I had a meaningful dialogue recently. At Kroger, I saw an elderly man sitting on a cart used by handicapped people. I noticed his hat, and I thought the hat had a military service-related insignia on it. I was going to thank him for his service to our country. As I got closer, I saw that it was an NRA logo instead, and I backed away. The man obviously noticed that I had been looking at his hat and that I had backed away.
He asked, "You didn't like me when you saw that?", as he pointed to his hat. I answered, "I wouldn't judge anyone without knowing him." He said, "A lot of people hate the NRA." I asked, "Really? I'm surprised, especially around here." He said, "I hear it from people all the time." I said, "It doesn't mean they hate you; it means they detest what the NRA leaders are doing." Although I was surprised, I was nevertheless pleased to learn that others--especially local people--had expressed to him their dislike of the NRA.
I said, "I thought it was a military insignia on your hat and I was going to thank you for your service." He answered, "Well, I had 31 years in the service." I started to take his hand to shake hands but part of his hand was missing. He offered his other hand to me and I said, "Thank you for your service, sir; you should be wearing a hat showing your service." He said, "They didn't give me a free one!" (That was funny!) I answered, "I'll get one for you."
I don't think it's appropriate to attack a stranger verbally and I understand that polls show that the majority of the members of the NRA disagree with Mr. LaPierre, who is nothing more than a shill for weapons manufacturers. A number of weapons barons are members of the Governing Board of the NRA, and they obviously serve up LaPierre as their whipping boy. Actually, it's very brilliant of them: they must have learned the tactic to lie, hide, and deny from the cigarette producers who were eventually pilloried before Congress.
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