Hold on…I’ve been meaning to talk about this for a while.

So I was watching what they call the tellie a few nights ago, and a discussion was on about how much force was permissible when dealing with an intruder. The guys on the panel were the host, one cat that was an ambassador to the US for five years, and another guy that was a burglar that now serves as a “consultant.”
Once a thief, always a thief. Know that.
Anyway, the discussion basically amounted to whether it was okay to brandish a weapon on a person that breaks into your home.
This is where it becomes clear that I’m not in America anymore.
The host broached the possibility of pulling a knife out and attacking the intruder, and he posed that possibility as though it was an outrageous idea to him and his basic sensibilities.
A knife? You bullshittin? A knife?
Yo, I’m from Texas. If break into a house and get shot, your death was legal in North Mexico. In fact, if you get killed for breaking into someone’s house, I’m really not trippin’. Shoulda known better, pimpin.
But this discussion never broached the idea of pulling a pistol out. This is definitely a different culture than America, and it sounds like one that’s far less violent. That’s a good thing.
However, in spite of all my support for gun control, I don’t see how you can’t shoot someone that breaks into your house. I say that for the same rationale that the cat that went on the court at the Palace of Auburn Hills that night had to get beaten up by Artest and O’Neal. No one knew what he had planned, so he had to have the brakes beaten off him. Same rule applies. You run in a house in teh dark, you just might have to die. Folks don’t have time to figure out if that’s a gun in your hand or just the candlesticks you stole out of one of the china cabinet.
But the funniest part…the ambassador said he had been “infected” by his years in the US. That line was classic. Lines like that explain why I get the third degree in the airport when I get to London.
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Also, I went to a corner store to pick a few things up the other day. I haven’t been treated that badly before. Racism, my friends, has no nationality.