In the wake of Ye Olde Blackoute, there was a lot of talk around the office about what a pain it was to walk down 20 flights of stairs that had no emergency lights. One of the women I work with was raving about the usefulness of the great keychain flashlight she owned that sheds a startling amount of light, so Monday morning a bunch of people chipped in and bought a bunch of them.
Curious about the nifty trinket, I took a look at the website where they were ordered, and probably placed myself right at the top of an FBI or Homeland Security watchlist the minute the site hit my bowser logs. Discount blowguns? Knives fit for a Klingon? Spy cameras? Man, who knew it could be so easy to acquire everything needed for a superhero utility belt or a anti-establishment fortress. I’m glad I found my flashlight and all, but I get a little squeamish thinking about the endless varieties of suspicious stuff that’s out there for the taking.
Isn’t it great? I’m so glad I didn’t have access to this when I was in college. I was giddy the first time I went to P-town and found the store that sold switchblades in the back. The lure of real spy stuff would have been too much for me to resist.
During the “Buffy meets the Army” season, there was an episode where Riley pulled out a collapsing steel baton to beat down a vampire. I spent the rest of the week pricing them online during downtime at work…luckily, I either lost my nerve or common sense took over. You can decide for yourself on that one.