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I freely admit I can be one of those people that dismisses other people, but only at shows, and only if I am running.  Explination:  Unlike most groups at shows ours is actually able to sit outside the layout and run, wireless throttles are great, but because of this ease members of our club like to see how many trains that they can cram onto the two mainlines.  The club record is 14.  Being distracted during these operations can be...intresting.  I also freely admit that I have border line anxiety issues.  This makes operations in large crowds very intresting.  A mixture of not liking crowds, claustiphobia, near panic can make for a very irritated me.  Since I am actually trying to over come these issues (it's tough being a caver when you have claustiphobia) without meds, I know I have snapped at people.  I have tried to make it up to them, by appologizing and generally giving them a guided tour of the layout and trying to explain things.On the other hand when it is just me and one other person on my main, I don't usually have a problem talking to people about the setup or the engines themselves.  Though my wife generally gets different reactions when she is running.  I gotta say that the "Girls don't run trains." bit is getting old; FAST.  [soapbox] Often times it not the questions that bother me it's the timing that bothers me.  Spotting reefers to a siding, tapped on the back, "Watcha doing?"  Um...you couldn't have waited 20 seconds for me to spot the cars, uncouple and get moving again?  Ah well.Strangely enough the dumb questions don't really bother me.  Try teaching kids to down-hill ski for a coupla years and pretty soon the dumb questions become the fun ones to answer...[;)] and lets face it often times we can begin to tell when the person is being purposely dim or really doesn't know.The things that bother me the most are the touching or disrespect shown towards things that aren't theres or couldn't fathom doing.  I mentioned the "girls don't run trains" thing.  Word to wise...DON'T say that.  Whatever your beliefs about women in the work place or the things that are supposed to be "girlish" my wife, my niece, my mom and one of my aunts have all taken dispatches on either my layout or the club layout and aside from my mom's lead foot, have all done a very good job and had fun doing it.  The other thing that REALLY burns me is the, "let's walk my fingers down the track right in front of an engine"  I have had this happen to me, and other's on the club layout at shows.  My initial reaction is a glare and if that doesn't work I explain to thier parents (because invariably it's kids) how much of thier kids lives I will own if any thing happens to the engine and train.  Most parents are truely shocked at how much the engines and cars cost and have had no real idea how much a steamer and 40 cars is really worth.
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