the people you meet in business..

[Kaylee]

So as some of you might remember, I was talking patents and development of a couple gun-related accessory trinkets recently. (I like to call 'em "Kaylee's Great DUH" ) Anyhow, the ball's been rolling steadily along, patents filed, manufactuers lined up, incorporation pending, website reserved, yadda yadda yadda....

So I decide to go by the local business mentoring office, where retired business folks go over your plan and help point out things you might have missed. But I quickly discover that Tennessee, nice as it is, is not Idaho.

First guy I talk with, an old advertising exec, is a chore. We start talking, and his grumbling response.....mrmrrmm... handguns bad..... Europe is cool... mmrmmr..... baaaaah.....mrrrmrm... it's not automatic is it??...mrmrm...

Excuses himself, I hear him talking a couple rooms way..."ethical problem" yadda yadda...

Feh. Finally get another guy, an ex-engineer who's still all happy over the day JCPD let him play with their AC556. Things go much better. then. Maybe it's the old "hard science logic" type vs. the "artsy fartsy feels good" type, who knows? Even this guy though at one point I have to remind a little ...

"market analysis if they try and take 'em away? Jeez, if they start trying to take 'em away, market analysis is the last thing on my mind. Not getting hit in the crossfire would take a somewhat higher priority"


Anyhow, just thought I'd share.

-K

 

[HKguy9]

Never confuse 'artsy fartsy' with 'feel good'! Lots of us artsy fartsy gun nuts out here holding the hordes of watered down country artists at bay with our tactical banjos!!

 

[Monkeyleg]

Skunkabilly, you and I and a few other "artsy-fartsy" types are a distinct minority in the "artsy-fartsy" world. Especially when it comes to advertising.

I don't know why, but ad types tend to be borderline socialists, and either solid anti-gunners or just plain hoplophobes. It wasn't this way 20 years ago, when many of the advertising senior people were war vets who enjoyed shooting.

Today, being a gunowner is the equivalent of being a child molester. Except I think the advertising folks sympathize with the child molesters.

Had an Art Director (title capitalized because they think of themselves in such grandiose terms) in my studio some time back. I had an aluminum gun case sitting on a shelf. "What's in it?" she asked. I opened it up to show her the fully-dressed Delta AR15.

"OHMYGOD!" she shrieked. "That's the gun the terrorists use!"

Kaylee, I've just come to expect that I'm going to be shunned in business because my stance on gun rights is pretty upfront. Bring up the subject and I'll respond accordingly. It's cost me a lot of money over the last several years, but I'm sick of being a "closet gun owner." And, chances are, if they don't like my position on guns, it's a pretty safe bet that I won't like them, their politics, or their business practices.

I like living by principles. It just feels right. Unfortunately, you can't eat principles. But you can starve on the inside by not having them.