This is a discussion on Apparently I Scare People within the Off Topic & Humor Discussion forums, part of the The Back Porch category; I’m currently taking a Marketing class (“Creative Problem Solving for Marketing Decisions”), on my road to an MBA. It is one of those hyper-creativity- “thinking ...
I’m currently taking a Marketing class (“Creative Problem Solving for Marketing Decisions”), on my road to an MBA. It is one of those hyper-creativity- “thinking outside the box”, type of classes. One short assignment was to find an object that signifies your creativity (actually, the object was suppose to “find you” ) and “explain why/how it represents your creativity.”
The object that "found me" was an AK-47 rifle. I won’t bore you with the details of what I wrote, but it was generally well received. That is except for one woman in the class who told me that I scare her.
Over the last eighteen years I have had a lot of teachers tell me I "scare them". Especially when I was teaching at the middle school level where its all warm and fuzzy "koom-by-AH" stuff. I had a teacher in the lunchroom ask me if I were a member of a state "militia" and I knew she wasn't referring to the FL national Guard! I told her no...but not because I disavow what they stand fo...I don't belong to that kind of group because there is very little if anything they can teach me! That sent the room scampering away. That was kewl with me, no line for the microwave.
My wife says I am scary/intimidating!! Supposedly visitors, kids in particular say as much
Ahh but that's a GOOD thing. Especially if you have a daughter (as I do) who is entering the dating scene. I scared the crap outta all her dates for four years. She is a looker, too. Think Brittney Spears but sweet and nice, instead of Hollywood trashy. I am pretty sure it saved her from a very unpleasant date-rape scenario from some of the things she admitted to me after she got married a few years ago.
Ok, since a couple for you asked for it, here’s the boring details about what I wrote. We had to post online, with the insructionsns, “Identify, describe and discuss your "found" object. Explain why/how it represents your creativity. Limit 1-2 paragraphs.” In other words, we had to find an object that represented our personal creativity and tell why.
Here’s what I wrote…
Originally Posted by JT
While indulging in one of my favorite TV viewing habits of watching military/war documentaries, my creative object finally found me. It would be the AK-47 rifle (Avtomat Kalashnikova Obrazets 1947). The AK was the Soviet’s standard issue infantry rifle. It was developed during a time in which most countries were building high tech weapons that were finely machined and built to strict tolerances. The designer of the AK, Mikhail Kalashnikov, took a difference approach. He built a rifle with very loose tolerances. This made the rifle less inherently accurate than other rifles, but much more reliable. The AK can have powder fouling, rust, and even mud in the action, but will keep shooting because of the looser tolerances. Kalashnikov’s thinking was the most important thing for your average soldier, was for his rifle to fire every time the trigger was pulled. He designed a weapon that would do this under the worst battlefield conditions, while still giving acceptable accuracy for its stated mission. Contrast this with the United State’s M16 rifle, which has exceptional accuracy, but has suffered with reliability problems throughout its history. Even after 40 years of improvements, we are seeing reliability problems in our present war, such as sand in the action preventing it from functioning reliably.
So how does the AK-47 represent my creativity? Most of my creativity comes at work in my role as a programmer. Programmers always like the newest and best technology. The problem is, the newest and greatest technology is not always the best for the stated mission (or project). I learned over time to put the project first, above my desire to use the newest technology. Sometimes older technology is more reliable. Sometimes development time is shorter using older technology. Sometimes it just makes more sense budget wise. So my focus shifted from viewing a project as an excuse to try out the latest technology, to actually putting the project first. Sometimes this means using the latest technology, but often it means using older technology to deliver the project on time and within budget. I focus on finding creative ways to use the best tool for the mission.
Here’s what the women I scared wrote back…
Originally Posted by Scared Woman
Wow! I am scared of you. I do not have that much experience with rifles.
Here’s some positive feedback I got…
Originally Posted by Otto
Very well said. As a veteran I can tell you that your observation regarding the differences AK-47 and the M16 rifle are very accurate. The main problem with the M16 rifle is that its parts are entirely machine-constructed and millimetrically exact to fit perfectly without any looseness; this improves the accuracy of the weapon but hinders its performance because it has a tendency to jam during battlefield operations where they are exposed to dirt, sand and other elements (i.e. extreme heat) that tend to jam the weapon.
I also agree with your philosophy regarding mission accomplishment (I am also in the IT field) since we must consider first what does it take to get the job done, not just to go ahead and obtain the "latest and greatest" which at the end of the project might not end up being "the greatest". Some of the older technologies are still very much capable of accomplishing some of the present tasks we deal with on a daily basis; therefore I don't see the need to spend money on unnecessary software and/or additional equipment that someone might regard as necessary for the task at hand.
Creativity is enhanced by necessity. Whenever we have everything we need handed to us with little or no effort, creativity is hindered.
And…
Originally Posted by Wendi
My husband would love this.....he actually got grandfathered in when they banned that gun (because he already owned one) and it is his favorite one of the collection.
Notice I never even admitted to owning one, and I still scared her. I said, “While indulging in one of my favorite TV viewing habits of watching military/war documentaries, my creative object finally found me. It would be the AK-47 rifle”
What if I had said…
“While admiring my collection of firearms in my gun safe, my creative object found me. It would be my VEPR, which is a semi-automatic version of the AK-47”
"It was right next to the AR15 in the M4 style configuration. I'd recently mounted an Aimpoint to it, but I hadn't taken it out to zero it in and cowitness it to the BUIS yet. Then of course there was the Uzi, but they're so cliche now. I decided to pass over all of them and talk about my custom rifle built on an old Mauser 98 action..."
Although, I might have frightened the professor with that one.
Usually I try not to say too much in these classes that could jeopardize my grade. Even though it is a conservative university, you never know which way the professor leans. However, one time I felt pretty comfortable in taking on someone bad mouthing the war effort. Since the professor was a 20 year Army Chaplain, who had returned from Iraq within the last year, I felt pretty comfortable taking on the war protestor without jeopardizing my grade.
BTW – That class was “Leadership in Management”, so it was pretty cool to have the course taught by an Army Chaplain.
Fear, unfortunetly, is in how you look. Most people will not even take the time to get to know you if you 'look' intimidating or mean. Case in point: I am bald, have a gottee, tattoo'd, and big (5'9" 235). I constantly get comments. My wife manages a beauty salon and sometimes I will stop by to drop off lunch for her, or just to say hello. Every one of her co-workers has told her I scare them. I have left her office and her clients will say, "Your husband is scary!"
I used to work at the local community center and I started a pee-wee sports class for kids too little to play organized sports. The class gave them a different sports skill each week to work on. Many of the parents commented to my boss that they were surprised how good I was with the children. I guess when you have that ex-con look, people assume you are #1-ignorant and #2-violent, and #3-bad with kids. The funny part was, the kids would run into the gym and hug on my legs. The one kid told his mom he wanted to be just like "Mr. Rick!"
My appearance fits my current position much better.
"Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. For when you look long into the abyss, the abyss also looks into you."
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, you're a little scary man 
Originally Posted by P95Carry
Scare the visiting kids? Good!
Greatness.
I get it too
