My Six Shooter

Six Shooter

While my Wild West expertise is limited to television and movie training, it seems pretty clear that the men of the West got a certain pleasure wearing their six shooter on their hip. From what I can tell, real men of the day would never remove the holster except maybe to ride their horse--even then it was within reach.

Flash forward to the present day and while we don't wear guns, there is no less of a need to have some hardware on one's hip. What is it about a real leather tool belt swaying back and forth under the weight of a hammer and screwdriver? Don't know, but I know I feel good when I'm wearing the belt and "strapping in" is very ritualistic. The toolbelt is certainly an important accoutrement even though I'm not very good at explaining to my wife why I need it to change a light bulb. I just do.

The other day I saw that the phone man left his toolbelt behind. While real men don't wear other men's toolbelts, I found myself trying it on for size. Phone guys have all the luck. There's a much better swing when you have a telephone handset swinging around than a heavy hammer!

In my office life we don't get much opportunity to wear either toolbelts or guns. There was a period when real men were uncomfortable wearing their hardware on their hip. In those days we stuffed our shirt pockets and thus the pocket protector was born. I see a lot of modern day hardware being worn on people's hips. I'm friends with a couple who both wear pocket knives in well worn leather holsters on their hip (hope they don't fight too much). I constantly tease them for wearing a knife all the time but find myself borrowing the knife frequently. I've seen calculators, palm pilots, sunglasses, cameras and of course cellphones all attached to men's hips.

My cellphone is my gun. I feel naked without it. In my own way, I can do as much damage with my cellphone as my ancestors might have done with a six shooter. I have everything from the police to the local Chinese restaurant programmed into the phone. I've scared away young youths on my property by holding my phone above my head and shouting "you better leave or I'll be forced to use this." You should have seen the terrified look in their eyes!

Times change. The hardware change. But do any of us really change? We come into this world naked. We leave this world naked, but in between we have to make sure our hips are adorned with the appropriate hardware. Come to think of it cowboys aren't naked when they leave this world. They are wearing their cowboy boots. Wonder what the cell coverage is like 6 feet under?