I actually made this mistake myself when I first got involved in my club. The club was chosen because I came across them at a 4WD/fishing expo here in Melbourne and it was only a couple miles from where I worked. It is situated in a very blue-collar neighbourhood where most of the people are employed in very menial or "lower class" jobs. Coming from a white-collar family and upper-middle class neighbourhood (doesn't say anything about my financial situation though!!), I thought I was the exception. Half a year or so later, when talk of tying was replaced occasionally with talk of personal topics, I found out that the guy I thought was somewhat 'slow' was actually a retired head of chemical engineering for a leading paint company, another was an IT professor from my university who I ran into by luck, another was a teacher, another ran a bricklaying company, another a mechanic for those huge tunnelling machinery, ...........anything from plasterer to preacher, gardener to geriatric(a few of those I must admit!)....really changed my view on things, both fishing related as well as in "civilian" life.
'Never judge a book by its cover' was never truer. Some had more money, some less, some had everything, some had nothing, some bought everything from the shop, another stole wool from his wife's knitting bag and grabbed old equipment off the street to salvage the copper wire.......and I learned a lot from all of them. The quality of the rods and reels, vices and waders were mutually exclusive of the owner's financial situation as well. Some of the poorest had the most expensive equipment (best??) whilst some of the wealthiest had the Target special rods and 15 dollar Indian vices. I love being a fly fisherman!!! R -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, 19 February 2006 4:15 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [VFB] VFB'er Occupations I am a Certified Welder of 22 yrs/Disabled Vet now. Jack of all trades, Master of NONE LOL..(to help the ends meet) LOVE NASCAR,Fly Fishing,Rookie Fly Tyer, (but with the BEST teachers right here in the world :):):) )Reading, Listening to Music and Spoiling Grand Kids, but not necessarily in that order...I guess if I had to categorize it , it would be TAKING My kids and grandkids Fly Fishing, then the others would follow, like NASCAR on the VCR while out fishing,.... Then, This list of occupations is VERY interesting to Me, because from TV, Magazines, Talking to ppl etc etc . You get the impression that a Fly Fisherman (vs a bait chunker) is a White Collar person with More degrees than a thermometer, and goes to a creek on vacation, is very rich, stuffy and things like that... Like a "snoot" or a "snob"....and NO sense of humor, and NOT a funny bone in their body...A real stuffed shirt..That is the impression I got for years, and that is the impression of ppl I meet on the lakes, etc... Then, you see a list like this and you see that they (Fly Fishers) come from all walks of life. White Collar, Blue Collar,Rich, Middle Class, Poor (ME). Some Maybe Stuffy, Many Rednecks LOL, Funny ppl, probably some not so funny. Some serious about everything. Some serious about nothing. Some of sound mind, some not LOL..... A real live "cross section" of society. Anybody else seen this "stereotype"???? Kinda the same thing about golf (and tennis or chess) was for years and years... White, Male, Rich, High IQ,Upper Middle class or higher.Stuff shirt etc etc Wife is a Stepford wife. 2.4 kids, a dog and maybe a cat... ......Chuck ----- Original Message -----
