The Terroristic Buddha Bear
By chrystalia
@chrystalia (1208)
Tucson, Arizona
December 9, 2012 4:31am CST
My other half had an interesting day in Tucson. I call him Buddha Bear--because he is big (6 foot 1, 250 lbs.) and furry--hairy arms, legs, chest and pot belly. So today, he wandered on down to the local military surplus store, where he shops occasionally. He had been in there last week--when he was all scruffy from the gold mine, hadn't had a haircut (he forgets until it falls in his eyes), had splotches of fluorescent paint on his clothes and hands (marking paint--you use different colors to mark different areas for sampling). Years ago, he lost the end of one finger in a mine accident, and had 2 other fingers squashed.
Today, he had gotten a haircut and shaved--and had been painting, so his clothes were a mess and he smelled of paint thinner. This proved to be his undoing--partly. He bought several entrenching tools, two large tarps, a very old gas mask (for my younger son's Christmas present, he collects militaria), a dozen MRE's (military ready to eat meals for those who aren't preppers or military). The guy behind the counter was the same clerk that had served him before, when he had bought some camo netting (on sale cheap, makes decent shade for the work area) some camo pants and shirts. So the counter clerk starts talking about the fiscal cliff, and my Buddha Bear quite honestly said he felt Obama would ruin this nation, and that bad times were going to get worse, and he hoped the guy was ready for the Sh*t hitting the fan. The guy asked if he was paying with a credit card--nope. My other half pays cash. Then the guy asks for I.D.
Seriously. In a Military Surplus Store.
Buddha bear asked why he wanted ID, and the guy got cagey--so he said if they didn't want to sell to him he would be happy to leave, and asked to see the manager. Mind you, the store is 3 blocks from DHS--the guy said he'd go get the manager. Less than 5 minutes later...
3 DHS trucks, 4 TPD cars, everyone in riot gear---and the other half had our truck searched, himself searched, and he was questioned for over an hour. All because of THIS:
info.publicintelligence.net/FBI-SuspiciousActivity/Military_Surplus.pdf
Well of course he is a terrorist. He was paying cash. Didn't want to show ID. Was buying MREs and a gas mask (never mind it was nonfunctional). His appearance had changed. He smelled funny and had stains on his clothes, and had had stains on him the previous week, and a damaged hand. He could see why it all looked funny when they showed him the sheet.
The funny thing about it all is he has been shopping there semi-regularly for years now--Tucson only has 2 decent military surplus stores with a good selection. Never been asked for ID, or anything, either. DHS was very interested in the fact that he has 6 months of stored food (heck, observant Mormons have a YEAR's worth). They were asking about all his firearms, too. And wanting to know where he kept his stuff, why he had the business in a different location than his house, why we had mining claims...
When he told me the story, he laughed it off-- but he also told me he had already moved all his stored stuff, and his firearms.
I am all for diligence, but this struck me odd--because last week when I did my monthly grocery shopping at Wal Mart and elsewhere, I did a lot of extra stocking up--because of the robbery (half of my bulk food got stolen)--and when I bought 2 boxes of 22 ammo for the rifle (coyotes) they were a lot more diligent with my ID--and the cashier was asking me if I had a very large family, or was I prepping. It probably didn't help that I was wearing camo pants--but hey, I was wearing an ordinary sweatshirt and jacket 
So I am wondering.
So I am wondering.4 people like this
5 responses
@dragon54u (31634)
• United States
9 Dec 12
It's a shame that we have to be so defensive against our own government but that's life these days. On one hand people can be turned and used for terrorist purposes but on the other hand we should have the freedom to buy what we want without being harassed. Do you think your Bear tripped this guy's inner alarm because he was strongly opposed to this administration's goals? Looks that way to me. It's very dangerous these days to say anything against Obama. I've seen a few verbal fights because of differing opinions and even on physical altercation. I've never seen that before no matter who was in the WH!
I lived in AZ during Napolitano's governance and she is a nightmare. She refused to protect our borders which is one of our government's first duties--protect the country. Now she'd rather persecute our own citizens than stem the endless tide of invaders at the borders, would rather give a foreigner who fits a terrorist profile a free pass in favor of strip searching toddlers and grannies. If you ask me, people like her are our main security threat, not someone taking steps to support themselves in times of crisis. 
3 people like this
@chrystalia (1208)
• Tucson, Arizona
9 Dec 12
Yep--Napolitano is a menace to society. I believe you are correct in why Bear got in trouble--but it is sad, since he WAS a long time loyal customer. He has already decided not to be any more. While he understands, as do I, that vigilance is a good thing, he also strongly feels that people should be able to exercise their freedom of speech--and he wasn't being a nutball about it. He was being diplomatic, for him.
2 people like this
@yoyo1198 (3641)
• United States
9 Dec 12
So Budda Bear was inconvenienced because a military store clerk was on the ball. Suppose BB was a guy with nefarious ambitions? That would have been a potential problem nipped in the bud. The world is a crazy place to live in amid all of the threats and fear that are being publicized. It's unfortunate that the innocent have to go through things like this but in the long run it's better to be safe than to have another major disaster.
2 people like this
@chrystalia (1208)
• Tucson, Arizona
9 Dec 12
I agree with you--and so does Bear, as a matter of fact. We do need vigilance--they definitely need it in Tucson, with the border problems. But there is a thin line between vigilance and encroachment, and that line is becoming blurrier every day. Bear is going to be taking his business elsewhere, on principal--his choice. And I, up in Washington, will find another way to deal with the coyotes, I guess. He is very protective of his rights, especially when it comes to keeping and bearing arms, and illegal search and seizure--and I don't blame him a bit for it. Since under the NDAA, the government can arrest and detain American citizens on extremely nebulous pretexts, indefinitely, there is cause to be wary--unfortunately.
2 people like this
@chrystalia (1208)
• Tucson, Arizona
10 Dec 12
Yes, our habits have changed-- and we accept a lot more intrusion in our lives than we used to because of it. While some of it is necessary, some is a little over the top. Of course now a days, stocking up and isolating yourself looks suspicious as well.
2 people like this
@yoyo1198 (3641)
• United States
10 Dec 12
With the 'fear climate' such as it is all over, I doubt that his changing vendors will decrease his chances of being reported again. The GWB administration indicated that we shouldn't let the terror threats change our lives and habits. But that is just exactly what has happened. Merchants' radars are heightened. Average citizens can be put through circumstantial awkwardness like Bear was. Everyone is looking over their shoulders and not knowing who to trust or not. Makes one want to stock up and isolate as much as possible. The world has changed.
2 people like this
@finlander60 (1804)
• United States
10 Dec 12
I can just imagine what went through that clerks mind, he had just stopped a terrorist in his tracks. I wonder what they would have done if he had also bought some face paint and some ammo cans to go along with the rest of his stuff. Ammo cans can be very useful for more than just ammo. Several years ago I mounted one under the hood of my 1973 Ford F-100 pickup. It worked just great for putting small hand tools and small parts into when I got interrupted on a project, or just didn't have time to finish one.
1 person likes this
@finlander60 (1804)
• United States
11 Dec 12
Your Bear sounds a lot like my Dad. If Dad was working on a car, and needed a tool to do something that he didn't have a tool for, he made one.
1 person likes this
@chrystalia (1208)
• Tucson, Arizona
10 Dec 12
Yeah I know--0the funny thing is, the other half has been going there regularly for literally YEARS now--it's not like the clerks and the manager don't know him. He is always buying oddball stuff of one kind or another, because he is always inventing things--it's a running joke with us that if he needs something, no one makes it. He actually has an ammo can under the hood in his Chevy pickup, as do I--best thing around to keep spare fluids and a few tools in, as you have discovered. I use them for a lot of things, actually, besides ammo.
He is still laughing about it--but he still doesn't feel quite as "safe" as he used to. It's one of those things that just makes you feel funny, I guess--more so in this case, because he was KNOWN there. Bear is always very sensitive about how he interacts with people (he's pretty shy, actually) and now, for the first time in a long time, he feels like he can't express himself about something--which is sad. We both see why it happened, but I personally wish it hadn't happened.
2 people like this
@chrystalia (1208)
• Tucson, Arizona
11 Dec 12
That's the Bear, alright--he gets so many ideas, then goes out looking for what he needs to make them happen--and it isn't there. So off he goes to make one--and complains the whole time that somebody, somewhere, must have wanted to do whatever it is he's doing before...it happens to him all the time, especially in mining. He's just finishing the prototype for his new gravity separation table, for ore from the mining claims--the ones they make weren't efficient enough for him (and he is right--micro mining is a very under-serviced market sector).
1 person likes this
@mehale (2200)
• United States
12 Dec 12
While I agree....to a certain extent at least....that now days drastic times can and do call for drastic measures, but on the other hand it is quite scary just how much power and control we have given over to our government. Unfortunately, as others have already said, it was probably his comments against Obama are probably what set the clerk on alert. It is a shame that we are slowly loosing our freedom of speech and have to constantly watch what we say and do in public......it is rapidly getting to the point that if we don't we can end up as a suspected terrorist threat.
@mehale (2200)
• United States
13 Dec 12
That is my point exactly. It would seem that we no longer have freedom of speech - at least not if what we say has anything to do about politics. This is sad but true. I agree that he really did not say anything about Obama actually, just the current administration, which unfortunately is enough now days to get you into trouble. I do comment on political discussions here, but for the most part other than that really only talk to either my husband, my family, or close friends about the subject. Saying too much in the wrong place or to the wrong person can really cause trouble.
@chrystalia (1208)
• Tucson, Arizona
15 Dec 12
Yep, that's the way it goes--I am very diplomatic, these days--because you have to be, and that shouldn't be the case, in my opinion. Many of the freedoms we take for granted aren't really freedoms anymore. I make occasional comments elsewhere, but carefully, since you never know who you're talking to, and the NDAA does still have that clause in it allowing citizens to be indefinitely detained.
@chrystalia (1208)
• Tucson, Arizona
13 Dec 12
He didn't even say anything against Obama, other than he thought the POTUS was going to make things even worse--and he wished Romney had won. Which a lot of people agree with (but a lot don't, apparently). He pointed out the huge debt, Obamacare, our misguided foreign policy--he was being far more "diplomatic" than he would be with friends, or with me. Even though it would have made me a basket case, I wish it had happened to me and not him--he takes things like this very seriously. freedom of speech is fast becoming a myth, in many areas.
1 person likes this
@debrakcarey (19887)
• United States
12 Dec 12
It would be 'diligence' if they (DHS) actually tried to catch the bad guys. But they don't. This administration cares little about keeping them from crossing our borders.
@chrystalia (1208)
• Tucson, Arizona
13 Dec 12
oh, but they DO care, deb! Every day down in Arivaca, they line up the nice air conditioned buses, round them up, bring them to the DHS outside of Davis Monthan air force base for a hot shower and a good meal, and a comfy bed for the night--and drive them back to the border the next day. The DHS agents down there know a lot of these people BY NAME, as a matter of fact--because they pick them up every week, when they're done working 
@chrystalia (1208)
• Tucson, Arizona
15 Dec 12
probably--after all, quite a few of the 9/11 terrorists lived in Tucson for a while, trained in Arizona, and faithfully attended mosque there. You never know. But they certainly are nice to the Mexican illegals in Arizona.
@debrakcarey (19887)
• United States
13 Dec 12
How about those Hamas illegals? They treat them nice too?
