I went to my favorite diner a few days ago.

[LuckyCharms]

My favorite waitress gave me a booth in the corner. To my immediate right was the exterior wall that the entrance door was on...some 15 feet away.

As I waited for the waitress to bring a menu, I sat there and pondered...

Whoa, this is a bad seat if someone comes through that door shooting. Kinda trapped here. No where to go. If I run to my left I'm in the line of fire. Can't go to my right cuz there's a wall there. Can't run straight ahead cuz there's a shooter at the door. Best hope is to dive under the table and hope he doesn't see me. Oh Jesus Christ shut the fuck up no one is going to come in here shooting up this little diner. What the fuck is the matter with you? No, shit, really though. what if someone came in and started shooting? No where to fucking go...Shit, I'm going nuts thinking like this, no one is going to come in here shooting...they'll go to the mall or something...it's just that there's no where to go from this table...Jesus Christ maybe I belong in a strait jacket for thinking like this...quit thinking and order your goddamn meal asshole...

The meal was excellent though.

[mr_lebowski]

1. Funny, my years of CIA training has me thinking this same way at all times ...

For a civilian, you exhibit exemplary situational awareness, LC ... clearly you instinctively understand the difference between finishing your mission (be it a Club Sandwich, Steak and Eggs, etc), and being sent home, draped by an American Flag ...

[RussellCattle]

2. This is the way that "self defense, concealed carry" gun nuts think...

...all the time. It's weird how afraid they are.

https://thefiringline.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=f7e5ce10da7ec5c107a6ecbda89e5669&f=18

[hlthe2b]

3. I am generally aware, don't like to have my back to the door, that kind of things, but...

I just don't want to live like this... Pretty soon we'll have a significant amount of the population afraid to leave the home.

I am just angry though because there is no cause for us to leave this way.

The only thing I will agree with the NRA on (heaven help me) is that we can't ONLY deal with guns. We have to deal with guns AND this epidemic of unbridled hate brought to the forefront and empowered by the Trump era and its inherent racism, misogyny, and general hostility towards "the other."

[True Dough]

4. Since when

are there waitresses seating customers at McDonald's?

[KY_EnviroGuy]

5. Considering the odds may give us some relief from fear.

The odds of us being harmed by violence while eating out is very, very low compared to other risks while out in public.

I consider the odds of being injured or killed in a car crash while away from home to be far higher than any other risk (including being poisoned, injured in a fire or explosion, etc.). Yet, we drive on two lane roads regularly at relative speeds of over 100mph without giving it a thought.

We also sit at restaurants of all sorts and eat the food delivered without thinking of its sources, how properly it was prepared, or if it may contain pathogens or poisons.

Regardless, the risks are there and we'll all think of them for a while, at least until this issue is either fixed or normalized.

KY.......

[Dirty Socialist]

6. If I ever think like that

I will leave the US. Hello, good ol' safe Canada!

[empedocles]

7. Reminds me of a classic scene from a Bourne movie. Bourne recites to the

woman in the diner he is on the run from the authorities - everything he notices around the diner.

[Vinca]

8. I've been thinking about the grocery store I frequent and how I'd get out.

I don't dwell on things like that, but we're all targets wherever we are.

[eleny]

11. I do the same

When I'm in our King Soopers I'm aware of how far I am from the rear area where the trucks drop off the goods. And I seem to know how I'll get back there so I can try to get through those swinging doors and perhaps to safety via the rear of the store.

I don't think about this 24/7. But once the idea of exiting stores in case of emergency occurred to me it's kind of stuck with me. When I go into a new store I usually become aware of the location of the doors to the rear storage area.

[Journeyman]

9. Been having similar thoughts ever since Charles Whitman climbed the Texas tower . . .

Most days, though, I just order the BLT on sourdough, maybe add some fruit if I'm exceptionally hungry. Just living in America, trying to keep my hopes and dreams.

[live love laugh]

10. This is the state of terror that we now exist in.

I also think the same way.

[ooky]

12. But if you were "a good guy with a gun" you could

draw your gun on each customer you see coming through the entrance door, in case that customer is really a shooter, so you are ready to shoot first, and then put your gun down if it is just a regular customer. It might scare the hell out of everybody that comes through the door, but being "a good guy with a gun" wouldn't do you much good unless you have a chance to get it out of your holster (or the back of your pants ) and shoot first without shooting your own ass off in all your excitement of trying to get it out. And, you would need to be a good shot so if it is a shooter and you get to shoot first, you don't end up shooting another customer instead of the shooter before he opens up on you and the rest of the diner.