Tales from the Library:

Well today I was reading an article in a library between patrons, and a man walked up.  He was a working class man with a thick black Tom Selleck mustache, and wore a flannel lumber jack black and red check shirt.  He had unkept look, facial hair a few days old.  The man looked like he had stories to tell, but little desire to share them.

He walked up to my computer and I soon realized how wrong I was.  He looked to his left and eyed a book on the civil war.  He inquired as to whether the book could be checked out.  I informed him that it could, and not just a display book as he suspected.  We engaged in small talk about the civil war, the american one...not one of the others.  Then rather than prolonging the conversation I threw out a ridiculous patronizing, "it must have been a difficult time to live."  His response was, "I was out west..."  I was taken back.  Could this man have lived during the War Between the States, the War of Northern Agression?  He said he was living in Nevada.  Then he told me that he was working on the 49er trail.  My first thought was that he was in fact not insane but working for the football team in some capacity, but when he stated "trail" I was again confused as to his time frame.  He said he worked in a gold mine, and studied up on the civil war and the 49ers.  Now it made sense, this was a normal with a healthy interest in the War which has shaped/haunted our history and economy ever since.

Before he left he told me that 60% of deaths of 49ers were due to self inflicted gun shot wounds.  He informed me that these men were reckless with their firearms using them as walking sticks and other uninteded uses.  These actions would cause the guns to mis-fire killing their owners.  He laughed and spoke to me as if an older friend who had run into me at the grocery store, "I'll see you later, bud."  I certainly hope so.