I've had my share of bad knife experiences, but I've never been arrested or accused of terrorism, which is a good thing.
I lost my beloved first Spyderco Delica because it fell out of my pocket at a show and the bouncer wouldn't let me have it back (probably because he liked it).. he said, "Well, you can have your _keys_ back.."
I was once trying to show this cute guy one of my knives because I thought he'd like it, he freaked out and started accusing me of trying to kill him. So I didn't talk to him much after that. Kind of embarrassing..
When I lived in the U.K., I'd just moved into a new flat and was sick as a dog, sitting in the kitchen I was sharing with 7 other people. One of the guys came in and asked if anyone had a knife, I wasn't really paying attention and automatically flipped out my trusty Endura. He jumped about three feet into the air and yelled something naughty. Turns out he was asking for a butter knife and I'd just scared the bejeezus out of him. We're good friends now and laugh about how we first met, but it was an interesting experience.
I do run into problems with people who have no respect for my pretty knives. I have a friend whose first impulse upon seeing a brand new sebenza was to try and stab it into a pickle jar. I mean, I didn't go over to his house, ask to play with his nice new rifle, and use it to hammer stuff into the walls with, did I?
As one of the token double-X chromos here I'd like to comment about the whole "chicks and knives" thing.
Yes, it's ironic that many women who consider themselves to be "independent" or "feminist" still think it's okay to rely on men to have proper tools around. Knives are portrayed by the image industry to be the territory of militia nuts, hoodlums, and bad girls. However, once you point out that their hoplophobia is actually a form of willful helplessness, they usually make an effort to get over their anxiety. It really rankles independent women when you associate a fear of tools with the kind of chicks who seem to be physically incapable of opening their own car doors, or carrying their own bags on holiday..
I'm usually able to convince my friends that knives are neat, useful things to have on one's person at all times. This is because I am a sneaky, pushy little SOB.
I tend to give people knives as presents to start them off, since that's how I got started as a kid (thank goodness for older brothers!). I drag my friends to knife stores and knife shows with me and point stuff out, saying, "Look, isn't that neat?" "Hey, that would go perfectly on your keyring!" I encourage people to use and play with my knives, pointing out features like, "look, you can switch the clip over so that you can use it left-handed" (to a left-handed friend) or, "see, it has this great scissors here, and you can use the little screwdriver for your glasses" (to my mother) or "look, you can take it apart like so" (to my gadget-head friends). Whatever it takes to make them shift gears and see a knife for its utility/aesthetic value, rather than its ability to eviscerate them in the hands of a stereotypical over-Vitalis-ed 50's thug..
I try not to write friends off as being "sheeple" that need to be scared into compliance. As funny as it is when people freak out over little things like one-handed openings, it also demonstrates that there are some major problems with the knife industry's image. People need to be shown the light, as it were. But you have to figure out what angle to play..
OK, gettin' off my damned crate now.
