Went to Skyline Chili with the Wife...

[EvilMonk]

...and I was in CC Level 1.

That's a Concealed Carry that is an OWB with one cover garment. I do this a lot in the winter now.

So we sit down and I take off my coat, in that order. I will OC, but I prefer to keep my cards close to the vest. We eat, chat, and get ready to go.

Well, I stand up and go to put on my coat, and notice the eyes of a kid at the next table start to get big as dinner plates. He was looking at my gun.

"Great, he's going to make a scene here," I think to myself. However, I just look him in the eye and smile. I have noticed that the best "cover garment" is your attitude and body language. If you walk around shying away from everyone and acting like your fly is down all day, everyone will pick up on that energy and confront you.

If you walk like it is supposed to be there, and you have every right to do so, and it IS your business to carry a loaded firearm, people will look (sometimes...), but they will rarely say anything at all. Most times people just don't notice what is right in front of them. I have been in a McDonald's with my G21sf OWB, one extra 15-rd mag, and a TOPS Knives "Scorpion's Tail" on my belt in plain view, and NO ONE NOTICED AT ALL.

So anyway, this kid, going against the grain of humanity (probably because he hasn't been told to mind his own business "enough"), noticed my gun.

He didn't say a word, but smiled back. I guess he just figured I was an LEO. I think that this is a frequent assumption, as even my Wife says I look "Imperious" all the time.

Of course, she knows the awful truth about that...

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[BradyM77]

Whoa there....why would you goto Skyline when you could have Gold Star????

[EvilMonk]

Whoa there....why would you goto Skyline when you could have Gold Star????

That was the Domestic General's call. I asked...

[Guns and more]

I love Skyline!
Two cheese coney's and a three way, please.
I do hit Gold Star if I'm changing planes in Cincinnati terminal B.

[MinistrMalic]

Great job Monk. It really is all about your attitude. If you believe that you are doing the right thing and have a good attitude about it rather than a combative one you'll rarely have issues. I don't OC often but have never had a problem when I do; seldom does anyone notice!

[chiefjason]

Attitude is key. Act like you are supposed to be there and folks will think you are supposed to be there. Act like your doing something wrong and they will treat you like that too.

[Sticks]

"Shake your head boy, your eyes are stuck."

[oneshot]

Whoa there....why would you goto Skyline when you could have Gold Star????

That was the Domestic General's call. I asked...

^^^^^Funny stuff^^^^^

You guys LIKE chili??? JK!!



'Because that's all the ammunition we had.'
Polk Co. Fla. Sheriff Grady Judd

[justherenow]

Here in Ohio, most Skyline's are posted as a CPZ, so I avoid at all cost.

[jwhite75]

I have experienced that very thing before. You just have to act like you know what you are doing. I am technically LEO, but go CC 99%. However i do the cover garment thing and take it off in restaurants and such. I keep a high and tight haircut, and am very visually, aware of my surroundings and people. People assume LEO when they see it too.

[Bunny]

You went to Skyline and didn't bring me anything? You just made Santa Bunny's naughty list! :)

[Major G]

"Shake your head boy, your eyes are stuck."

Awesome. The exact thing I was thinking.

[Brian D.]

Here in Ohio, most Skyline's are posted as a CPZ, so I avoid at all cost.

it seems like the further away from Cincinnati a Skyline Chili is (in Ohio) the more likely it is to be posted as a CPZ.

Most of the ones I've been to around Cincy aren't posted. May well be a "company store" versus "franchisee" thing.

Also (best I know) there's ONE Skyline around here with a beer/wine license, at 4th and Sycamore Streets in downtown Cincy, so carry is a no-no there whether the sign is on the door or not. (Sometimes the decal is there sometimes it's gone.)

[Oaklands]

At least you guys have those Chili places. Have to make my own here in TN. Now you got me craving a 3 way from Gold Star.

[Archie]

that adults don't. Kids will keep seeing things until they are taught not to look. (Makes me madder'n heck.)

Long ago as a humble but lovable Border 'Troll, I was working undercover at the fence line as a spotter. I was wearing dirty jeans and a ratty pair of boots and looked pretty - uh - casual. Had my radio in a McDonald's bag twisted up around the aerial. One of the locals even asked me for a hit off my bottle.

A kid about seven years old spotted me. His mother (about 23-25 years old) and he were waiting for someone and she was trying not to notice me, at all. The kid patted her side and said, "Momma, he's a cop! He's got a gun and handcuffs and a walkie talkie in his bag!" (I thought I was doing pretty good; they were under a light jacket and no one else noticed!) She scowled at him and told him to mind his own business.

Since that day I have watched kids and how they react. When I can, I encourage them to keep watching and looking.

I've also found if you talk to kids like they're real people, they are much smarter than most adults think. If a kid spots you, smile and wave.