You can't always judge a man by his knife

C

Carolinabuck

Joined
Oct 27, 2017
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28
WARNING: EXTREMELYLONG POST!

Growing up i had so many knives it wasn't funny! I had cheap beaters and name brand ones. After high school I went to play baseball out west. Imagine a cocky 18 year old who was living the dream. I was being flown in private jets and hanging out with celebrities. If I wanted a knife, I'd buy it price be danged. I met a beautiful Midwestern girl, and had the world at my fingertips. Then I got slapped back to reality, I wasn't Ty Cobb, and my antics weren't going to be tolerated.

I ended up broke in Texas with a baby on the way and crushed dreams. I ended up selling all the nice things I'd accumulated and working on ranches and construction sites, anything I could find. I went from custom blades to gas station specials!

I finally earned and saved enough jingle to get back to Carolina where I had a decent job waiting. We had a beautiful baby girl and went from a raggedy mobile home with the floors falling in to a nice home in a nice neighborhood. I was back into knives and living fat, dumb, and happy with a second little girl on the way. But as it does...
I have fond memories of 2009, being laid off work with a 8 year old and one less than a year old, living unemployment check to check, and scratching any dime I could. But my best friend and had an addiction....KNIVES!! How did we scratch that itch?? This glorious wonderland of a flea market where Chinese imported knives could be bought for $3-$6! Tables full of pocket jewelry we could spend hours coon fingering and giggling over! Knives we could beat to hell and use in all our adventures! Then it happened, we both went back to work! During my layoff I went back to school and landed a job making twice what I had before. Those cheap Chinese imports weren't good enough for me so I threw my nose in the air and strutted past them on my way to the real knives, CASE!! I'm a by-God American! I have money!! To heck with the garbage!! Well fast forward a few years and you see me alone and broke, recently divorced and spending every extra dime fighting to see my kids. I had put away or sold most of my good knives and was carrying another import. One day a young beautiful 19 year old Russian girl started a conversation with me. I explained i was 34,divorced and broke! She drove a brand new Lexus, and my truck was so raggedy that I'd as soon rode a mule! She was into malls and shopping, whereas I was catching fish just to eat. She wanted to hangout one Saturday and I figured she wouldn't like the river-rat experience, so I took her to the flea market where hopefully I could afford anything that might catch her eye. As we walked around with me puffed up like a main sail, and hoping all my buddies saw me with this beautiful girl, my eyes fell on a stag handled case trapper! This thing had the most beautiful stag,and shined like a new penny! I was standing there staring at it when I saw the price tag! I could either eat, have a roof over my head with lights and water, or I could have this knife. As I turned to walk away she asked "why don't you get it?", and I had to swallow a lump and admit I had more important responsibilities, and my Chinese knife would suffice. I honestly expected this 19 year old girl to call me a loser and walk off leaving me shamed. What she actually did was turn and hand the guy $135 for the knife and then shove it in my hands and kiss me!

She explained how her family immigrated here in the 90s, with her brother being born in Russia, but her and her two older sisters were born in Washington state. Her father died when she was four, and her mother scratched a living in the land of opportunity while not speaking enough English to order a big mac from McDonald's. She said everyone has the chance, it's what you do with it that counts.

Fast forward to today, and that young beautiful lady is my wife of 5 years. She has stuck by me through every up and down imaginable.

My best friend was snatched away from me 2 years ago in a tragic accident. The guy who sold her the case passed in 2020. That stag case trapper has some miles on it now, but you'll play hell getting me to give it up. I have a life most people only dream about now. I carry that trapper daily. But there's another knife in my watch pocket. It's a orange bone handle import. The sheild has some goofy samurai guy on it and the blade says "steel warrior". Nobody would give it a second glance,but I'll always remember having to watch my less than a year old daughter while my then wife went looking for work so I missed getting to go to the flea market with my best friend. He swung by on his way back home and handed this knife he had brought me. I always pull it out and look at it to remind myself to be thankful and never forget where I come from or the journey it's been to get where I am today.
 
Great story, and thanks for sharing.

They may just be objects, but you never know when their sentimental value might recall a good memory when you need it most.

Sometimes it's easy to forget that it's all just stuff, but there are times when stuff does and doesn't matter.
 
@Carolinabuck,
I'll agree you can't (or shouldn't) judge a man by what knife brand he may carry.

I'm a "vintage antique", almost older than dirt. :D

Well I remember job interviews where I was asked to present my pocket knife. A person was tried, judged, and convicted on the condition of his or her knife during the hiring process:

Red Rust*, and/or dull blade(s): "Doesn't take care of their tools." ... You don't get the job. (*a patina on a carbon steel blade or blades was acceptable.)

Broken tip(s)/blade(s), electrical arcing damage, etc.: "Uses the wrong tool for the task(s) at hand; abuses their tools". .... You don't get the job.

No Knife: "Untrustworthy, Dishonest, Unprepared, (also Absent Minded if you "left your knife at home")" .... You don't get the job.

A knife designed for and known as a "fighting knife", excessive (over 3.5 to 4 inch) blade length: "Violent Tendencies" ... you don't get the job.
Note that a plain edge "Krambit" AKA: "Pruning Knife"/"Linoleum Knife"/"Hawkbill Knife"/"Carpet Knife") was acceptable if the job you were applying for applied to the non-combative use of the pattern. If you're Hawkbill had a fully serrated edge, that was a "fighting knife" feature, and you didn't get the job.

All blades sharp, (they could be sharpened down from use without penalty, so long as there was no indication you used a grinder to "sharpen" them. Using a grinder reverted to "uses the wrong tool for the job/task at hand" and no new job) ...
Basically if the knife was well cared for and had wear from honest work, you were judged to be "honest, trustworthy, hard working, prepared for whatever, mentally competent, you used the correct tools for every task, and you took care of your tools." ... You get the job.

I believe the last time I was asked by the person doing the job interview was in 1988.
I stayed with that company for 35 years, working peon to management positions. And, yes. When I interviewed any potential new hire, I asked to see his or her pocket knife and judged accordingly.

"It's not fair to judge a female as "untrustworthy", "absent minded", "ill prepared", etc. because she don't have a pocket knife in her pocket or purse!" How so? How is "Gender Equality" "unfair"? When I was a youngling by the third grade 99.9% of my male classmates, and no less than 97% of my female classmates had at least one pocket knife in their possession during school. Even if it was "only" a 3; 4; or 5* blade Cub/Boy/ Girl Scout knife.
(* the 5 blade Scout Knife has a small Phillips screwdriver "blade")
 
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