woman off her rocker!!!!

[warthog steve]

Hey everybody-if you get a chance,read that article on lost treasure online that that nit-witted woman wrote-Metal detecting -the worlds worst hobby-Then, I am asking EVERYBODY to flood her with e-mails!!! If she did not like the hobby, thats fine;dont go around bad-mouthing all the men,women and children that do. Her e-mail address is- guineapig@slate.com

 

[coinshooter]

I really don't mind the article. I felt that way too when I first started. You would take a look around and it was just a bunch of fat old men quietly traveling around on the beach. Most of them look like roly polies (ie big old belly, barely able to bend over and scoop up what they find). I was intimidated by this "stereotype" when I first started and so I stayed away from the beaches and concentrated on the parks where "I wouldn't be seen by anyone who knew me". Even now, I tell folks I am into metal detecting and some of them give you a look like "oh, my god, you don't do THAT do you". My first few times at the beach on a crowded day were very intimidating. You can just feel 50 pairs of eyes on everything you find and everything you put into your scoop. Only the brave one's will ask you the "eternal stupid question", "uh.... did you find anything?" , my response is usually to pretend that I don't hear them because I have my headphones on, but I want to say' "no dummy, I am just out here because I love the salt air, I only have this thing here to help me walk and listen to the radio". They usually lean over to a friend and say "oh, he can't hear me ". Sometimes the looks even get downright hostile if you get too close to a sensitive person. I have never been involved in a fight or a hassle yet, but people get real possesive of their little 6 foot square of sand and the adjoining 6 feet or so around it. So, yes, in some ways I do agree with this lady and her daughters view. We do look like a bunch of nerds, but as far as I am concerned, who cares, they are doing what they want to do and I am doing what I like to do. Without those folks on the beaches giving us dirty looks, none of us would be finding much! After all, the best way to look at this article is that she is allowing you to do what you want to do without 5 guys on each side of you with detectors also. If you really want to send some complaints to someone, send them to White's for putting out those stupid commercials that make everyone think that when they buy a detector, they are going to be finding diamond rings galore and become rich while losing weight at the same time.
Just my take on it. wink

 

[MDnoob]

Well said 'shooter.

Yep, the stigma surrounding MDing certainly is annoying. The metal detecting community just needs to recruit some boderline bodybuilders to do the beach hunting, thus changing the stereotype.

Something I always wanted to try: Go decked out in BDU's and sunglasses, boots and everything, and when asked: "I am searching for evidence." --or-- " I could tell you what I have found, but then I would have to kill you sir/ma'm." Cryptic answers coupled with X-files type psudo-military involvement will have the locals spouting about ancient spacecraft wrecks in the area in no time!

...just kidding...stuff I think about when I am bored at work... :lol:

 

[Lowbatts]

Slate article

Remember, you were reading from a member of the Slate staff, if they don't do it, it is not hip, cool, all that or whatever they consider "in."

I was metal detecting in a local forest preserve once when a very lovely lady got out of her Mercedes and approached me. I noticed it peripherally but was recovering one of a multitude of nickels left behind by more discriminatory hunters. Expecting the usual thrashing for despoiling the wild for profit, I kept my head bowed in recovery and readied for the assault.

She spoke in a soft and beautiful voice about how relaxed I appeared and how whatever I was doing must be very fulfilling. She sat down beside me, perhaps age 35, a gorgeoous summer dress that riffled in the slight early summer breeze. She asked in her intoxicating voice just what this hobby could be?

A slight buzzing sound growing louder, I reached over and smashed the snooze button through the frame of the alarm clock. Later that morning, in a park in town that had a wino on the bench next to the playground.....

 

[warthog steve]

good thought Govcheese- Maybe it was PMS?

 

[wayne]

lowbatts - everyone should have a good sense of humor if they are a metal detectorist - i like your style. i find that for every time that you make four or five dollars an hour detecting that you have at least twelve hours at around fifty cents. i must have a sense of humor also or i wouldn't still be doing it. wayne

 

[coinshooter]

I figure I am lucky if I make $1.00 / hr. Hardly pays for gas, but it pays for solitude and peace of mind, which at way more important than the $. The jewelry, old coins and unusual stuff are what really make it worthwhile for me.

 

[lab rat]

I was passed by a couple surfers once, who looked at what I was doing and said, 'Geez- that looks SOooooo boring!'. I never give it a second thought. They've never found gold or silver lying around, contemplated the historical perspectives, and their values are different.

I don't care about what most other people think, because, frankly, it seems they really don't. Think, that is.

 

[Buck]

hey where is this story about the woman off her rocker I would like to read it Buck

 

[Lowbatts]

Yeah she's got a rocker loose

Hey, that metal detecting article is on MSN's Slate magazine. Remember, they are one of those culturally hip magazines populated largely by people who are on the far left of the political spectrum. You're pretty much on the outs culturally with them if you own metal detectors, guns, bibles, SUV's or cheap domestic beer. Here's the link: http://slate.msn.com/id/2086909/

It's not so much the critique of the hobby as the smug attitude of the article as written. Now get rid of that detector, get a Volvo and watch some Woody Allen movies, if you want to be cool, hip and on the cutting edge of whatever it is they do outside of whining.

 

[trgams]

I Have to admit that I enjoyed the article...Even though I don't agree with her, I do feel it was well written, and somewhat humorous. And it is also quite obvious that she didn't give it a very good try. The article sounds like she's embarrassed she even tried it, this has always been the cry of the unsuccessful. "I'd be a professional basketball player right now if the people who played it weren't such jerks" Will probably be the next headline of her next article, People usually don't enjoy that which they don't excell at. (it's human nature). In the mean time we all can find what she and her daughter have decided not to look for!! Cheers!

 

[MDnoob]

Amazingly, I managed to make it through the entire article without falling asleep.

What really astounds me is that someone paid an aging housewife a good bit of money to write an article which perpetuates a well known and boring stereotype while flaunting her own ignorance and short attention span. "Well I didn't find a gold dollar in the first hour, so I quit."