What would be exceptionally helpful to the world at large would be that before someone posted something mean, or toxic, or angry, or insulting, or self-importantly lecturing online, they would stop and realize that their micro does not always match the macro.

What I mean is that just because something situation or context fits you; it does not mean it applies to everyone.

Case in point is what occurred a few years ago on a great discussion forum, a gentleman made the statement that if you don’t carry at least a Glock 19 for your EDC, you are stupid or lazy. Now this person was a cop, who was physically on the large side of average. In his world, his statement made perfect sense. He had zero issues if he was caught carrying off-duty, even in an NPE for the most part, because his status as LE would generally cover him. Moreover, he had no problem running a Glock 19 since it “fit” him. What I gently tried to point out to him was that a) not everyone could use LE status to deal with the fallout of getting caught carrying and b) that not everyone was built like him. I told him about a specific person who could run a G19, but it was on the ragged edge of practicality due to the fact that while she was average size, she had short fingers. So doing any manipulation with the Glock was very tough, and doing it under stress put her under a high risk of failure. For her, a better answer, both for concealment and for successful shooting was a gen1 Walther PPS with the mag release mounted along the trigger guard. Her need for that did not change his ability to utilize a different gun and a different carry method, but you would have thought I said that communism was good in his reaction. He insulted this person, as well as me, and refused to consider that his situation was even slightly different.

Another example was a last year I made a post where I stated that for part of my life, ankle carry of a snub was super smart and appropriate. Again, you would have thought I said that guns should be banned based on the level of butthurt. Not once did I say my need was anything more than my personal context and I never advocated ankle carry for anyone else, but people lost their fricking mind. I had people going to the range to film video to “prove” that their method of carry was better than mine even though I never said it wasn’t! I also had people writing to me to tell me that my situation was not what I thought it was even though they knew nothing about my environment. I even had someone tell me that I shouldn’t worry about ankle carry at the office since I work from home. The problem with that statement is that I DON’T WORK FROM HOME! Never have. I work in a regular office outside my home that has visitors and vendors coming by. But someone assumed that they knew my exact life.

Currently, it is popular to either signal that you are for or against getting Covid vaccinations, with sometimes people being virulently angry in their preferred narrative. It is absolutely cool for you to believe a certain thing, but that does not meant everyone should share your thought process. Again, another case in point is that last year when my mother was fighting for her life for four months with surgery after surgery, and stays in multiple hospitals and skilled nursing facilities, I chose to pause doing jiu-jitsu. I decided to err on the side of caution and not possible introduce another disease vector in her already fragile state. If the vaccine was available last year at this time, I damn well would have gotten one, not because I am worried about me, but because I would have wanted to do everything to protect her, even against something that may not have hurt her.

Do I think that people should get vaccines now? It is irrelevant what I think. It is my personal opinion. If you want to get one, cool! If you think they are dangerous “gene therapy” and refuse, cool! But either way, your decisions/actions/belief may not fit anyone else’s. so don’t think yourself superior. Walk a mile in their moccasins, or at the very least try to understand how to walk in their moccasins before condemning anyone else.