Trego's Mountain Ear

I was pushing the cart through Walmart’s baking aisle when I was jostled, something hard hitting me below my left hip.  It got my attention – the jostler was a fat lady, probably under 30, heavily tattooed arms, and a mouth and nostrils surrounded by piercings capped in pink plastic.  The hard object was a Smith and Wesson snub holstered on her right side.  I can’t say her right hip – she was too heavy for hips.  Frankly, I wish I had a photograph to insert here – but I don’t.

My wife didn’t notice her.  Obviously she was looking for baking products more than observing her fellow Walmartians – and while I think my situational awareness beats Renata’s, there was a bit of observational enhancement when I was jostled by the gun butt. 

Now I don’t have a problem with open carry – or concealed carry either.  Still, one of my thoughts has always been to look normal when carrying.  A faceful of piercings tends to draw attention – on the other hand, it draws attention to the face, not the (unidentifiable) hip.  The tattooed arm, on the other hand (so to speak) had a vine motif that drew my eyes down – to see the little Smith in the fabric holster. 

My reaction was like driving with a tailgater – once she had jostled me with the Smith, and I observed her, I slowed to let her get well ahead of me, into a different aisle, as I thought about open carry in a crowded environment.  It didn’t look like a retention holster – and if she was careless enough to bump the grip into me, I probably wasn’t the only one she jostled. 

Concealed – like under a jacket – all I would have noticed would have been a bunch of pink plastic piercings, suggesting a slightly different esthetic taste than my own.  Carrying in a cheap holster, that pushes the grips away from the body, incorporates the whole into a gestalt – the lady would have been off to side of normal, even if the revolver wasn’t there.  Fortunately, Kalispell is a lot more accustomed to carrying while weird than other cities I have enjoyed.

I just don’t understand open carry of a sidearm that is small enough to be easily concealed.  When I had a carry permit, I alternated between a pocket holster and a standard Bianchi that could be covered by an untucked shirt.  On the other hand, it’s probably harder for a fat lady to carry concealed.