When did American society become so feminized?

[Vuk]

By feminized, I do not mean trait genetically belonging to women, but rather the traditional western cultural view of femininity.
I recently got a new job and had to take a drug test for the first time. The clinic had a sign on the outside that said "No firearms or weapons allowed inside" or something to that extent. I never considered for a moment that that could apply to a simple pocket knife. After all, isn't a weapon something that is designed for fighting or killing rather than just something that it is possible to kill with? I could kill someone more easily with a beer bottle than with my pocket knife, but apparently my tiny pocket knife is considered a deadly weapon.

The woman asked me to empty my pockets, so I took my pocket knife, chap-stick, comb, and loose change out and set it on the table. The woman immediately got all freaked out and told me that weapons were not allowed inside the building, and that I would need to take it outside and come back without it. When I tried saying it was just a pocket knife she informed me that it was a 'deadly weapon' and was not permitted inside the building. I had to take it out to my car or they would have called the police on me.
What the heck happened to our society? I remember when I was younger everyone carried a pocket knife. I started carrying on when I was six and have always carried one since (while going to Uni, when abroad, when at work, etc, etc.). Maybe it is just something that people who don't do physical work cannot understand. A pocket knife is designed to be a tool, not a weapon. It is an invaluable tool that I use all the time for all kinds of things that I never could have foreseen me using it for.

If a weapon is defined simply as something capable of killing someone, then what the heck about keys, bottles, tire irons, pens, etc, etc?! If a cop pulls someone over and finds a tire iron in their car and they gonna charge them for possession of a deadly weapon?!

Why can't our society ever be rational about things like this? A pocket knife is no more a weapon than a steel pen is! I wonder how long it will be till they legally mandate that we need to wear diapers to prevent dangerous spills!

[Rhyfelwyr]

Well carrying a knife here can get you a prison sentence. Used to be you could have a blade of up to 4 inches, but not any more. A lot of the bigger shops have detectors at the entrance as well so it would be hard to get away with it.

If you have a proper reason for having one (eg, for going camping), then you should be fine. But just walking around with a pocket knife would get you in trouble.

[Vuk]

Well carrying a knife here can get you a prison sentence. Used to be you could have a blade of up to 4 inches, but not any more. A lot of the bigger shops have detectors at the entrance as well so it would be hard to get away with it.

If you have a proper reason for having one (eg, for going camping), then you should be fine. But just walking around with a pocket knife would get you in trouble.

lol, they don't consider general utility to be a proper reason to carry one? Laws like that are such rubbish. There are so many things that are equally and more deadly that they do not ban (and realistically could not), so they are hardly going to stop anyone with bad intentions. All they do is create inconveniences for law abiding citizens.
I actually found out after I already got back home that the knife I carried in Hungary was illegal there. I guess the idea of pocket knives being illegal just never occurred to me. I was stopped by the police twice too (I was walking back to my apartment late at night), but thankfully they laughed and left me alone as soon as they found out I was American, so I was never arrested for carrying a pocket knife. :P

[HoreTore]

Unlike the US, most of Europe does not have a zero tolerance policy on crime, and so the police won't bother you if you break a law or two.

[Fragony]

I also carry a pocket knive but I do see it as a weapon, and that's exactly why I have it with me. Better to have it and not having to need it than the other way around.

[Papewaio]

You had me at chap stick.

Definitely feminized.

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

lol, they don't consider general utility to be a proper reason to carry one? Laws like that are such rubbish. There are so many things that are equally and more deadly that they do not ban (and realistically could not), so they are hardly going to stop anyone with bad intentions. All they do is create inconveniences for law abiding citizens.
I actually found out after I already got back home that the knife I carried in Hungary was illegal there. I guess the idea of pocket knives being illegal just never occurred to me. I was stopped by the police twice too (I was walking back to my apartment late at night), but thankfully they laughed and left me alone as soon as they found out I was American, so I was never arrested for carrying a pocket knife. :P

I used to carry a knife on the farm - since I started living in the city the only bits I use are the screwdriver and the bottle opener, and that's inside the house.

This is, general utility is​ a valid reason, but in the age where libraries will issue you a pen or a pencil sharpener, you almost never need one.

[Vuk]

I used to carry a knife on the farm - since I started living in the city the only bits I use are the screwdriver and the bottle opener, and that's inside the house.

This is, general utility is​ a valid reason, but in the age where libraries will issue you a pen or a pencil sharpener, you almost never need one.

Sure you still do. Opening plastic packages, cutting tape, cutting boxes, cutting loose threads off your clothing, prying stuff (sure, it is not good for your knife, but some times you have no alternative), etc, etc. You would not believe the amount of times I have needed a knife for things I never could have predicted I would use a pocket knife for. It is like a flash-light (something I always keep on my belt except when I am going to job interviews), one of those essential things that even if you use rarely you need there for those important times when nothing else will suffice.

[Montmorency]

All this could also have everything to do with the urbanization of society - the "fear", the "feminization", the compartmentalization of tool use...

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

Sure you still do. Opening plastic packages, cutting tape, cutting boxes, cutting loose threads off your clothing, prying stuff (sure, it is not good for your knife, but some times you have no alternative), etc, etc. You would not believe the amount of times I have needed a knife for things I never could have predicted I would use a pocket knife for. It is like a flash-light (something I always keep on my belt except when I am going to job interviews), one of those essential things that even if you use rarely you need there for those important times when nothing else will suffice.

None of which I need to do outside the house.

I literally NEVER need a knife off the farm/moors. When I do, I carry two knives known as Mr Choppy and Mr Stabby. My Stabby is for slitting throats and Mr Choppy is for cutting hooves off.

[Xiahou]

Why can't our society ever be rational about things like this? A pocket knife is no more a weapon than a steel pen is! I wonder how long it will be till they legally mandate that we need to wear diapers to prevent dangerous spills!

Not so much feminized as dumb, scared, sheep who don't know what hard work or thinking for yourself looks like.