Why are so many so angry?

Nicole you are so right, there are so many other problems to worry about, this hobby is suppose to make people happy. I have plenty of problems, for one I am injured very bad and I have very bad nerve damage. My wive has M.S and my mom has a bad heart valve and my dad has diabetes. There's even more but I'll stop there. Everyone should be enjoying this hobby like I do because it's a total get away from the real world. I come down into the layout room and it takes all of my worries and problems away for a while.

 

NICOLE GREAT THREAD

 

THANKS,ALEX

please dont include me ..... I am livin the dream......

I'm the luckiest guy in the world because my work is my hobby and my hobby is my work. 

 

I was playing with my trains a bit this morning, and am now just about ready to settle back with a glass of Merlot, some smoked Gouda, salami slices, grapes, and crackers, and enjoy an afternoon of train videos.

 

All you angry, bitter, disgruntled, or otherwise unhappy folks out there...please take care! Life is short and fragile! 

And I thought VOX was banned for good???

True on all counts, Nicole - great comments!

Why are so many so angry?

 

1) It has been 90 degrees to 103 degrees for a MONTH, here in the Chicago area!

 

2) Our Property tax bill just came!!!!!!!!!

 

3) Our electric bill will also prevent purchasing anymore trains!

 

4) The political wars, and absolutely NOTHING is getting accomplished!

 

You wonder why I'm/we're angry, BooBoo?

     Nicole and Alex: Great posts! The hobby is supposed to be just that- something to take you away from all of the worries and problems of the daily grind.

 

     If people get that angry over their hobby, then I would not want to know how they conduct the rest of their lives.

 

     Life is short and it just does not pay to sweat the small details.

 

John Knapp

Erie, not Eerie

As you know the chinese control us and have been for some time.  Don't buy what's not good,  let it rust!

And it tends to be even shorter and more fragile for those that are angry all the time. Increased stress leads to all sorts of bad health problems.

Great post!  Mean people STINK!  PLEASE maintain civility, this is an escape.  If you don't like Lionel or MTH or whoever, post the issue and vote with your dollars.  We are here to connect, share and learn.  Leave the battle-happy attitude for other arenas.

 

If you have a suggestion regarding a layout, quality issue, items for sale etc. post respectful suggestions or solutions or whatever.  Talk to people like you are face to face or how you would like to be addressed.

 

I'm gonna go run trains on my unfinished layout!

 

Cliff

Excellent advice Nicole!

Allan I'm also lucky because I'm doing just about the same thing as you. I ran trains this morning and now the whole family is coming over for a BBQ and we will have some wine and enjoy. Then tomorrow morning I will run a few trains again, and then do what I have to do. ENJOY!  THAT'S WHAT THIS HOBBY IS ALL ABOUT

 

 

 

Thanks, Alex

Nicole,

     Your observations are spot on, the question is, what to do about it. The answer is simple, nothing. Members who feel compelled to complain, argue or incite will be silenced just by others ignoring their comments, if you don't feed a fire it goes out by itself.

     I joined this forum for advice, info and to pass on what I have learned. The complaining, chest pounding and rudeness of some should not take away from the well intentioned helpful members who are in the majority here.

     There is an old Latin phrase,"illegitimum non carborundum", which loosely translates to "don't let the ******* rub you the wrong way", words to live by.

Regards,

Joe Geiser

Nicole,

 

Your comments are certainly dead on.  And while there never really is any excuse for bad behavior I can easily see what is driving so many people over the edge.  I think that for many their stress levels have been rising for a good amount of time.  It just seems like everything is broken.  I think this is especially true for the more senior members.  They (me) have worked a long time.  And now see their savings, home vales, etc, dropping dramatically. They are also having to look more and more at helping their kids financially .  Obviously there are those who are shielded from many of today's ills and they are very fortunate.  So I think that when we see some of these irrational types of posts I am guessing that some of the posters are really stressed over a bunch of non train related issues and are in a bad frame of mind when they respond.

 

As some others have said, this hobby is a respite for me from the goings on in the world.    But I am fortunate in that we've been pretty well insulated from many of the hard financial issues of the day.  I wish every day that we all could return to some level of normalcy in our lives.  I do believe that were that to happen we would see a lot more considerate responses to heated posts.

 

Ed

I MUST COMMENT AGAIN NICOLE YOUR 100% RIGHT NO BODY UNDERSTANDS THEY THINK ITS JUST LIONEL. ITS NOT ITS ALL THE TRAINS COMPANIES AND ALSO EVERYTHING ELSE. THERE IS NO QUALITY CONTROL IN ANYTHING ANY MORE . BRAND NEW CARS THAT COME RIGHT OFF THE ASSEMBLY LINE HAVE TONS OF PROBLEMS AND NO ONE CAN TELL ME DIFFERENT I WORKED IN THE BUSINESS FOR 18 YEARS. SO ONCE AGAIN ITS EVERYTHING. SO ENJOY THE HOBBY.

 

EVERYTHING THATS BEING PRODUCED IS GARAGE TODAY

 

ALEX

Life is to short to be angry!! Chill and have fun, help others. Stay in today!!

Tomorrow might not come for you!!

 

...keep the rails polished...

I was at the Yankee game yesterday with my son. Its supposed to be a place like my train room where we can escape. I can only afford somewhat good seats once a year to go with my son. The guys walking up and down selling soda and hot dogs had calorie counts of what they were selling pinned to their shirts. No one was allowed to walk back to their seat while the batter was up. Beer sales were cut off after the 5th inning. Soon to be, the stadium in NY won't be allowed to sell drinks larger than 16 ounces. Every day wherever I go, I am watching my America fade away while a new unfamiliar America fades in. The flag I see is not the flag the guy standing next to me sees. The politicians know it and are taking advantage of it. It's been creeping into our train rooms for years too. Whether it was outlawing production of the original ZW transformer, making the trains abroad, or the latest issue being the reduced decibles on newer toy train whistles. With all this, I can see a reason or two why many folks may have shorter fuses. 

Some people just like to argue. If it is not what they would do they will argue their point to the death. I like to read them to see what num nuts they are. Sometimes I respond with my thoughts mostly I don't. All in all for me it is fun.

There certainly are problems with merchandise of all types, and the more complicated something is, the more chance for trouble.These little toys of ours are quite amazing technical objects these days, aren't they?  

 

If something doesn't work right out of the box, that doesn't mean that someone in China (or anywhere else) wasn't doing their job, rather only that some part or another isn't doing what it is supposed to do.

 

The only fair way to look at all this is to acknowledge that mistakes will happen, and the real measure of whether one should get angry about it is whether the company does a good job of taking care of problems that arise. In this, I think that Lionel is doing a pretty good job at present, from what I have heard here on the forum.

 

Room for improvement? Of course. Reason to get down on Lionel for everything? I don't think so.

 

Good post, Nicole.

Agreed. There's one recent thread (you all know which one it is) that had my head spinning. Not to be overly critical, but the amount of thought and writing that went into that particular thread boggles the mind.

 

It's good to be passionate about a topic and have opinions,  but it can be channeled into so many other worthwhile things.

 

Relax. Run trains.

............but its true.

Thanks to all who have replied. I'm happy to see that I'm not the only one who noticed this, although I am sad to see that so many others are so stressed that it intrudes into their hobby.

Please believe me when I say that I know it's not easy these days. Like others, I have seen my savings evaporate to the point that I may never be able to retire, although with my recent health history I shall consider myself extremely lucky if I ever reach that age. I won't go into detail, but to me, every day that I wake up is a bonus. I too am not happy that things are not built with the same care and quality that we once took for granted. But I try to put all of that aside when I work on my railway. Trains have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, and this hobby is my way of escaping from the problems of life and relaxing after the stress of the day. When I come to this forum it is with the desire to share my time with others who have similar interests, learn from the wisdom of the many great modellers here, ask questions if I have any, and perhaps to be able to help others if I am able to. This is a wonderful hobby, let's all enjoy it together. 

It's the internet and the new form of interacting with people. Civil discussion took a powder a long time ago and was replaced by skepticism, snarkiness and the underlying motive of showing everyone just how smart/clever/condescending one can be with the written word.

 

This is not a knock on OGR, as a forum is built on the participation of the members, not the policy of the owners. I wouldn't want the job of trying to moderate this for all the tea in Chine.

 

When we get a new signup at our much smaller train forum, if we know the person to be a good, civil and reasonable guy/gal, we activate their membership.

 

If we know them to be a brand warrior, instigator, sharpshooter, grenade tosser, trouble maker, we don't allow them membership. Why would we subject our members to the abuse dished out by a bunch of instigators? 

 

How do we know if applicants are trouble makers? We just look here. If we don't know the person, we come and look here and on other train sites to see how they interact with others. By eliminating this entire mindset, we manage to foster good train and layout discussion and build friendships. As a result, the forum is much smaller, but a stress free zone.

 

I think it could be that after spending hard earned cash on items that do not live up to the dream.

I`m guilty of being stressed as well, of the 3 items bought in the last week 1 is being sent back for a refund the other is off to Tennents trains to be repaired and the last is WONDERFUL mint in box no mileage.

So am I stressed yes but have had a good day trying to run trains that traction tyres come off, ps1 loco`s not comming out of neutral it is great,stressful if you let it get to you.

A great big sherry tonight and all is well with the world again.

James 

Nicole, who the HECK do you think you are TELLING ME I'M AGREE. I'M NOT AGREE!!!!!

 

 

OK, OK, I took my pills, I feel better. Don

In every life we have some trouble but when you worry you make it double
Don't worry, be happy.

Nicole:

 

Excellent post! 

 

RE: Your health issues, I can empathize: I have been on dialysis for seven-years, and I refuse to "go gentle into that good night", and will continue to"rage, rage against the dying of the light." - Dylan Thomas

 

Hang in there and run those trains!  

Some here need a holiday. Come over to Australia, it's winter, you can cool down and chill out. Alternatively, they could go to China, and just yell at everyone there, after all, it's all their fault.

Dear Hot Water,

I would like to invite you to the PNW: temperate climes, lower taxes, great scenery and air---great RR history.     I would also add that you can help with my train projects as you are a wealth of knowledge...   Oh---there are direct flights to ORG when you need to visit....

 

 

Believe me Brad, I have been to Portland MANY, MANY times. As part of the 4449 crew, since 1976, I am there about once a year, especially since the 4449 and my best friend, Doyle McCormack, both live there. 

 

However, I don't think my wife could take the constant gloom and rain for most of the year. Besides, we both really like the fall and winter here in the Chicago area.

Why are so many so angry?

 

What we are witnessing here is the social acting out of anger & rage before the depression hits.  (First ... then & ... then  )

 

as a great person once said " what me worry "-alfred e neuman

HW, on your next visit to portland come up to S-town and visit!

 

*chicago gets more rain than Seattle too....    we just have more cloudy days....

It's the heat!

I usually don't get much free time, what with all the work necessary to get 4449 ready for a trip, but,,,,,just what is "S-town"? 

Amen brother.

Joe I feel your pain and anger.  I'm a few yrs older than you and have seen our country go down hill over the last 2 1/2 decades.  I really think that younger folks don't fully realize what is actually happening. 

HW Seattle-- the emerald city!