Some say the world will end with fire.

Others say with ice.

From what I've tasted of desire

I hold with those that favor fire.

But if I had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate,

To say that for destruction ice,

Is also great and would suffice.

Robert Frost



"YOU CAN'T FIX STUPID" - Ron White



"Good things come to those who wait, but, only the things LEFT by those who hustle." - Unknown (at least by me)



"Life is wonderful, without it you are dead." - Hy "Pete" Peterson - Park City and Kenecott Miner



"Don't worry about those people in your past---there is a reason they are not in your present." - Unknown



"Life's tough - it's even tougher if you're stupid." - John Wayne



"The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary!" - Vince Lombardi



"If you aren’t living on the edge, you’re probably taking up too much space.” ~ Attributed to Jim Whittaker by Doug ‘Swani’ Swantner, Alaska Smokejumper and Air Attack Base Manager (Ret.)

About Me

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I am married and have seven children and twenty grandchildren. I retired January 1, 2010 after working 39+ years for the Forest Service...NEW CHAPTER IN MY LIFE HAS BEGUN!

Friday, December 25, 2009

B-B GUNS AND LITTLE BOYS-SURE FIRE TROUBLE

This is the sequel to the last post.

After playing war with the rubber bands for quite a while we began to get B-B guns for birthdays and Christmas and such. It took a while until everyone had their own air rifle but it did finally happen. One day we all showed up at the barn for war with our rubber bands AND our B-B guns. We played the first game with the rubber bands but then got talking about using the guns instead. We tried a few running shots at each other and found out if you got hit it didn't hurt all that bad (not much worse that the rubber bands) - but it did hurt. YEAH we had all been taught that you don't point guns at people but y'know this is just a game and we won't point at heads or eyes or anything that could really hurt you.

Everytime a parent would talk to any of us about the air rifles it was always the same. DO NOT POINT GUNS AT PEOPLE. DON'T SHOOT AT PEOPLE BECAUSE IF YOU HIT THEM IN THE EYE YOU WOULD BLIND THEM!

Well we played war with air rifles for many weeks with no problems and no serious injuries other that people jumping off the loft in the barn to keep from getting hit and breaking an arm or sliding off the peak on a rope for the same reason and getting bruised up a little or breaking a leg - and then it happened - one kid was looking through the poles on the barn and part of his shoulder was also visible. I don't know who shot and neither does anybody else but the B-B hit the pole and ricocheted right into his eye. There was blood and everything running out of his eye and we all knew he was blind. We were all scared to death and knew we were all going to die when our parents found out.

After the visit to the hospital and the Doctor fixed him up he wasn't blind but we were all a little wiser. We went back to rubber bands for war after that (you know they won't blind you if they hit you in the eye - RIGHT).

8 comments:

Delirious said...

This is especially frightening because I have 3 boys.....

Native Minnow said...

I love these stories! Different times indeed.

Lindsay Logic said...

I love reading these stories!!

Nene said...

Sometimes I wonder how we survived as kids. Kids nowdays just don't seem to do the things we did. And maybe it's a good thing. :0)

Dee Ice Hole said...

D-That's where the be aFred be very aFred came from....

Me said...

My partners brother lost the sight in one eye when he was a boy through an air rifle accident.

Dee Ice Hole said...

Bunc - my point although not well made - is that when kids have air rifles--no matter how much you tell they are dangerous--they are going to test them on each other.

Our group was lucky - he never lost his eye - although there were many other kids in the town where I was born that did lose their eyesight in one eye due to air rifles.

Amber said...

good grief, how scary! I'm surprised ya'll didn't stop after the first broken bone!