Posted on 01/23/2017 2:42:57 PM PST by naturalman1975
This young man needs to shop in the Big & Tall stores for underwear. Whether he stopped the carnage or not, he put it all on the line.
A concealed handgun might have come in handy.
L
Swing away Merrill. Merrill... swing away.
+1 FRiend.
I’ve several Pacific Islanders as family and friends. (Military service and after)
No better friend, no worse enemy. The woke ones know bs and what’s important. Think Gurkha.
I’m older than this kid, but Glock 21 would be the difference between us. My son mighta had the Louisville slugger, at the ready. In the US anyways.
Manly action there.
In full appreciation of his heroic actions, I still wonder—frivolously—just how many baseball bats there are in Australia, that he had such ready access to one. Cricket bats, of course... I’m aware there have been a couple of Aussie big leaguers, but still.
Too many men are being encouraged not to do one of the things we do best: Take action.
I preface this to say I have no idea how I will react in a crisis. But I think I know what I hope I will do.
I saw a training film recently on “Code Silver” which in a hospital, is an armed person either committing or threatening to commit assault with a weapon, usually a gun. The training basically tells you to only fight back if you are cornered, can’t escape.
On its face that sounds obvious. But the other part of the training is that if you hear there is an active shooter in some portion of the facility, you evacuate, even if you see the person with the weapon walk by you.
I thought about that, and thought “Could I just run in the opposite direction, and leave my friends and coworkers to their fate? Just to follow the rules and escape?”
Honestly, the thought of it was as foreign to me as a bug flying in my mouth. I was on an Air Force base a while back...a US Military base, where a sign on the bathroom said that was your “Shelter in Place”. I couldn’t get my head around that, on a military base.
I think we would be better off living in a society where the people would fight back against attacking predators of all kind, be they two-legged or four-legged.
There are a lot of people to whom that surely sounds neanderthal and base.
To me, what those people did on Flight 93 was more to my sentiments. I don’t know if I would have the courage or strength that they had, but I would hope if that time comes for me, I can do what I think is the right thing.
Like this young man with the baseball bat. He feels terrible because he didn’t save those people, but in a way, he is fortunate-he knows what kind of guy he is. Some people can go their whole life and never know.
But there was a particular dialog in that movie that really stuck with me:
INT. FAMILY ROOM - MIDNIGHT
(The family room lights are off now. The TV is still on. The SOUND IS MUTED. There are a couple glasses of Bo's water on the television now. The fourteen lights are still hovering on the screen. Morgan is asleep on Graham’s lap. Bo is asleep on Merrill's shoulder. Everyone knows there are aliens out there, they have been watching this unchanging scene for hours.)
MERRILL: (whispers) Some people are probably thinking this is the end of the world.
GRAHAM: (whispers) That's true.
MERRILL: (whispers) Do you think it's a possibility?
GRAHAM: (whispers) Yes.
MERRILL: (whispers) How can you say that?
GRAHAM: (whispers) That wasn't the answer you wanted?
MERRILL: (whispers) Can you at least pretend to be like you used to be? Give me some comfort?
GRAHAM: (whispers)...There are all different ways you can tell that there's someone really there watching out for us. You see signs. Sometimes they're little ones. You think of someone. The phone rings. They're on the phone... Sometimes they're big, like fourteen lights hovering over Mexico City. Sure, there are a lot of people watching this who think this could be a bad thing. But there are a lot of people watching this, who think it's a miracle. A sign of God's existence. It's all in how you look at things Merrill. What you have to decide is what kind of person you are? Are you the type who believes in miracles and looks for signs or are you the kind who believes, things just happen by chance?
MERRILL: I was at this party once. I'm on a couch with Sara Mckinney. She was just sitting there, looking beautiful and staring at me. I go to lean in and kiss her and I realize I have gum in my mouth. I turn and take out the gum. Stuff it in my paper cup next to the sofa and turn around. Sara Mckinney throws up all over herself. I knew the second it happened. It was a miracle. I could have been kissing her when she threw up. That would have scarred me for life. I may never have recovered.
MERRILL: I'm a miracle man. Those lights are a miracle.
GRAHAM: (smiles, whispers) There you go.
MERRILL: (whispers) So which type are you?
GRAHAM: (whispers) Do you feel comforted?
MERRILL: (whispers) Yes.
GRAHAM: (whispers) What does it matter then?
(Long pause here)
GRAHAM: (whispers) Do you know what Colleen's last words were before they killed her?
GRAHAM: (whispers) She said, "See", and then her eyes glazed a bit and she said... "Tell Merrill to swing away
GRAHAM: (whispers) Do you know why she said that?
MERRILL: "No."
GRAHAM: (whispers) Because the nerve endings in her brain were firing as she died, and some random memory of us at one of your baseball games popped into her head.
GRAHAM: There is no one watching out for us, Merrill. We're all on our own.
There are baseball bats everywhere on earth. It is a great self-defense weapon and can serve a variety of purposes.
LOL, I have one in my garage right now near my back door with the end chewed smoothly off at an angle. For a critter of either the two or four legged variety. I used it to push branches into a chipper-shredder, which was quite happy to eat the bat along with the branches...if it could get it.
I agree with all you said. The thing about Flight 93 was they all knew they were doomed, they had heard about the other planes being flown into the WTC and put two and two together. In their moment of greatest dread, they acted and their act was to preserve the lives of others, not their own. Heroes.
Baseball certainly is less popular than cricket here, but it’s got a decent following especially among kids - Australia now has the largest Little League of any country outside North America.
It’s still not that popular as a spectator sport among adults, but as a sport kids play, it’s really taken off over the last decade or so. It has certain attractions as a kids sport including shorter games and need for a smaller playing field than cricket.
Yes. Those were Americans.
More than Japan, Taiwan, or South Korea? I'm surprised.
Thanks for the info.
Where were the POLICE!!!
The location in Front of Flinders St Station & opposite Federation Square is one of the busiest spots in Mellies.
Usually lots of police evident and often needed.
So you would have shot a person for doing donuts in an intersection? Enjoy your well-deserved prison sentence.
Nobody knew he was going to race into the crowd until he did it. Allowing foolish people to execute others, on the presumption that they know what another idiot is about to do, is truly an epic scale of stupidity.
Yes, poignant dialog, with some rather chilling parallels indeed.
The police were there and were watching, but as - at that point - the man had not hurt anybody during his driving (although he had stabbed people the previous night) the police were told to take a “hands off” approach by senior command.
If they’d shot him the media would have had a field day about police brutality.
If they’d tried to intercept him during a car chase earlier, and an accident had occurred, the media would have torn them apart for that as well.
Hopefully these events will lead to a reassessment of these things, but with the way the anti-police elements in this state have complained about deaths in car chases, and police shootings, I’m not surprised that police command held back.
He sounds like a young man who’s parents should be very proud.
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