[obol] Grouchy?
- From: Lars Per Norgren <larspernorgren@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2014 18:10:14 -0700
I am baffled by the critique forwarded to the list by our moderator.
Firstly, I have always been under the impression that everyone subscribing to
Obol was a recreational birder. There are people on the list that earn money as
biologists, guides, administrators , etc and could be deemed "professional"
birders, but their participation here strikes me as fully recreational. I have
also found the posts to be overwhelmingly polite. I guess it's a question of
expectations.
Internett fora are famous for their nastiness and uncivility. This is the
only one I really monitor, in large part because of its civil atmosphere. As a
young birder I was first too young to have a driver's license, then too poor to
operate a motor vehicle when I got one. A great deal of my birding was in
groups because that was my ride. These trips were invariably as much social as
ornithological, often predominately social. The demands of higher education,
raising a family, and developing a business resulted in a quarter century
hiatus for my birding. I remember how intoxicating solo birding was when I
resumed about seven years ago. I did a great deal of it, eventually reaching
satiety guess. The past year I have pretty much only birded when it was group
oriented. The social aspect has been quite rewarding and I spend a lot of time
thinking about how these various group activities might be fine-tuned,
expanded, and so forth.
I haven't experienced a significant difference between my flesh and blood
birding and the on-line version. I was a bit intimidated about posting
initially and continue to hesitate from time to time. Many people will probably
read this statement with scepticism as I have aggressively sought the limelight
from nursery school up to the present. I think that says a lot about human
nature and nothing about Obol. There have been times when I finished writing a
post and was sure it was inappropriate, seriously considered throwing it away.
Then I'd post it anyway. These angst-fraught efforts have invariably received
strong, intensely positive private responses. Every time. It's been a valuable
life lesson.
For several years I took Japanese at Portland State University. A high tech
firm had made a grant that brought Mari Noda to campus. It's safe to say that
she is the best Japanese instructor for native speakers of English in the
world. Every second in class with Noda sensei was heaven for me. To my surprise
I learned that many students dreaded her, some probably skipped the days she
was on the schedule. We typically had five different faculty members and as
many teachers' aides lead class in the course of a term. Professor X was
someone I would have loved to skip. I found the classes with him to be
excruciating. Time seemed to stand still. Low and behold, he was many students'
favorite. While attending summer school in Sapporo the head of the department
confided to us that Noda sensei and X hated each other:"The classic dog and
monkey"(a reference to Chinese astrology)to make a direct quote. I'm too lazy
to look it up, so I'll make an indirect quote of Henry David Thoreau,"To see
the world for a single second exactly the way someone else does would be an
incompehensible miracle to me." Lars
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