I had reason to see a civilian eye doctor not long ago, and during the course of the appointment I realized just one more way my life was awkward.
First question: Have you had any recent eye injuries?
“Well, I was pepper sprayed about a week and a half ago. Does that count? It was during a training exercise; I wasn’t doing anything bad.”
Second question: Do you know which eye is your dominant eye?
“The right.” (A little too quickly)
Followup: ……..is that your shooting eye?
“…………Yes.”
Second followup: Are you sure it’s your dominant eye?
“I saw what happened when people tried to shoot with their other eye, and it just plain didn’t work. I was able to hit the target, so yes, I’m fairly certain I’m right eye dominant.”
So what? My life is awkward. At least the occasional bizarre encounter serves to make the world around me a little more interesting. But still awkward. (I was also informed by a different technician that the drops he was about to put in my eyes were the worst thing that would happen to me all week, but they really weren’t that bad. I mentioned that they couldn’t possibly be worse than the OC. He didn’t really know what to say to that.)
I have, of course, noted your pistol scores (using your dominent right eye) and must comment that, only yesterday, I read an article comparing recoils from the more modern pistols such as the 9 mm, 10 mm and even more current designs of the .45 with the classic 1911 .45 with which I had to qualify and which you shot in our own back yard. There simply is no comparison as the ratios of recoil force suggest the current models are way less than half of the older weapons in terms of displacing forces around your point of aim. Technology moves on. I don’t know if the scores required for qualification have changed. In my era we never had to take down an opponent with pepper spray in our face. But, it seems it would also have been harder to properly shoot him.
I really didn’t care for the .45. You had me shoot something else that seemed to kick less than the 9mm, but that could have been because the grip was smaller (the Beretta M9 is about my limit for grip size. My hands are small enough that, to hear the GMs say it, I technically can’t hold it correctly. Interestingly, dry firing the M9 puts more strain on my hands than live firing).
It is an interesting world where the people you are surrounded by on a daily basis have jobs that folks in the private sector have only seen in the movies. Who should really feel awkward?