Held at Gunpoint

This week's Gallery is Emotion.

Fear is a horrid thing.  You might wonder why COG is clearly very afraid in this picture and yet I'm laughing....a number of German tourists walked around the back of this Guard and tried a door handle to the barracks.   The Guard shouted at them very very loudly.  COG was so scared, she couldn't understand that we were safe, that the Guard was OK and would protect us but needed to tell the tourists to 'halt' in a Guard like manner!






What set me thinking about this was bumping into this guy with a shotgun at the weekend.  It's only a few weeks since I was shot in the arm by an air rifle I don't think I've mentioned that on here and whilst all was well and a bit surreal, I'm still a bit jumpy around guns at the moment. 

Not as jumpy as HWMBO mind.  Whilst working long term in Beirut he took a photo of a Syrian army checkpoint.  They took exception to this and decided to let him know by pointing a gun at him and insisting he gave them the film from the camera.  Problem was it was the very early days of digital cameras and he'd bought one on his way out of Melbourne.  Not giving the soldier a film earnt him a journey by gun point to the army base where he had to try to explain that the camera had no film.   He has vivid memories of a 12 point star on the marble floor and being the most frightened has has ever been in his life.

Fear is on of the seven universal emotions that you will automatically pick up on even if it comes from a microexpression.  Although sometimes it goes beyond microexpressions, sometimes there is no doubt at all of fear and distress.



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