#stopping bullets

[dukeofwinthrope]

[theterribleblueglove]

https://pin.it/51vib11

This is as bittersweet as it is badass.

(Manip is from Pinterest, though I don't know who the original artist is.)

[unrighteousbooks]

Stopping Bullets: On a recent weekend, two middle-aged men stopped by our Chicago store. One man, ebullient and cheerful, had blond hair and a short beard. He wore a pair of glasses, with black plastic frames. The second man, sober and serious, had thick walrus mustache, and he wore a beret. "We need a book to shoot!" exclaimed the cheerful man. This is not the sort of remark that makes me happy. The serious man rolled his eyes. "You'll have to forgive Adam. He gets a little worked up sometimes. We're re-testing some myths, and we want to know if a book can stop a bullet." Of course a book can stop a bullet, I said. A book can stop far more than that. The man with the beret nodded, though he looked slightly skeptical. "If it's thick enough, I suppose," he said. No, I said. It need not be thick. "Do you remember 1945?" I asked, and then I realized that they were far too young. "Hiroshima. Nagasaki. The only times nuclear weapons have ever been used in war," I said. "There have been many wars since then, but none with atomic bombs." I showed them this thin little book. They were quiet for a moment, and then the man with the beret nodded. The named Adam smiled a different kind of smile, a thoughtful smile. "Jamie," he said, "Maybe we ought to shoot something else," he said. Both men shook my hand. As they walked out, the man named Adam became enthusiastic once again: "Let's shoot another refrigerator! Or a scuba tank!" I watched them walk away. Strange men, I thought. Very strange men, but good men.