Chris Kotting wrote:
> It seems pretty obvious to me that this is a lot more than a group of
> gearheads with nothing to discuss but their cars. One of the things
> that I have always loved about this hobby/passion/compulsion is the
> people who are attracted to it. Eccentric, ecclectic, gregarious,
> sometimes crabby, and from all walks of life.
>
Yes, Chris, perfect! Spot on. To expect people on this list to "stick to the
subject (LBCs)" is to expect them to be one-dimensional, which would rob
this list (and this group) of its humanity. Yes, this list/group is an
incredibly useful technical resource, but if people insist that it not go
beyond that, then perhaps the Haynes manual at their local library would
serve them just as well.
If a group of Spridgeteers got together at the local hangout for pizza and
beer, there would of course be a lot of LBC talk, but would there be talk of
nothing else? Of course not. The conversation would swing from cars to wind
chill to sweat glands to automatic weapons to manifold cooking to anything
user the sun...and you would follow the course of these several and
interweaving conversations as you chose...or you would not. Even then you
would have a "delete" button - it's called listening or not listening.
Yes, I have a Sprite ('69 Mk.IV) and I love talking about it, getting and
(when I can) giving help and advice. But don't expect me to be so rigidly
one-dimensional. This is not really a list about Sprites and Midgets; it's a
list about the people who, among their many and (thank God) varied other
interestes, like these cars. So if in the course of my participating in this
list I find myself wanting to spin off into the subjects of flying scale
models, Gilbert & Sullivan, science fiction movies or even good recipes for
date nut bread, I expect that some might follow and enjoy the trip, and
others would graciously decline the voyage ("delete"). Yes, yes, I know
there are lists and chat groups for all of those subjects, but again, if
someone wants me to confine my discussion of them to only those places, then
they're insisting that I assume the role of one-dimensional technical
reference. I prefer my human interactions to be with all the bells and
whistles...and even with the rough spots.
Sorry to go on like this...once a journalist, always a journalist.
Jim Algar
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