year? Hmmm... Many of the people at the show (gun dealers and customers) looked like they had just come in from the sticks. A lot of Cletus the Slackjawed Yokel types with the stringy hair, boots and feed store caps and a terrifying amount of very long beards. Either there was a ZZ Top look-alike contest or many fortified compounds out in the hill country were sealed up that day. The smoke was God-awful. Many of the antique dealers commented they thought it was against city law to smoke indoors. Ahh, but this is the county - Reliant Astrohall, afterall. Ugh! By the end of the day, my wife and I were deciding just what family emergency we could think up to get the hell out of there. We decided to wait until Sunday morning to load out and avoid the crowds. Sunday morning we are still coughing from the smoke. My wife's asthma was so bad she was up most of the night wheezing. Enough of the gun and smoke show. We head down there but we are not allowed to get close to the loading dock - Astrohall policy. Well, give me a freakin' break. The old anus of a security guard just says from the front seat of his beat up tan Pinto with a Camel in his mouth, "I can't do it on a counta my supervisor says I can't." Thanks Bubba. So, we haul everything out on a dolly that has one wheel bent so badly the whole thing shakes for the 300 yards. We load up and get the hell out. Shortly after a stop for Taquitos (mmmmm, Taquitos), one of the doors to our large glass showcase slides out of the back of the truck onto Shepherd, shattering the mirror attached to one side. What a show. Remind me to go back today and pick up one of those handguns for another purpose - to put myself out of my misery. Oh, and did I mention that in the mail yesterday was a letter from my vet saying my ferret had died in their care? They apparently had tried to call but, as we found out Saturday, our Call Notes has been forwarding to some strange British woman for the past week and we didn't know about it. Apparently, she knew about the death of our ferret before we did. And, of course, Call Notes isn't open on the weekend so we can't fix it. Great, just great. ------------------ I am very very sleepy. [This message has been edited by Jeff (edited January 21, 2001).]
Well, I was laughing till the part about the ferret. But I don't think it beats that time either in Houston or was it here in Dallas, can't remember, when a gun show and a bridal show were going on at the same time in rougly the same locale... ------------------ "No Brain Grant, no trade." -- Typos are a b**** as ZRB is holding Rocket trades hostage while he seeks a brain. Conspiracy theorists say this would explain why Hakeem has yet to be traded...
So, did you sell anything? Mango ------------------ We neeed more threads about Dream! Test Your NBA Trade Ideas 1. Put new topics in the proper forum. Things happening in the rest of the NBA 2. Use clear wording for new threads. 3. No duplicate threads 4. Conduct yourself as an adult. The Serious Police are watching. Donate Blood or be assimilated!
Not close to enough to even break even. Who was the genius that thought guns and doilies (or jewelry in our case) would mix? And who was the Einstein who decided this show would be a good idea? Oh, right, that would be me. ------------------ I am very very sleepy.
Oh, I almost forgot. Saturday night was the Monster Truck show at the Astrodome. How was THAT for timing? ------------------ I am very very sleepy.
Wow, that was an interesting as well as sad story. This group of hickabilly gun-happy smokers seems to have fulfilled every stereotype outsiders have of Texans. Thank god they're only the minority. Azim da Dream ------------------ I am the truth and i will continue to bring you the truth as long as I can. Stay tuned to more facts in my upcoming posts. - COACH SAMPSON, the ultimate messenger of truth http://www.clutchtown.com
Oh man, Jeff, I'm still laughing about the scooter bit. As for all the country bumpkins, I'm with on that. Man, I can't be around an environment like that. Ugh! Eddie Murphy said it best in 48 Hours: "I've never seen so many backward ass country f***s in all my life. You people are rednecks. I hate rednecks, which means I'm enjoying this ****." ------------------ Behad Sergeant at Arms of the Clutch BBS
You know, country bumpkins aren't that bad, but it's when the flea-infested, no-shoe-wearin' crowd starts arriving that I worry. Oh, and of course, the ones wearing camouflage as if we're in the midst of a war or something. They scare me. ------------------ "No Brain Grant, no trade." -- Typos are a b**** as ZRB is holding Rocket trades hostage while he seeks a brain. Conspiracy theorists say this would explain why Hakeem has yet to be traded...
So what's your point about all of this? It was a gun show. What did you expect? ------------------ Who's ya daddy?
I took a walk around the show and might I say it was frightening. Oh, the hunters are what they are. I've seen enough of them at fishing, campign and boating shows when I was a kid with my dad to not be too bothered by them. What did unnerve me was the fact that the only black people in the place were working at the concession stand, the smoke from cigarettes was so thick it caused my wife's asthma to flare up badly enough that we had to...(well, you'll see) and there were more than enough skinheads, white supremicist looking guys and people that looked frightfully like the unibomber. Eek. [/B][/QUOTE] Are you sure you werent at george w's "inaugural" ball? ------------------
I was trying to be funny, but as I said in the post, I thought we weren't going to be in the same building. If I would've known, I wouldn't have done the show. To be honest, I didn't know what to expect at a gun show. I've never been to one before. I've been to fishing shows when I was younger and they are NOTHING like this though I assumed they would be. The crowds at those shows were just country folk - no biggie, mostly nice people. But, the people at this show were just plain scary. ------------------ I am very very sleepy.
Man, Jeff, I haven't seen as many stereotypical slurs in a while on this board. The show opened at 9am and was FULL of people in camoflage. Maybe they thought no one would see them when they made their purchases. At this point, I'm starting to wonder just how many problems would be solved if this place just blew up - lock, stock and barrel. What did unnerve me was the fact that the only black people in the place were working at the concession stand... Why does this bother you so? Were black people excluded from the proceedings? Seems to me they would have been welcome there if they so desired. A lot of Cletus the Slackjawed Yokel types with the stringy hair, boots and feed store caps and a terrifying amount of very long beards. Either there was a ZZ Top look-alike contest or many fortified compounds out in the hill country were sealed up that day. Sorry, most of this I think just speaks for itself. I won't even waste time trying to come up with responses for these slanderous comments. I'm a little disappointed. As an aside, what percentage of the crime in this country comes from the people that attend these shows? Something tells me it ain't that big.
Jeff, I was wondering the same thing as TheFreak. How can you try to pass yourself off as a hippie/commie/veghead, but then do all the slandering when it seems funny, or okay to you? It's fine to be a liberal vegetarian (everyone's entitled to their own free will). And, it's okay to think the way you do about the "slack jawed yokels" (again, you can think whatever you want to think). But when you let your thoughts be known it affects the lives of others, and in this case makes for an odd juxtaposition(sp?). You know, there's a difference between just calling someone a hick and stereotyping them for it, and going off on the ideology of "skinheads". I guess it was okay for Jimmy Swaggart to hire a hooker to satisfy his sexual needs, and then go back to preaching..... ------------------ My Rocket Page [This message has been edited by DREAMer (edited January 21, 2001).]
First off, I heard the N word uttered several times so, I guess my answer to the question, "Were blacks welcome?" would be...probably not. If I were black, I wouldn't feel comfortable in that crowd. As for the rest, that's why they call it a joke. Slander? You ought to be able to do better than that. Disappointed? So? Man, you are more politically correct than I thought. ------------------ I am very very sleepy.
What? DREAMer, what the hell is a "veghead" first off? I am NOT a communist and I am not even CLOSE to a hippie. I thought you knew me better than that. As for stereotyping, talk about the pot calling the kettle black or brown or red or yellow. Aren't you the same person who got into a huge argument over Mormonism with actual Mormons and still claimed you knew more? And, yes there were ACTUAL skinheads in the crowd. I wasn't making that part up. Complete with Nazi symbols and all. No, not everyone was a skinhead, but you knew that already. I don't give a rat's ass what Jimmy Swaggert did with a hooker. Did I find it funny when he got caught? Of course, who wouldn't? The guy preached one thing and did another. I thought the same thing about Jesse Jackson. I don't care what they preach. I don't listen. But, I did find it funny and ironic and hypocritical. I can't believe you guys can say some of the things you do but can't handle a joke. Geez, this place is getting sensitive. ------------------ I am very very sleepy.
I know that my life has forever been changed by Jeff's post. My grandfather had a gun collection (gave me a gun from about 1940 when I was 12) and now Jeff is saying that he was a skinhead yokel. Shame on him. I am pretty sure that any sackjaw yokels out there not only do not have computers, but if they do would not come to this site. Any skinheads that might frequent this site that were offended, well, they deserve worse so who cares, right? What does your claim that Jeff is a veghead/commie/hippie have to do with him making fun of people? Is that not allowed? I am sure that Freak and DREAMer have never made fun of people in their lives, I only hope that we may all one day live up to the standard that they have set. ------------------ EZLN
what the? i think he was just joking around fellas. i dont think that the rednecks or hicks need to be defended.everyone is entitled to there own views, guys. did either of you object to achebe calling gay people homos? a commie? you must be republican ------------------ http://www.democrats.com [This message has been edited by dc rock (edited January 21, 2001).]
