Gun pointed at mike | Ramblin' & Amblin' | Nov 1, 2026
Ramblin' & Amblin' Field Notes with Mike Hall (Staff Software Engineer)
Recorded on the move: engineering observations, systems architecture, and software craftsmanship reflections.
• Series Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNtb969T2-l0
• The Sound Above Curriculum: https://www.just3ws.com/series/the-sound-above/
• Canonical Profile: https://www.just3ws.com
Spoken Overview:
"Okay, this one's number five. Now, it's another time where I was on the receiving end of a gun getting pointed at me. I was still a high school senior, and I was at the Joliet Armory in the National Guard back in the, uh, this is 94,..."
Recorded: November 1, 2026
The Interviewer
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
Okay, this one's number five. Now, it's another time where
I was on the receiving end of a gun getting pointed at me. I was still a high school senior, and I was at the Joliet
Armory in the National Guard back in the, uh, this is 94,
93, 94. I hadn't, um, no, no, actually, this is like, no,
no, I'm a junior just because I hadn't been to basic
training yet.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
That's right. Um, I'm still waiting to go to basic training
, but because I was on, whatever, delayed entry, deferred
entry, um, I would still report for duty, uh, on the
weekends, but, um, for the National Guard, but I wasn't, uh
, like, trained yet. So, my mom had to come pick me up. I lived, I was pretty
far away, and I didn't have a car.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
I might not even have a license at this time, because I en
listed when I was 16. And, uh, the, uh, thing is, is I'm standing out in front of
the armory, and I hear off to my right, down one of the
side alleys of the armory,
like, uh, one of the roads that would take you back to the
motor pool. I hear some people over there, and, uh, I walk over a
little bit, and kind of look around the corner, because I'm
an idiot. And, uh, it's one of the sergeants who had been part of my
training with another sergeant.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
Now, again, these are, uh, two black men, and this is
relevant, because one is the sergeant who had been doing my
training. He seems to be sober. The other sergeant is not. But, he had a 9mm pistol.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
He probably got it from the quartermaster. I don't know how he got it, but it was one of our service
weapons. Because I recognized it. It was a 9mm pistol.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
Yeah, what are the, uh, odds? And, uh, he's inebriated by his car, and he sees me. Now, the sergeant, who knew me, he's like, hey, and, uh,
but the other one, he's not having a good day. He sees me, all 16 years old than me, and he pulls out the
gun, and he starts coming up on me, like, you know, he's
got the gun, like, like this.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
And he's, um, like, you're, and he says to me, your
grandfather owned my grandfather. So, and then, I, I don't remember, the other sergeant who I
, I knew, let's see, trainer, I'll just say, uh, sergeant
trainer, because I don't know what his real name is. But sergeant trainer and sergeant drunkie. Sergeant drunkie is coming up on me, saying that he's going
to get his, uh, revenge for my grandfather owning his
grandfather.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
Uh, I freeze, as I'm looking at people who I think I should
be able to trust, and I had no reason to harbor any kind of
negative anything. And sergeant trainer, again, made up name, uh, gets between
us, and he's trying to convince me, he's getting his buddy
to stop, and he's trying to convince me not to say anything
. I'm, like, in shock, um, and, uh, ultimately I didn't say
anything, um, for whatever reason. And, uh, all I remember, I, I, I want to say that I said,
my grandfather never owned anybody.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
My grandfather was a tow truck driver. You know, he, the worst thing he did, and this, my
grandfather and I did have, I, I had a serious conversation
with him once, is that when, uh, what is it, up in, uh, it
's, uh, where the Navy base is, up in the north side of
Chicago. Um, during, uh, World War II, when there was the internment
camps, there was something going on up there, and my
grandfather did deliveries or service up there, and, uh, I,
I got on him, bought it, and he said, you know, it was at
war. We were at war.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
I don't know. He got, he got mad at me. Um, so it's complicated, but. Uh, my grandfather didn't know anybody, um, uh, but, uh,
and neither did I.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
I was 16, and he was a grown man, uh, this, this, this
sergeant, drunky, and, uh, yeah. Uh, had a gun pointed at me, wielded at me, and all because
I just looked around the corner, and because other people,
see, this is why I can't even be mad at sergeant, drunky,
or he was drunk, that's it, that's on him. And I'm gonna make fun of him for it, because he sucks. But, um, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm less mad with him than I am
with the, uh, the people that did probably own his
grandfather, and probably look more like me than not.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
Um, but where does the line stop, and what did he think he
was gonna accomplish there? But then again, those shitheels, what did they think they
were gonna accomplish? Um, scaring somebody, dominating them, terrorizing, um, him
, he's gonna get revenge for that? I don't know who he's gonna get revenge on.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
It's just a perpetuation, perpetuation of, of a cycle of
violence. There's, nothing good would've come out, out of that either
. It would've made everything a lot worse. If he had actually discharged that weapon, um, his life
would've been ruined, and, uh, you know, a good chance mine
would've been to.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
That's, uh, yeah. Just crazy. But, who made it this way? Did he make it this way?
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
No. Did I make it this way? No. Did I make this trail?
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
No. But I'm on it. So is he. I don't know.
Mike Hall
Host, Ramblin' & Amblin'
▶ Speaking
I really don't know. Alright. Anyway, thanks. Bye.