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New Mexico is interesting. We were going through there on our way back(?) from Disneyland (for the granddaughter), about a year and a half ago, and as we were loading up the car in the morning, somewhere near Albuquerque, we were approached by four Hispanic young people. They asked for money. Seemed like it could be panhandling, and I get that, and in another situation might have given them something. But somehow that just didn’t seem like the right response here. Instead, I suddenly went defiant, as in “no way, leave us alone!” I didn’t have my gun at that time. I just decided to act as if I could take them all on single-handed (a laughable proposition if you knew me). They looked surprised. The obvious leader of the group got mad and said something about this being their territory. I wasn’t sure what on earth that meant, so I just stared back at him, putting on my “Clint Eastwood” stare-down face (also extremely laughable). They backed off and started walking away. At one point I think they were trying to decide among themselves whether to come back, but I just kept looking at them (cue the Good the Bad & the Ugly theme music). They decided to go somewhere else, and I hurried my family into the vehicle. So, yeah, a memorable stopover in New Mexico. And thank God for an interesting memory as opposed to something possible much worse.

Peace,