Every once in awhile a day comes along and something happens and you just know you’re a Marine, surrounded by other Marines, because we apparently don’t react like normal sane people do.

Several of us were standing outside our house today, though still inside the compound behind high walls, talking amongst ourselves as we waited for two others to finish what they were doing so we could all go to work.

It was lovely day, sunny and warm, a couple puffy clouds wandering around the sky, and then out of the blue we heard “BANG!” from somewhere in the neighbourhood.

“Somebody’s guard is playing with his gun” said a Marine.

“That sounded like a rifle” said another Marine.

“I thought it was a shotgun” said the first.

“Shotgun? Nah…”

Then they continued with the previous conversation.
Another shot rang out.

“Okay that was on purpose.”

“I think it was a rifle.”

“What about a pistol?”

“Hmm. Maybe.”

Again, the previous conversation continued. Every minute or so we heard another BANG, sometimes several close together. A few times I could see a little puff of smoke floating up from someplace I couldn’t see past the wall.

But nobody blinked. Nobody dove behind a car or made a beeline for the basement door. We just stood around like it was perfectly normal to hear gunshot-like noises in broad daylight in a well-off area of the city.