I have been formulating this post in my head for a while, but I am just now getting around to writing it up.
In El Salvador, as in most other Latin American countries and I´m guessing other counties too, there are men with big scary guns guarding banks, stores, restaurants, houses, museums, etc. I won´t pretend like I know what kinds of guns they are, but I do know that they are big and they are scary looking. The men usually stand outside whatever they are guarding holding their big scary guns across their bodies. These men work for private security companies that are hired by the banks, stores, restaurants, etc. to guard these places. When we went to the pool, the closest thing to lifeguards were the men walking around with big, scary guns (they also carried whistles that they blew when the kids were misbehaving). The police also carry around big scary guns on their patrols. The military has been helping to patrol the streets as well and I have seen soldiers riding around in the back of pick-up trucks with their big scary guns.
No matter how many times I see these men, it makes me uncomfortable and intimidated. I am always acutely aware of when I see one of these men with a big scary gun in part because this is not something that I´m used to. Sometimes I feel somewhat comforted by the fact that these men are guarding where ever it is that I am, but it still makes me feel a bit worried that things could go wrong really quickly. I went to the bank with Pastor Matias once and there were two guards outside. It made me feel safe that the guards were outside and wouldn´t let in anyone dangerous. But then while we were waiting in the very long line, one of the guards came in and it made me uncomfortable for him to stand so near me with his big scary gun.
One time when I was at the grocery store with Pastor Martina, we were near the back of the store and a man carrying a bag with what I presumed was cash came out of the back room. Following behind him were two men with big scary guns. One of the men with a gun followed the man with the bag of cash and the other man with the gun went down another aisle toward the front of the store. The shoppers continued with their shopping barely making any effort to move out of the way of the men with big scary guns who were moving quite quickly. None of the other shoppers seemed to even notice this scene that I watched very closely. I guess they are just used to seeing big scary guns and it just doen´t bother them or they don´t show their fear and concern.
I can´t say this for a fact, but I imagine that this strategy of having armed guards is pretty effective for preventing robberies. It certainly makes me think twice about doing anything that even looks remotely suspicious or wrong. However, I really wonder how necessary it is. Is there something different between the people of El Salvador and people in the US that makes it necessary for armed guards to protect everything. I don´t really understand, just wanted to share my observations on this.
