Re: PC: PCHS and the 70s

["Roger P. Hensley" <rhensley@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

>From: NES3524 <NES3524 -AT- aol.com>
>Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1998 23:43:59 EDT
>To: penn-central -AT- smellycat.com
>Subject: Re: PC: PCHS and the 70s
>
>
>In a message dated 98-04-09 17:52:16 EDT, bobr -AT- tridelta.com writes:
>
><<  I felt exactly the same kind of isolation in my 20's when I'd visit a 
> hobby shop for the first time only to find the atmosphere somehow
cloistered
> and self-referential. >>
>
>I certainly felt the same way as a teenager in the early 1970s at certain
>hobby shops and NMRA events.  It's many years later, but I can sure
>empathize with the younger folks today.  I hope we don't come across that
>way to them now, because if anything would chase someone out of the
>hobby, that would do it.  

        Of course we come across that way UNLESS we go out of our
        way to introduce ourselves and make the newcomer welcome.
        This applies to old and young alike! I received the 'look'
        because I was the outsider coming in when I entered many
        hobby shops over the years. I made up my mind that it didn't
        have to be that way and it wasn't for the short time that I
        owned a hobby shop. Young and old were both welcome. Sometimes
        the older modeler was upset because I spent time with the 
        younger model. My viewpoint was that there would be no hobby
        if we didn't catch the younger modeler.

        For a variety of reasons, (stint of poor health, theft, severe
        economic downturn) I closed my shop and went out to find a job.
        :-(  But, I still have 20 somethings that smile and greet me
        warmly when they see me. They were the 'kids' that I spent
        time with in the store. 

        So, you see, we don't have to come across poorly. It's up to
        us just as it is up to the store owner that services you. You
        can't help what he and the guys around the 'Cracker Barrel' do,
        but you can be darn sure that you go out of your way to do
        what you can for others when you meet them in a club or
	NMRA meet or in a hobby shop. Age is no barrier to courtesy. 

        [I'll wipe away the tear and send this now.]
        

>Still, I also met lots of nice people both in the hobby and on the RR.
>My late buddy Kirby and I, rather than being treated like annoying
>teenagers (which perhaps we were!)  were treated very well by many PC
>(and LIRR) men in places like Sunnyside Yard, NY, in those years.

        Probably better than I was treated by some of the PRR people
        in Anderson. :-)

>Ned Schwartz
>

Roger 

Roger Hensley - 00rphensley -AT- bsuvc.bsu.edu - rhensley@ecicnet.org
Information Systems Specialist - Ball State University  - Muncie, IN
                             
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