I read the article but I’m still not sure that I understand the concept. I have a specific incident in mind.Europe/mansplaining-hotline-unionen-sweden. There is one specific incident that comes to mind. I am not sure whether I acted in a gentlemanly fashion or was the perpetrator of most unseemly display of mansplaining. I thought that if I laid my case out to “Dear Abby” I might receive an explanation. I have drafted a preliminary letter to Abby explaining the facts and circumstances, here is the draft:

Dear Abby,

I am attempting to resolve in my own mind whether my actions in a specific incident where those of a gentleman or the grossest violation of mansplaining seen in recent memory.

I am a police officer and a firearms instructor. Police officers undergo periodic training in the use of firearms. Some of this training is a function of the calendar, in that officers have to demonstrate proficiency a set number of times a year. This varies from agency to agency. A second form of training takes place when officers adopt one type of pistol over another, where the operation of the two weapons is not the same.

It was the second type of training where the problem arose. My agency issued revolvers to officers and was transitioning to semiautomatic pistols. A revolver carries six bullets in a cylinder that rotates each time the trigger is pulled. I should explain that a bullet is the projectile that strikes a target, it is seated on a shell, or casing which contains the gunpowder, the gunpowder is ignited when the primer located at the base of the shell is struck. The combination of bullet, primer, powder and casing is called a round. The semiautomatic pistol carries from six to sixteen rounds in a magazine that fits in the butt or handle of the gun. The magazine holds all the rounds in a column ready to be fed into the chamber and fired. The number of rounds is dictated by the size and design of the weapon.

While there are many differences between the weapons the one that comes into play, in this instance, is the semiautomatic feature. Please allow me to describe the operation. A round is chambered in the weapon, the trigger is pulled which causes the firing pin to strike the bullet primer. This causes the gunpowder to explode which sends the bullet traveling down the barrel. The explosion also causes the slide to travel backwards towards the hand. As the slide travels backwards an opening is created between the chamber and the magazine. When this happens, the extractor in the slide grabs the expended shell and pulls it from the chamber. The combination of the explosion and the effects of the extractor send the expended shell some feet away. The slide can travel only so far backward before it is forced to stop and heavy springs force it to move forward. On the return trip the slide strips a round from the magazine and pushes it forward until it is seated in the chamber. This whole sequence is probably measured in 100ths of a second. Once the round is seated the weapon is ready to be fired again.

Everything was going fine until we got to what is called the close quarters drill. The scenario is such; police officer and offender are an arms length apart. The officer perceives a threat where deadly force is an appropriate response. The officer draws his weapon and holding it close to their body fires two rounds.

It was at this point that I may have committed my faux pas. The female officer on the line was not wearing any type of foundation garment. The officer, had she been wearing a foundation garment, chances are it would have bore a designation well north of DDD.On the second go round of the drill disaster struck! Her hand when up, which is a signal that a shooter is having a problem.

As I approached I observed suspended from her right boob was her brand new semi automatic pistol. The slide, in making it’s inevitable journey forward had grabbed not tee shirt but skin. Fortunately, (it is easy for me to say, I didn’t have a tit caught in a wringer, which is a close approximation of the dilemma.) It was the ejection port that had gathered and trapped the mammary tissue so while the squeeze was on, relief was quick and uncomplicated.

Was it presumptuous of me, to in effect, to go directly to second base without permission or explanation? Should I have sent a card or flowers as a follow up? As a learning experience should I have demanded she get her own tit out of the proverbial wringer?

Sign me:

Just trying to be a sensitive millennial sort of guy