It all started one Saturday when I was home on leave from the Navy. My mom decided to set me up with some girl she knew. Well, I got stood up. My dad and I were watching TV, and he said, “Do you want to go to the range?”
“Yes!” I never turned down a range trip. I frequently went shooting on base. We weren’t supposed to, but I guess they figured that it was good for some of the more motivated sailors to get some time in on the weapons they stood watch with, even after qualifying.
We hopped in the truck with guns and ammo, and went to a shooting range over in Humble. We got in, paid our fees, and began shooting. It was good experience. I think my dad was surprised at how the military had benefited my abilities — not that they were lacking before! LOL
I hear something strange out of my left ear. I finish the magazine, place the pistol down, and walk over to see what it is. There is an older gentleman and two younger people. The two younger people were attaching silencers to their Beretta 9mms, and the older gentleman was on the firing line with a fully automatic and silenced 9mm, or SMG. It was like something out of Call of Duty or something.
“Hi.” He said.
“Hi.” I didn’t know what to say.
“Well, do you want to shoot it?”
“Yes!”
My dad and I went and bought 3 boxes of 9mm, and he began loading them in the 30 round magazines. The gentleman gave me a brief training session, and let me go on the range. Five very fast magazines later, the ammo was gone. The older gentleman pulled me out in the lobby and asked, “What do you do for a living?”
“I am actually on leave from the Navy. I am in Deck, but I am looking to move to Weapons.”
“Huh. Interesting.”
Then I asked, “Sir, what do you do for a living?”
He looked around, leaned in, and said, “I’m a businessman.”
I looked around, leaned in, and asked, “What does it take to become a businessman?”
He gave me a number, name, date, time, and told me that they sometimes will buy military contracts to bring people on board. I was excited. I went back to my dad, told him the story, and then we decided to leave. How were we going to top that?
So, I waited for the date and time I was supposed to call, and I hit send. Someone picked up. We talked about various things. Long story short, they wanted to me have a bachelors degree. I didn’t have one. I joined fresh out of high school, and I was currently out to sea most of the time. There really wasn’t a way to get a bachelors degree under these circumstances.
I called a few times, and we continued to chat, but I eventually gave up. Several years later, my dad informed me that the shooting range burned down. I was really sad by this. It was our favorite range, but I felt like it symbolically let me move on. I guess it wasn’t in the cards for me to become a “businessman.” Still, it’s a fun story.