My first star party was a disaster

Started by Paul Austin, 08/28/2005 05:44AM
Posted 09/02/2005 04:16AM #10
Been nothing but a solo deal for me, wife could care less. My first star thingy was a local park star gaze. I got the guts to go by myself, missed the short meeting and then I asked where everybody going, up the hill to where the scopes were. 'bout 10 scopes set up for people to look thru, nice. What I found kinda funny, and tough luck was that none of the scope bringers hardly talked to each other or mingled. Definitely a few snotty types who been around along time, obvious. Not one person said hi to me till I broke the ice and said hi. A lot of them tried to be way to tech for the people who were there, maybe trying to pump up the wow factor. One guy brought a 16" dob Meade that he packed in his van and wound up being the most approachable. He and I were last to leave, observing and trying to see stuff thru the cloudy night. That was the good part, the rest of the night was a lot of being talked down to, until I let them know I have looked up in the sky also. I guess if you are the one with the telescope everybody else is a one step above slime. Most seemed this way. Out of the 10 scopers and their posse, 3 were outgoing,2generous and nice. The most unapproachable were the local college professors, so sad. When I left, I left with about the same as I came, nobody wanted to talk about their clubs, emails, hooking up again for more sky observing, believe me I asked em all about thier clubs or where they view.
I feel better now that I got that off my chest whether anybody reads this or not.
I did tell them all about this site smile
Brian
Posted 09/23/2005 10:30PM #11
Well, I guess it should be expected in astronomy as much as my other previous hobbies: With birdwatchers the lingo and disdain drove me and my wife away, with cyclists the same, the only group I've ever felt welcome was runners (I guess everyone hurts the same)
Sorry to hear your experience, by all means stick to your guns and your "small" scope, by stating how you were welcomed, you may have started to change the dynamics of the group already.
Mike Hensen