I agree with all that everyone else had to say. Being new into this hobby, and with alot to learn, it can be very intimidating to ask questions, when you have the know-it-all types out there. Sometimes we just stand back and don't ask the questions. I have found in my area a fantastic hobby and train shop the the man runs out of the back of his house. He has built a shop in the back. When you go in the first thing someone does is welcome you in, and then you hear, there is fresh coffee in the back or cold soda in the fridge, help yourself! They are very helpful if you have a question, and usually on Saturday afternoons there are quite a few regulars hangin around, and they are just as helpful. Just a great pleasant experiance from a true " local hobby shop".
Bob
My club operates our modular layout at several shows each year. We always get our share of obnoxious, rivet counting, know it all PITA viewers. We try to answer their questions and be polite and fortunatly they move on and don't hang around too long. We also get our share of people who don't know what soap and hot water are for.
On the other hand we have been to many shows as viewers ourselves and have found that layout operators can be just as obnoxious and short tempered when asked simple questions about their layout, rolling stock or scenic materials. I don't ask questions anymore unless it is to someone I know because some people ignore them and turn away or give an answer that had nothing to do with the question. When my club is operating at a show we are very outgoing with viewers and even allow people to test run a purchase on our layouts. Fortunatly most of the people i've met through the hobby are pleasant and do much to promote the hobby.
pike-62...WOW! I did not recognise you. The ladies reaction was...HUH. Dad then said, loud enough for the whole store to hear, You are the person the world revolvs around.
Now THAT's good!
99% of all MRR's are great people who really don't care how you approach the hobby, what you run, how you run it or how it looks. Unless of course you ask for help, or they get the feeling you might want some assistance by the way you talk and they may offer assistance. They want to be nice and yet helpful. They believe it's your RR and if you enjoy it, well then great. After all the more people who buy MRR stuff, the longer the manufacturers and hobby shops will stay open. Besides, it's not like they have to lay around and look at my layout every day. But....... as in every hobby, sport and profession, there is the 1 % who we hear the most from. The expert. That self appointed Director of The Way Things Should Be Done. You know the one and only way. Yes they annoy me, but I feel more sorry for them than anything. I mean, do they really have that much of an ego problem, a feeling of being less than adequate in who knows what, that they must inflick on everyone how much they know or how much better they are than others? ( or at least think they are) Usually these are also the people who sit around with the only correct outlook on every subject they come across. I know a few myself and they really are nice people, you just dread talking to them for any length of time because you know you'll be getting a lecture about which direction your rain gage is facing, a stern chastising about the brand of tires I run or the.... . You get the idea. We just nod our heads and let them blow.
Todd
Central Illinoyz
In order to keep my position as Master and Supreme Ruler of the House, I don't argue with my wife.
I'm a small town boy. A product of two people from even smaller towns. I don’t talk on topic….. I just talk.
I stay pretty quiet at trainshows, try to enjoy and learn and ignore the bores. However, when I am on tour at home, I post a sign saying "we are glad to have you visit the railroad. If you have questions, please feel free to ask. If you want to offer advice, please do so, but any insulting language, foul language, or overbearing demeanor will be grounds for eviction from the premises. We are here to enjoy and learn from each other, nothing more, nothing less."
I haven't had to evict anyone yet, but come close a couple of times. If you have visitors over for a social evening, you don't expect to have them complain about the food, bathroom facilities or other items, the same courtesy should apply to the hobby area.
wholeman This other "patron" came over and started telling the guy that it was pathetic that those cars weren't more detailed for this show. I was watching all of this and my mouth usually gets me in trouble. I explained to him that this gentleman just purchased those cars and hadn't had the time to detail them the way he wanted. The "patron" just gave us all a dirty look and walked away. The owner thanked me and let me operate the train for 30 minutes. Anyways, the question is has any of you witnessed anything like this? I am not involved in any clubs but I felt sorry for the guy. He was allowed to run his new train at the show and someone chastized hime for.
This other "patron" came over and started telling the guy that it was pathetic that those cars weren't more detailed for this show. I was watching all of this and my mouth usually gets me in trouble. I explained to him that this gentleman just purchased those cars and hadn't had the time to detail them the way he wanted. The "patron" just gave us all a dirty look and walked away. The owner thanked me and let me operate the train for 30 minutes.
Anyways, the question is has any of you witnessed anything like this? I am not involved in any clubs but I felt sorry for the guy. He was allowed to run his new train at the show and someone chastized hime for.
I find it kind of funny that there are people who will lecture someone on how something is not to prototype when the fellow buyiing the thing is usually someone who details the pieces to their specifications. ASSUMING is the name of the game, I guess.
So it is with Rivit Counters. Not all Rivit Counters do the boor thing. I know of several so called rivit counters who are extremely helpful and do not act like unto a boor---like one I know.
This boor-- I want to be quite plain here that I'm talking about boorish behaviour and not someone's rivit counting-- has a whole bunch of people basically scared to go into this one fellows open house any more. Why? Not only does he smell of goat--maybe he sleeps in a goat pen--but he is so loud in his insulting of others layouts that all and sundry in the neighbourhood could hear him. At one time I thought it was his hearing that was off but he heard me muttering to someone else one night and proceeded to lecture me on listening when others were talking. Not that anyone else was---couldn't be heard over his volume anyways. A few minutes of this--and here I sat trying to look behind him for the volume control---no ---no volume control--so I announced that he had no volume control---which broke everyone up into laughter----and he tromped off into the night----have not seen him back but---but---but
Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry
I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...
http://modeltrainswithmusic.blogspot.ca/
My dad and I were at a store waiting to check out. It was a particularly busy day and the store was short staffed so the lines got a little long. Most people were content and the lines were going fairly smooth. In front of us there was a lady just having a bad time with it, complaining and wining like a two year old. My dad, in his usuall laid back demeanor looked her in the eye, sttod back a second, looked again with a surprised look on his face and exclaimed...WOW! I did not recognise you. The ladies reaction was...HUH. Dad then said, loud enough for the whole store to hear, You are the person the world revolvs around. The lady got so mad she threw her purchases on the ground and stormed out of the store to a loud ovation from the rest of the customers
My approach is to look at the person, wait a few seconds, and then say, slowly, "....and...?" He may say something more, in which case he will be met by another pause, and another, louder, "...AND...!!?"
Even the most obtuse of basement dwellers gets it by the second time.
-Crandell
I wish I could have said, as the owner of the Walthers cars, "Yes, they aren't perfectly and absolutely detailed, so it would be great if you could bring your passenger cars here to run. When can we expect you? It would be great to "wow" the crowd."
Mark
Imagine what would've happened if he put a Tyco GG-1 on the track with old Life-Like passenger cars.
Some people have it in their head that everything they know is always best. Those people annoy me. But, those people will always be around somewhere, so I've just learned to deal with it. And besides, I'm the one who really knows what's best all the time!
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It's sad but is also a part of the hobby that rude over zealous rivet counters that think they are model railroad geniuses and legends in their own minds can give others just having fun in this hobby so much grief.
We have some of those types in this area. We have this one particular guy that is extremely rude and the biggest know -it-all about anything train related there is but when you visit his layout, never has one of his trains made it even one lap around the his layout without shorting out or derailing. Go figure.....but usually, there's always one in every crowd....chuck
sounds like you have had a close encounter with a "funny hat" type. i have run into this type in hobby shops back when we had them. they usually take up counter space and the owner's time by holding court and lecturing on the thread pitch of GP-7 door hinge bolts or some other asinine subject.
i think a lot of them live in their automobiles and some are like goats, you can smell where they have been.
after all, we are only as God made us and some of us are much, much worse.
grizlump (grumpy german)
I love going to train shows. I love looking at the displays and browsing the booths. I was thinking back to one that was held in Tulsa, OK earlier this year.
I have to tell this story that I thought a certain patron was downright rude. I was watching a display layout from one of the local clubs. One of the members had a passenger train operating with no lights and was obvious that he just purchased the cars, because I saw him inspect everyone of them before placing them on the track. They were Walthers heavywieghts and they seemed to take the curves quite well. The cars had no lighting obviously and no figures for that matter. I don't think the interiors were painted. Anyway, I thought it was nice for him to display them.
Will