HaggisBotherer
Member
- Joined
- 25 Sep 2018
- Messages
- 253
I have a number of varied interests and hobbies, of which railways are just one. And the one thing I find most offputting about any of those interests is coming across the sort of people who seem to have no other interest apart from that particular one. And it's all they ever talk about!
I have often told friends and family about, when I was a teenage trainspotter in the final days of the Deltics, I would be sat quietly on a platform trolley on Welwyn Garden City, Doncaster, York or wherever station, minding my own business, as far from others as possible and deliberately avoiding eye contact. Yet every single time some personality vacuum with an Adidas bag and a notebook would unerringly zero in and, uninvited, start talking at me about everything to do with the bloody railway.
Every hobby or interest seems to have its 'hardcore nerdinista' and, if you have one inflicted on you, no matter how many times you try to change the subject or talk about something else, they just blithely bang on about the same thing and don't seem to be in the slightest bit interested in knowing about anything else than their favourite subject.
Of course I know that there are people with genuine mental issues that they can't help and I sympathise with them. But there seem to be an awful lot more who don't have 'issues', but simply aren't interested in anything else outside their chosen interest. And are determined to air their knowledge about it.
When I was younger, I assumed that people would grow out of it. But they seem to have come along too. As I approach middle age there seem to be an awful lot of blokes who are old enough to know better, still indulging in a willy-waving determination to show off how much they know about whatever the only subject is that they seem to have any interest whatsoever in.
Am I the only one who finds that this sort of character can really spoil the enjoyment of a hobby for those who have a healthier, multi-faceted set of interests? Or for those who can enjoy (for example) the sight, smell and sound of a steam locomotive, but really couldn't care less about Timken roller bearings, the precise shade of BR green or the dates that it was shedded at Bath Green Park?
It doesn't only happen with railways (I know several people who only ever talk about politics), but it seems that in many interests I have just as much difficulty avoiding these folk now as I did 40 years ago. (I bet they've still got the Adidas bag at home!)
I have often told friends and family about, when I was a teenage trainspotter in the final days of the Deltics, I would be sat quietly on a platform trolley on Welwyn Garden City, Doncaster, York or wherever station, minding my own business, as far from others as possible and deliberately avoiding eye contact. Yet every single time some personality vacuum with an Adidas bag and a notebook would unerringly zero in and, uninvited, start talking at me about everything to do with the bloody railway.
Every hobby or interest seems to have its 'hardcore nerdinista' and, if you have one inflicted on you, no matter how many times you try to change the subject or talk about something else, they just blithely bang on about the same thing and don't seem to be in the slightest bit interested in knowing about anything else than their favourite subject.
Of course I know that there are people with genuine mental issues that they can't help and I sympathise with them. But there seem to be an awful lot more who don't have 'issues', but simply aren't interested in anything else outside their chosen interest. And are determined to air their knowledge about it.
When I was younger, I assumed that people would grow out of it. But they seem to have come along too. As I approach middle age there seem to be an awful lot of blokes who are old enough to know better, still indulging in a willy-waving determination to show off how much they know about whatever the only subject is that they seem to have any interest whatsoever in.
Am I the only one who finds that this sort of character can really spoil the enjoyment of a hobby for those who have a healthier, multi-faceted set of interests? Or for those who can enjoy (for example) the sight, smell and sound of a steam locomotive, but really couldn't care less about Timken roller bearings, the precise shade of BR green or the dates that it was shedded at Bath Green Park?
It doesn't only happen with railways (I know several people who only ever talk about politics), but it seems that in many interests I have just as much difficulty avoiding these folk now as I did 40 years ago. (I bet they've still got the Adidas bag at home!)