I'm retired. The first 20+ years I worked varied from construction to the newsroom of a daily newspaper. Pocket knives were common among the males at every place I worked. In fact, any guy who didn't have a useful pocket knife was looked upon as kinda weird. The last 20 or so years of my working life was spent in government offices--state and federal. In the 90s, no one cared about common pocket knives and most male and some female employees carried them routinely. Weapons were banned but knives were not considered weapons. You just couldn't legally bring a firearm to the office. After September 11, 2001, everything gradually changed. Metal detectors popped up everywhere, even at the newspaper where I had once worked and this made it a hassle to visit with former co-workers. Fingernail files and clippers were forbidden for visitors in federal buildings (although employees could bypass the metal detectors). Signs went up indicating "weapons" were forbidden and "weapons" included even a small pocket knife. Attitudes slowly changed and paranoia and hoplophobia became the order of the day as the working atmosphere grew increasingly hostile and neurotic. Many of the male employees, myself included, still routinely carried our pocket knives to the office despite the ban but we no longer were willing to use them even to slice or peel apples in sight of co-workers. By the time I retired, it was a relief to get the hell out of this atmosphere. But, fact is, that intolerant atmosphere is prevalent everywhere these days outside the workplace.
