Another funny sheep story. Lady calls cops on me for chopping branches with machete.

Funny story.

But I have lived in town and admit I might have called the cops myself or approached you depending on how you were acting. I don't know if your vehicle was marked or how you presented your self. Usually landscapers use a more precise tool. If it appeared you were vandalizing my neighbors tree I would have called and I would have stayed to tell them what I did or did not see.

Even if her judgement was suspect, depending on what we don't know, If she was my neighbor I would have thanked her.
 
I had a little old lady give me a second look the other day when I was working on my edges with one of my machetes, but then she seemed to relax and went about her business, and no cops ever showed up so I guess all was fine.
 
I think part of the key, too, is not to look too menacing while engaging in the work and be casual about it like it's a totally normal thing to be doing (which it is) and it'll help put others at ease since they'll subconsciously take their social queues from your body language and manner of dress. I try not to wear my "I'm feeling a bit stabbity today" shirt while I'm working with a machete, for instance. :D
 
Quote Originally Posted by FortyTwoBlades View Post
I'm glad I live in the sticks.


Yep....me too!

HARDBALL
 
Had similar experience, I was in the front yard cutting down some large branches on some of the trees in my driveway and my old lady is pulling weeds to the side.So what happened is, I next decided to use my 18" CS latin machete to chop 2 7-8 foot branches down to a manageable size to place in the large yard waste bin for pickup.About 5mins later a patrol car cruises up and down the street and then leaves,Apparently somebody call the cops.While I'm inside my house watching some tv by then and done doing my chores.

For those wondering,I spent about 5 minutes cropping and cleanup took about 3 - 4 minutes,evrything done in my driveway and 15' away from the sidewalk, with the occasional person or car passing by.Most importantly, it was not done in a menacing manner.
 
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The most responsible thing to do is to give all of your neighbors within a two mile radius at least 24 hours notice, borrow and wear a pair of your wife's capri pants (preferably without her knowing), paint your machete pink, cover it with a blanket when removing it from the sheath so no one see it and make the traveling distance of your chops no more than 2" while hiding the activity with your body. As an added benefit, have a Druid priest standing nearby blessing the tree as you kill it.

Or just use an appropriate amount of C4...
 
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We don't have professionals any more ! Did someone call an ambulance for the tree ? Was the tree interviewed ? Was it a machete , or a kukri ,or parang etc ? Were all participants sent for mental evaluation ?
I only had one experience .I was chopping brush along the road with my kukri and a cop stopped ."what are you doing?" Chopping brush ! He didn't see body parts so he drove off ! A cop can never tell ,he may find almost anything.
 
^ When I was clearing my grandmother's lawn of some trees with my Kukri, old men from the area in cars were staring with funny looks and driving by slowly...
 
I think it's really stupid to joke about killing somebody with a knife on a knife forum. Suppose it was a gun she had called about? Would people on a gun forum, joke about how they'd shoot her, for calling the police? It might be a big joke to some, but to a person just on here looking to see how knife lovers act, it might come across as very distasteful.
 
jill jackson said:
I think it's really stupid to joke about killing somebody with a knife on a knife forum. Suppose it was a gun she had called about? Would people on a gun forum, joke about how they'd shoot her, for calling the police? It might be a big joke to some, but to a person just on here looking to see how knife lovers act, it might come across as very distasteful.
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Thanks for your insight
 
I would say the most startling aspect of this whole thing is that a lady called the police in terror because some guy is "brandishing a weapon" and it takes the police 15 minutes to show up. On top of that, just one guy shows up. Protect and serve fail.

Although the dispatcher could have totally known that this lady was bat-shit crazy and just been like "Steve, just make an appearance.."
 
jill jackson said:
I think it's really stupid to joke about killing somebody with a knife on a knife forum. Suppose it was a gun she had called about? Would people on a gun forum, joke about how they'd shoot her, for calling the police? It might be a big joke to some, but to a person just on here looking to see how knife lovers act, it might come across as very distasteful.
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I think it's distasteful to ignore moderator request to DISCUSS THE TOPIC, Instead of the OTHER POSTERS.
Ignoring these requests causes infractions and/or thread closure.
 
This type of story is why I've become pretty cautious about even using my knives in public anymore. I like folders with a 3.5-4 inch blade which are perfectly legal where I live. However, it seems like a knife of even this size tends to freak some people out. Started carrying a Leatherman or slip joint just to use when other people I don't know are around. Never had this problem 20 years ago. Sad.
 
arrowhd said:
This type of story is why I've become pretty cautious about even using my knives in public anymore. I like folders with a 3.5-4 inch blade which are perfectly legal where I live. However, it seems like a knife of even this size tends to freak some people out. Started carrying a Leatherman or slip joint just to use when other people I don't know are around. Never had this problem 20 years ago. Sad.
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Propaganda is much more potent now, you get it on your pocket/palm, tv, computer, surroundings and the list goes on. People are weak minded, they believe it, they then don't know anything better. They've never or have been very rarely, been taught different.
 
Wanimator said:
Propaganda is much more potent now, you get it on your pocket/palm, tv, computer, surroundings and the list goes on. People are weak minded, they believe it, they then don't know anything better. They've never or have been very rarely, been taught different.
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The point I was trying to make in my previous post is that we're being so sensitive to other peoples reactions that we're really hurting ourselves. If people don't see us using our tools in the way they were intended to be used and being used responsibly, of course they're going to overreact. So the cops were called, as long as its legal, what does it matter? The cop reacted appropriately and I'm willing to bet the little old lady was watching the interaction and might be more careful before calling again. Using a certain knife just because you don't want to scare someone is doing nothing to make knives more acceptable.
 
Blade Junky said:
The point I was trying to make in my previous post is that we're being so sensitive to other peoples reactions that we're really hurting ourselves. If people don't see us using our tools in the way they were intended to be used and being used responsibly, of course they're going to overreact. So the cops were called, as long as its legal, what does it matter? The cop reacted appropriately and I'm willing to bet the little old lady was watching the interaction and might be more careful before calling again. Using a certain knife just because you don't want to scare someone is doing nothing to make knives more acceptable.
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I totally agree, also "legality" is relative to people, especially since people can't take away restricting laws but they can make up/behave to new ones for themselves. It's kind of "reverse freedom". Part of it is sensitization from seeing only murders with non kitchen knives. You're right, they need to see knives being used for their real purposes.
 
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