N6PSE's Blog

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The Curmudgeon factor

Posted: 10 Jul 2017 11:30 AM PDT
https://n6pse.wordpress.com/2017/07/...udgeon-factor/




When Hams gather, we often talk about ways to bring young people into the
Hobby. I think one of the factors we fail to address is the Curmudgeon
factor. Whenever you look at photos of a DX Club meeting, take a look at
the faces in the crowd. How many of them are smiling or have a grin on
their face? Chances are that most of us have a big frown on our face.

DXers by nature seem to be introverts and are not the “life of the party�.
I feel that many amateurs are surely and just plain unfriendly to new
comers.

When I was in Elementary school. There was a house on my route to school
that had a big tower and an antenna. I had an idea that the owner was a Ham
and I would have loved to have talked to him about his station. The owner
was often out in his yard, garden hose in hand and no one wanted to get too
close to him. He always had a surely look and was not in any way
approachable. I walked by his house for six years and never felt that I
could approach and talk to him.

Many years later, when my friend George-N6NKT and I visited our local DX
Club for the first time, we both came away with the impression that the
gathering was full of Curmudgeons and was not at all friendly or welcoming
to new comers. We let a few years go by and made another visit and found
the Club more welcoming. We joined the club and have been members ever
since.

I think the point that I am trying to make is that many of us because of
our personalities can turn young people off before they even get a chance
to see the “magic� of radio or learn how exciting and fun it can be. First,
they have to get past the Curmudgeons.

Are you a Curmudgeon?Â* What can you do to make the hobby more welcoming to
newcomers?

What do you think?