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Subject: 
Re: Do you care about the perception of AFOLs/ALEs in the wider community?
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.general
Date: 
Mon, 15 Oct 2007 12:51:04 GMT
Viewed: 
3904 times
  
In lugnet.general, Timothy Gould wrote:
Hi all,

One issue which I see brought up on LUGNET quite frequently (mostly but not
exclusively in relation to trains) is the perception of AFOLs/ALEs by the
'wider' community (where wider has various meanings). So since I'm a curious
fellow I'd like to ask:

Do you care about the opinion of the 'wider' community? (and who do you mean by
'wider')?

Not particularly.  By wider I am referring to the general public.  There are
those people that "get it" and those that don't.  To each their own.  I'll admit
I get some funny looks when I tell people I still play with Lego.  It's funny
how fast those looks change from skepticism to awe once they actually see the
layout in the flesh.  I had some co-workers who were a little skeptical until
they went to a recent train show and saw thew GMLTC and TC-LTC layouts.  After
that they never questioned my enthusiasm for Lego again.  :-)  I think my
in-laws were a little concerned as well at first.  However, after seeing the big
layouts (GMLTC & TC-LTC) and seeing some of the MOC's that Stacy and I have put
together, their fairly supportive now and even buy me Lego as presents.

I think it really helps that my wife is an AFOL as well (she's a Castle and
Harry Potter fan).  I think if it was just me who was into it, more people would
see me as crazy (not that I really care).  For those of you that don't know
Stacy, she comes off as a pretty cool customer.  She's a nice, level-headed,
cool chick and...well I'll say this before someone else does...it doesn't hurt
that she's hot.  I think that gives me more clout...or something.  Did that make
sense?

But I digress...

Also, the group of friends that Stacy and I run with are...shall we say...not
your average humans.  Our friends don't really follow mainstream trends and,
thus, they're much more accepting/tolerant of odd (read: not mainstream)
interests than the average person.

So to summarize...

1) I really don't care what the general public thinks.
2) I'm happy when the general public "gets it".
3) I'm always excited to see more people take up Lego as a hobby.


Would you like to see LEGO 'accepted' as a 'valid' hobby?

I'm not sure about this.  Part of me really likes being involved in a "niche"
hobby where the community is so small, we all know each other. It's kinda like
stage rallying in the United States (we used to race).  Small group of close
knit crazies that are totally enamored with their hobby.

So, I don't know.  I guess I could go either way.  If it gets "accepted"
whatever.  If not...I don't really care.  Either way, I'll still be enjoying
Lego for many, many years to come.


Why does it matter (or not matter)?

Tim

Good post Tim.  Critical thinking is fun.  :-)



Message is in Reply To:
  Do you care about the perception of AFOLs/ALEs in the wider community?
 
Hi all, One issue which I see brought up on LUGNET quite frequently (mostly but not exclusively in relation to trains) is the perception of AFOLs/ALEs by the 'wider' community (where wider has various meanings). So since I'm a curious fellow I'd (...) (17 years ago, 15-Oct-07, to lugnet.general)

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