Insidious...

Something happened yesterday that really threw me for a loop.

I was one of the guests at a get-together organized by Derek of Northeastshooters (great place for shooters even if you're not in the Northeast, BTW). Jon Green (he of GOAL fame) stopped in to chat with us and shoot the bull, and had some cigars he was kind enough to share with the group.

One of the guys had a stogie in his mouth and was looking for a light. I instinctively reached for the lighter in my right front pocket. Even though I quit smoking on 1/1/01, and haven't carried a lighter since.

Nearly seven years have passed since I last smoked, and yet the instinct to reach for my lighter is still there. And razor-sharp, to boot - I glanced over at Matt, saw he needed a light, and my hand went for the lighter before my brain had a chance to kick in.

What's interesting, though, is two-fold: First, that smoking is so fucking engrained in my psyche that a lapse of well more than half a decade isn't enough to eliminate the habits.

Secondly, the "training" - while I never actually trained to go for my lighter, it was a purely muscle-driven reflex to access it. Which tells me that I need to keep training different methods of drawing from concealment until the action becomes just as engrained.

If I can draw a concealed firearm half as quickly as I went for the lighter that was no longer there, I feel good about my chances of surviving a gunfight...