Odd Sheeple Reaction

I have had other liberal oriented people come up to me and say, "instead of using a knife, here take these sissors, it will be easier and much safer to use than a knife." Then they say things like, Huh? What's that on your belt? Why do you carry a weapon? That folding knife is a dangerous weapon!!!! You shouldn't make knives!! You are a knifemaker?!! You are a blood thirsty satanic murderer you knifemaker. Why don't you choose another hobby!?!

I have heard so many, and many more. What is with these sheeple people anyways? Don't they have anykind of life, and why do they want to push their sets of values on to others all the time? Actually, its not push, its shove and legislate.:mad:
 
Around here, the most common sheeple reaction is... the minute you pull out your knife, 5 other sheeple whip out a bigger one that they feel is better suited to the job at hand, and will also tell you why. Then you spend a few minutes comparing knives.

Perks of living in the South I guess.
 
redhawk44p said:
They say ignorance is bliss so I just smile and leave them in that state.
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Yes, but turning a blind eye could harm us. How do we communicate to sheeple that our knife is a tool, not a weapon that we will use to do them harm as they suspect? I have had close friends that grew up in the country comment on my "tactical" looking knives and ask why I needed such a knife, as they are carrying a large trapper, or other older style knife. Most people are okay with traditional styles, SAKs etc. Once you get out your Skirmish, Military, 710, Heaven forbid a Strider, people go nuts. I once used an Endura on a local hiking trail to open something, and inadvertently scared the crap out of another hiker. Why? Hell, I wouldn't even be able to catch them.
 
As far as the weapon vs. tool aspect, plenty of knife enthusiasts and manufacturers go pretty heavy on the weapon aspect.
 
Your niece being 'into' everything Japanese...
I wonder if she's considered what it would have been like for a Samurai to carry dull swords?
 
Partly she's right,knives are an aesthetic wonder of mans'skill and igenuity.(look at chimp tools they're not much cop!) But knives as the Japanesse know are objects of reverence too,if you don't look after them-keeping them clean,sharp etc you are insulting them! Might as well hurl them all in some toolbox to get battered and wrecked. A man's life could be his knife.........Keep your knives bright and your mind brighter
 
How about this for an answer (I admit yours was good one):

It is much more cruel to use a DULL knife......

TLM
 
Dog Man said:
Like many here, I associate with, and work with, many who we affectionately refer to as sheeple.
And I get all the typical sheeple questions.
"Why do you carry that huge weapon?" (this is asked at work, of my Boker Subcom folder!)
"Why do you own all those knives?"
"Why do you own all those guns?"
"Why do you carry firarms?"

Yesterday, my 19 year old neice, a left wing liberal raised by her left wing liberal mother, my baby sister, was visiting from college. She was admiring my knife collection, and she truly appeciated it for two reasons: she's very artistic, and appreciates the aesthetic aspects, and she's "into" every Japanese, so she's knows the importance of knives and swords in Japanese culture.

Then, she asked me a question I had never been asked before. "Why do you keep all your knives so sharp?"

My brilliant, well thought out response, was "Huh?"

She continued, "I mean, you could collect knives that weren't sharp. Why do you want them sharp?"

My neice is, like her mother the federal prosecutor, fond of starting arguments for argument's sake. But I don't argue with 19 year old college students because they know everything already and won't understand that they don't for a few more years.

So I told her, "I don't collect objects that look like knives, nor collect things that look like guns. Functionality is one of the aesthetic aspects that attracts me to guns and knives, and a knife that doesn't cut isn't a knife, and a gun that doesn't fire isn't a gun."

It was a unique question for me. I thought I had heard all the sheeple reactions. I was wrong.
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So, what was her response to your answer?
 
A dull knife has a name, it's called a wedge.

Every time I pull out my pocket knife and use it at work, this one lady goes, "Wow, sharp knife." I mean, what do you say to something like that? It's like saying, "Wow you're belt holds your pants up.":confused:
 
cdf said:
With the advent of really tuff clambshell packages , its a wonder knives havent made a comeback . How do sheeple cope with those things ?

Chris
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With a lot of cursing, teeth, scizzors, nails, screwdrivers, and in the end they ask "can I use your knife please?".:yawn: :D
 
Jos said:
With a lot of cursing, teeth, scizzors, nails, screwdrivers, and in the end they ask "can I use your knife please?".:yawn: :D
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Thats when you say.. umm sorry no its a weapon not a tool, right? ;)
At that point I open the package myself, frustrated people with dull implements tend to overreact and cut themselves when switching to a razor sharp knife.
David
 
What an interesting thread.

What a great question she asked! Unknowingly, I'm sure, she presented a challenge. Were you to handle it differently and react with sarcasm or disdain, you would have proved her preconception of the extremist. Were you to avoid the question, you would have proved her superior intellect. If you became defensive, you would have also proved her superior intellect and composure.

You answered the question in a way that proved nothing, insinuated nothing, nor took sides to any issue. Were you to take up the challenge and embark on a moral or ethical discussion, you would have proved her unsaid point. Just engaging in such a discussion proves her point, as it shows that you have something to prove or defend. You did not, you simply answered the question.

You handled it with tact and grace. It takes two to tango. You politely passed on the dance.

I hope my kids ask the hard questions!!

All in all a very interesting thread. As with all things, I try to keep a light heart about it all.
 
delrio said:
What an interesting thread.

What a great question she asked! Unknowingly, I'm sure, she presented a challenge. Were you to handle it differently and react with sarcasm or disdain, you would have proved her preconception of the extremist. Were you to avoid the question, you would have proved her superior intellect. If you became defensive, you would have also proved her superior intellect and composure.

You answered the question in a way that proved nothing, insinuated nothing, nor took sides to any issue. Were you to take up the challenge and embark on a moral or ethical discussion, you would have proved her unsaid point. Just engaging in such a discussion proves her point, as it shows that you have something to prove or defend. You did not, you simply answered the question.

You handled it with tact and grace. It takes two to tango. You politely passed on the dance.
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As I get older, I find myself less and less willing "to tango". With persons of different religious, ethnic, moral, political. philosophical, sexual, beliefs, I now usually conclude, as long as they're not trying to blow up my car, it's all good.
 
Dog Man said:
As I get older, I find myself less and less willing "to tango". With persons of different religious, ethnic, moral, political. philosophical, sexual, beliefs, I now usually conclude, as long as they're not trying to blow up my car, it's all good.
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LOL!!!! Amen brother...
 
Dog Man said:
As I get older, I find myself less and less willing "to tango". With persons of different religious, ethnic, moral, political. philosophical, sexual, beliefs, I now usually conclude, as long as they're not trying to blow up my car, it's all good.
Click to expand...

Everybody has a different opinion on everything. I agree with you.
 
Simply ask them if they would be comfortable wearing a watch that couldn't tell time or carrying a pen with no ink.
 
I work at a university and the other day the photo-copier was playing up, again. No I did not bayonet it with some massive fixed-blade although.....A research assistant trots by and helps me out with the prob, she then decides it would be a good idea to recharge the whole machine with paper.Back she totters with a mound of heavy boxes all covered in rhino-like plastic and taped together with some kind of nylon straps. Can't open them by hand although she tries, returns with scissors and a friendly smile. They don't do much apart from give her a small cut! I take out my Mcusta folder and slice open 3 cartons in as many seconds.Gone however is the friendly smile and flirtatious chatter, she's as white as the Mcusta's handle by now and in some kind of slow motion rabies fit.."Oh god why do you walk around with THAT all day ? you must be disturbed" She backs away with a hypnotized look,this is somebody I once taught and have known for some years. No doubt she's itching to run off and gossip with all her mates about knife wielding nutters. Moral here is, people don't DESERVE the help your knife can give them. Horrible eh?
 
Are you sure your niece was asking a confrontational/argumentative question? Or the one you think she was asking you?

It seems like a pretty beautiful question to me (or maybe I'm just reading into it).

Look at it this way: if she's into art, she's used to museums. That's the context that collecting makes sense to her. When you collect in a museum, you *don't sharpen*, because you're presumably trying to preserve with minimal alteration. No curators going to take an ancient Aztec knife and sharpen it regularly, and, you know, use it. Museum collection is for preservation.

She didn't ask you why the knife you carried was sharp - it sounded like she was asking why *all* your knives are sharp. Which is actually a pretty hard question. I mean, from the persective of a non-collector, non knife-*lover*, I can see a thought like this: "It makes sense to have a few sharp knives that you're going to use. But this is way more than you can use - so maybe he's got his own little museum. That makes sense. But why is he sharpening all of them, then?"

Put that way - it's not a question about you'd want a knife at all. It's a question about you have *so many* knives, more than you need, that you're all treating and taking care of as ready to use - but definitely more than you need for sheer utility.

It's a tougher question about the impulse to have so many of these things, more than we strictly need if they're just tools. It's sort of a question about why we collet the way we do, why we love these things.

I don't know. Maybe I'm reading too much into it. But I teach - college kids, philosophy. This doesn't feel like a dumb question. (But I wasn't there, didn't hear voice tone.) The dumb question are the familiar ones. This feels like she's reaching for something deeper. (Among philosophy teachers, a non-dumb question - a really great question - from a student is a treasure. We hang out and pass them around. This feels like a great question.)

Or I could be full of crap.

-thi
 
Especially since she was positive about the knives.

It doesn't feel like a dumb challenging question. It feels like she was thinking about something complicated and lead to an odd place - trying to make sense maybe of the collecting impulse maybe.

I mean, it's a good question. Why do we have *so many* sharp knives? I can imagine her thinking: "well, they're so pretty, and maybe they're just decoration. But then why is he keeping them sharp?"

My impulse when I hear a question like that is to try to interpret is as something else, because questions about my obessive need to collect and cherish makes me... a little uncomfortable.

I'm talking as a guy with, besides these knives, has 8 Japanese chef's knives and a number of guitars that's over 10. Yes I love them all. Yes I use them all in rotation. Could I get by with one guitar and one chef's knife and one 3" folder? Also, yes.

-thi
 
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