Karl, K1MH hit the nail on the head and was very accurate in describing the scene at hamfests and other "Ham" gatherings. If you can't see that as an accurate description of the late 1990s and early 2000s ham, YOU MUST BE BLIND OR ONE OF THE SLOBS he described.
I have been a ham for fifty years and the "creep" problem appeared in the last 30 or so years. When I became a ham, the typical ham was the local TV repairman, postal worker, teacher, bank teller, hardware store owner, college student or high school student, former military CW operator, former News Press CW operator, radio/tv station engineer. All of of the hams, I knew in the fifties, had at least one pair of CLEAN Kahki pants, a pair of CLEAN Kahki shirts (very neatly washed and ironed, a "man's haircut), a NEAT beard or mustache, if any at all, NO BLACK DIRT OR SH_T under their finger nails. My elmers were K5HFI,SK, hardware store owner, graduate engineer and former employee of Bell Labs, K5LND, SK,teacher of watch making at local vocational school, and WWII POW who escaped the Batan Death March twice. My novice exam was given by Jimmy Moss, former UPI PRESS CW operator(60+ wpm) and my conditional by W5JGI who became a Professor of Microbiology and is still an active Ham. I guess that my associates were "a cut above" and didn't look like they crawled from under a log. I held my standards up as most Hams did back in 1958. I do not apologize for washing my clothes, shaving, taking a bath, and washing my hands and keeping the crap from under my finger nails. I am almost 70 years old, and bald headed, but I still have pride in my appearance. Ham radio's ranks reflect a cross section of America that has no pride in their appearance, speech or education. I know some of you are are saying "I HEARD THAT", "KNOW WHUDA MEAN", "YOU HEAH ME", and espousing your vast two meter knowledge of "WHITE NOISE" and talking in cute little sound bites on 75 mtrs. Booger pickers and butt scratchers, please do not reply until I get my surgeons mask on. By the way, I have not changed your image or opinions and you will not changte mine, so don't bother to try. 73, John, K5PGW 20 wpm "Extra Class" [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > So now we have a physically-fit elite in ham radio > that are the *real* > hams, and the overweight ones are CBers or losers? > That kind of > stereotyping makes me sick. You should be ashamed. > > Good people and real hams come in all shapes and > sizes, as do the bad > 'uns. > > And by the way, today most retail shoplifters are > quite slim - meth > abuse does that to a person. > > Steve WD8DAS > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://www.wd8das.net/ > ------------------------------------------------ > Radio is your best entertainment value. > ------------------------------------------------ > > > ________________________________________________________________________ > More new features than ever. Check out the new AOL > Mail ! - > http://webmail.aol.com > ______________________________________________________________ > Our Main Website: http://www.amfone.net > AMRadio mailing list > List Rules (must read!): > http://w5ami.net/amradiofaq.html > List Home: > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/amradio > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.html > Post: mailto:[email protected] > To unsubscribe, send an email to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] with > the word unsubscribe in the message body. > ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ ______________________________________________________________ Our Main Website: http://www.amfone.net AMRadio mailing list List Rules (must read!): http://w5ami.net/amradiofaq.html List Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/amradio Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.html Post: mailto:[email protected] To unsubscribe, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word unsubscribe in the message body.
