Had a pretty good Memorial Day weekend

[Dolomite_supafly]

So I have been going to the stables with my wife for a while now. One of her friends, who is extremely liberal, has a son that normally sits around playing games on his tablet or wanders off on his own to do who knows what. He is a quiet little kid that is really timid but he is well mannered, polite and extremely smart. Well the last few visits to the stable that kid and I have become friends. I have been showing him some different things as well as watching him build dams in a small creek. Then a few visits ago I took him a slingshot but I wasn't sure he would be allowed to have it because of his liberal parents but his mother said it was ok so I let him have it. We spent an hour or two knocking plastic bottles over with it as well as shooting into some water and mud. He got pretty good with the slingshot but before he left that day he said it would be easier with his BB gun. I thought it was odd because his parents are extremely liberal but I guess anything is possible.

 

Well yesterday I was at the stables again and the boy showed up with his "BB gun". I would have never imagined he would have had it in a million years but there he stood with a Knights Armament PDW, Berretta pistol and an HK MP7. He had some cheap scope wired to it, it just flopped around and there is no way it would ever work. I thought to myself how can you expect him to shoot this thing. So I took the scope off and showed him how to use iron sights. I promised him a real scope, that actually works, the next time we meet. And while we were sitting there a few more kids showed up with a BUNCH of plastic guns in their arms.

 

So what I did was spend a couple of hours working with all those kids. And despite some odd looks from parents and other riders I was determined to teach these kids something. So I spent the next couple of hours showing some 10 year olds how to do a combat patrol, how to setup an ambush and the most fun was teaching them how to enter and clear a room.

 

I took my long sleeve shirt and used a couple of brooms tied together to make a target for them to shoot at. And in the end I had them clearing rooms and doing it safely with their airsoft guns loaded and ready.

 

It was fun and honestly they did better than most of the Afghans I have tried to teach.

 

Before it is all over I will try to teach the son of my wife's liberal friend how to clear, disassemble/reassemble and perform a function check on an AK-47. If an Afghan can do it I am sure this smart kid will be able to learn it easily. I will also see if I can convince the mother to let him shoot some guns. At a minimum I will be replacing his single cock airsoft rifle with a full auto because everyone needs a machine gun.

 

It was definitely a fun day for me.

[TGO David]

What a great experience for those kids, and I know you loved it.  That's awesome stuff, Gordon! 

[ArmyBrat61]

Unit tactics!!! Way to go Dolo... :up:  Maybe this boy will learn to think on his own too....keep up the good work!

[RED333]

:usa: :up: :rock:

[hipower]

Good...no, make that a great thing you did. Having influence on a child and teaching them something new. That's an awesome day.

[bersaguy]

I'm glad your able to work with the young man Gordon. Never can tell, you might in some way be turning his parents in the right direction at the same time.....Great work................. :up:

[rugerla1]

What an awesome story!!

[Chazmr]

When I saw the title I assumed this was going to be about cooking outside, eating with friends, etc.

While that might have been an interesting story, the reality was so much better!

 

It's amazing what can happen when an adult takes a little extra time with a child!

 

A friend sent me a link recently to an old Jerry Clower story with a similar lesson that I had never heard before, "Little Red".

This isn't a great recording since it sounds like it was recorded from an old vinyl record, but it's still worth the time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3R9q4gObQQE

If the link doesn't work just search youtube for Jerry Clower and Little Red.

 

Thanks for sharing your story!

Edited May 25, 2015 by Chazmr

[Monkeyman2500]

Dolomite, those kids are going to think your the greatest guy they ever met. Teaching those kids some proper handling techniques is a great thing. Growing up my dad was not a fan of guns, I didn't shoot a real gun till I was about 16. A friend we made playing paintball was an ex army sniper and he took me and another kid out and taught us how to shoot. Wish to this day I could have done some rifle training with him.

[peejman]

Atta boy!

You should do the same thing for us next time we get together for a shoot. :D

[KahrMan]

Thats really cool.  Its stuff like that that kids remember even when they are old.  :up:

[Dolomite`s Breezy]

My friend told me that all he talked about was  Mister Gordon and he played with him for 2 hours while I went out riding with his mom.He is the cutest little guy and  so gentle and sweet.

I miss having a little guy around and so does Gordon (I bet)

[peejman]

We did a little shooting over the weekend too.  Would have done a lot more had I know it was going to happen at all.  Had several adults and kits shoot for the first time and a couple others shoot for the first time in a loooong time. 

 

My little one, first time shooting more than a BB gun.

 

 

[bersaguy]

I'm quite sure that couple days will be in the memories of both young and old for ever. Those are the things people like to remember................ :up: :up: :up:

[LagerHead]

It's not often that I'm jealous of a kid...

[Dolomite_supafly]

This is the kid I was showing all the tactical stuff to. He was asking about "real" guns so after getting his mother's permission I showed it to him, showed him how to disassemble it and we got this picture while we were at it.



He is a great kid and before long he will know the ins and out of most weapons.