Ecuperating - Chapter 23

Jayne met Brett at the agreed upon placethe escalator to the second floor in the Excalibur. Jayne had won about $500 in the poker game in the afternoon, and was in a pretty good mood. Brett had made reservations at Sir Galahad’s steakhouse for seven so they didn’t have to wait for a table.

“What’s good?” Brett asked Jayne when the waiter came to their table.

“This is your town. I’ll defer to you.”

“I always have their Reef and Beef when I come here.”

Jayne pointed out. “I start with a nice wine and the house salad.”

“Sounds good to me,”

Brett closed the menu. He didn’t look at the price, she noticed with approval. Either he really is on an expense account or just didn’t care about the cost. This little soire will set him back about $200, she figured. Not cheap. The Zinfandel was fine and the salad was great as usual. Jayne didn’t like the traditional wines anyway.

She always thought they left a bad aftertaste, especially the dry ones. The cheap Zinfandel suited her taste. Some small talk took them to the main course of a small Filet and Lobster tail. They didn’t get ridiculous and put a strip of bacon around the Filet here. It came medium rare, just exactly as she liked it.

The waiter took the tail out of the shell and lit the butter dish for them. The next few moments were spent enjoying the main course. Jayne was curious as to Brett’s background. She asked him several questions about himself but he sidestepped all of them by turning them around.

“I’m interviewing you, not the other way around,” he laughed.

She couldn’t get a thing out of him. Most men wanted to brag about themselves or at least tell about their early life. Not so with Brett. His accent was familiar, but she couldn’t quite place it. She wondered how she could trap him into talking more about himself and his family. They retired to the bar after dinner to continue the interview.

“The last I recall, we were talking about religion, or the lack thereof!” Jayne said as the bartender brought their drinks.

“Where do we go from there?”

“Anywhere you wish,” Brett said.

“How about gays? What do you think of gays?”

“I have no problem with whatever people want to do concerning sex,” Jayne said thoughtfully.

“I do take exception when they want to do it right in my face, however. And the thought of them wanting to get married is hilarious! Allowing them to raise kids makes me shudder some, and the thought that the taxpayer might have to foot the bill for their little family spats make me angry.

“While I have no trouble with whatever these people want to do in the privacy of their own residence, I do get upset when they try to pass it off as somehow being ‘normal’. If some guy wants to stick his dick in another man’s ass and that man agrees with it, then have at it.

But. ‘normal’? Hardly! About as normal as joining the dogs on the front lawn. Legally legitimizing such a union will open the door to other varieties of sexual behavior. There would be no reason to not legitimize the union of a man with more than one wife or more than one husband if there is agreement with all parties.

“The thought of a gay being a Boy Scout leader is as bad as a man being a Girl Scout leader. It should not even be considered. It has been my experience that people of this persuasion tend to place themselves in positions to act on that persuasion. Not all of them, but a good number. It’s too bad, but let’s not get ridiculous here.”

“That makes a lot of sense,” Brett said. “Shall we move on? Here’s a hot issue! What is your take on gun control?”

Jayne sat back in her chair, took a sip from her drink and sighed.

“This is the only issue I can remember where my husband and I disagreed. As you know, he was a cop in the city of Warwick, Rhode Island, and, like most cops he is for gun control. Hell, I found most cops were for more control, period. The more laws we had, the more they liked it. I doubt that has changed much. Law enforcement officers wouldn’t be needed if there weren’t any laws. To me, the less laws, the better.

We are born with a handful of rights clutched in our hot little hands. Every time a law is passed, another of those rights bites the dust.

“Reading about gun control gives one the feeling that guns are evil. That it is the gun and not the person who is at fault in a crime involving a gun. The other thing I read about those gun control people is that they believe the second amendment means that guns are to be reserved for the state and federal government, not the people.

“I have a problem with that thinking. It seems to me the Constitution needed some amendments, so they came up with the Bill of Rights; ten amendments that would guarantee individual rights. They found we needed an amendment, the first, guaranteeing the right of free speech. The third gave the people the right to not be forced to quarter soldiers in their homes. The fourth protected the individual from unlawful search and seizure.

The fifth stated the government cannot seize your property without due process. The sixth guaranteed the right to a speedy trial. The seventh gave the individual the right to a jury trial. The eighth protected you from cruel and unusual punishment. The ninth stated that these are not the only rights you have and these amendments do not preclude other rights the individual has.

The tenth amendment is the only one that mentions states rights. It states that the only rights the Federal Government has are enumerated in the constitution and all other rights are reserved for the states OR the people.

“The second amendment is the one that guarantees your right to bear arms. There are those, mostly in the Democratic Party, who make the statement that the amendment does not give the individual the right to bear arms, but reserves that right to the state. How come ALL of the other 9 amendments are guaranteeing individual rights EXCEPT this one?

I think not.

None of it makes any sense at all if you accept that argument. In that case, why not reserve all of the others for the states too, and deny the individuals those rights. You cannot have it both ways.

“Last month, in one of the Chicago papers, there was a story about a woman in the government of Chicago who hired a bodyguard who carried a gun. She was a Democrat who wanted gun control. When this was pointed out to her, she claimed she was too important to be walking around Chicago without protection.

I wonder what made her more important than any other person who desired the same protection?

“The same is true of our elitist group of actors. They also campaign for gun control, yet all of them, at one time or another will admit to having hired armed bodyguards. Again, you can’t have it both ways.

“Jayne laughed.

“What are you laughing at?” Brett asked.

“I’m reminded of a joke that was going around in Upper Michigan, where I live. It seems there was a proposed road race from one end to the other, a distance of about 400 miles. One must have a little background here. People who live there are referred to as ‘Yoopers’, and are considered to be rednecks comparable to their kin in Georgia.

They have a hunting tradition there. In fact, the last two weeks of November are sometimes considered holidays because it is the deer hunting season there. Many schools will close for several days. Anyway, the joke goes like this: The proposed race was from Ironwood at the west end to Sault St. Marie in the east. It seems each car would have a large sign attached to the back end saying ‘I am gay and I’m going to take away your guns!’ The winner would be the one who reached Sault St. Marie alive.”

Brett laughed.

“I heard about that race!”

“Soooo. My feelings about gun controlI don’t think it’s worth the paper it’s written on. One would think the United States is the most violent country in the world. Yet a person is six times as apt to be a victim of a violent crime in England as here. The same is true of Australia. Both of these countries have gun control.

All guns are illegal. Yet second story crimes run rampant in both countries. The people have nothing to protect themselves with. There is no danger to the criminal during the commitment of the crime.

“Millions of crimes are stopped in this country because the victim is armed or is protected by someone who is armed. You won’t see those statistics stated anywhere. The reason is it is not political to do so. The liberal press will never admit these figures exist.

“I own several guns. And I’m well trained in using them all. Three pistols from my husband and I have two shotguns for small game hunting. I own two pistols here also. I keep them handy. A woman living alone should be able to take care of herself, and I’m not really into pepper spray. I don’t want to just get a robber sick; I want to kill the bastard.”

“Vicious, aren’t ya?” Brett laughed. “That’s exactly how I feel too. If someone is breaking into your house, he isn’t doing it for your benefit. Leaving the people without protection would be stupid, to say the least. Do we have time for any more?”

Jayne checked her watch. “I don’t think so. It’s getting late. And I’m an early riser. How about lunch tomorrow?” “Okay,” Brett agreed.

“Where? Here?”

“As good as any. I’ll meet you at the Sherwood Forest Caf at noon. Okay?”

Jayne was somewhat upset as she drove home. He’s putting me on somehow! I know now where that accent came from! The guy is a Yooper!

When he said he’d heard that joke before, he gave himself away. I wonder why? I’ll have to get hold of Carl tomorrow to see if he can find out who this guy is.