Am I the only one?

[Pontiled]

I'm not a complainer and I'm certainly not trying to get into a contest with anyone, but...

I have spent more than 30 years in the hobby and met many great people in it. My wife and I have been advanced collectors and enjoy showing the bottles to people, NOT to brag, but that, in our opinions, is one way you learn about antique bottles and glass. I've published 3 different type of books (one in its third edition) for the hobby and several others plus countless articles, brochures, etc. We try to help people as they learn and come up in the hobby. Are people now just using people and never say "Thank you" when you take of your time to help them? It sure seems like we have a very different crowd now.

Tell me I'm wrong, please!

 

[Flaschenjager]

Hi Mike and all,
I'd love to make excuses for the ones who do not use thank yous and etc., but that would be wrong. I have a website showing some things I collect and dig, because of that, I guess, I get many letters-emails asking just about everything bottle related. Weekly, I must answer and reply on average to about 10-15 letters. Monthly, I say 50+ emails.

I only get one (1) Thank you, if I'm lucky, every couple months.

The replies reqiure, as some know, a lot of typing, research and time. When I do not know the answer, I still reply and tell them where to find the answer (local club, contact or website).

This site and the people who frequent it are the best. Keep in mind that some just sign up to post one or two questions and rarely return. A couple of those visitors, I'm sure, could care less, hence the no "thank yous".

Let's hope things turn around, and for the better.
Thanks for reading this! Hee..hee!

 

[Harry Pristis]

Thank you, Meech, for your post.

I don't think human nature has changed. The WWW and its anonymity has allowed a new set of manners to take hold. People will say things they shouldn't, or fail to say things they should, because there are none of the social pressures that exist in a face-to-face contact. Even on the telephone, there is still an etiquette that is often ignored on the Internet.

This forum has a lot of "drop-ins," no doubt. The frequent posters, who are the advanced collectors, have a greater chance of actually meeting face-to-face say at a show. These are the posters that have the least anonymity and are most likely to follow good "netiquette." That's just my observation.

Those who expose themselves and their collecting interest on WWW (and I do that) have to expect e-mails of all sorts. Some work out nicely, some don't, but it's all feedback! If you get an e-mail from a stranger asking a question, he must think you know something. That is status and esteem. Those are motivators. We all need that.

If the questions and lack of manners becomes more annoying than rewarding, we can always remove our "contact me" hyperlinks from those web-pages, I guess.

------Harry Pristis[8|]

 

[cyberdigger]

This one is timeless.. notice the date of the previous posts.. [&:]

 

[JOETHECROW]

Cybe....Thank you for posting this old thread...[] Good manners should never go out of style.

 

[rockbot]

I remember the days when you let someone go ahead of you at a traffic stop and get a friendly wave. Now they act as if you don't even exist![:'(]

 

[epackage]

ORIGINAL: cyberdigger

This one is timeless.. notice the date of the previous posts.. [&:]

I was just ready to welcome Harry back when I saw your post Charlie, either way the sentiment is the same....

 

[Bixby Bill]

I`ve noticed the different attitudes that some of the younger bottle collectors have. I think that the bottle hobby has attracted people now who see it as a way to make money, and the people they network with are there as a means to an end - PROFIT. They don`t want to know you as a collector but as someone they can get deals from if they pretend they are your friend. As soon as you catch onto their game, they act like you`re the bad person! I don`t mean that all the new collectors are like this, but the percentage of them is a lot higher than it ever was.
This has happened to me several times in the last few years, new collectors I give deals to because the bottles were going into their collections, only to find out that the bottles were going right on eBay. Then when I stop doing things their way, they act like I`m a bad person to be around.
I hope this isn`t a new trend, I`ve always believed in my 36 years of collecting that it is as much about the friendships you make as it is about the glass. Has anybody else notice this or am I just been unlucky in the newbies who have found me?

 

[cyberdigger]

Sounds like average luck.. I believe it's always been like that.. [8|]

 

[Bixby Bill]

I guess then that I`ve been lucky in most of the people I`ve met in the past. A month ago I was set up at the local flea market and a young boy, probably about 12 or so, talked about bottles and digging with me for quite a while and he was quite knowledgable. I sold him a few medicines, that was the area he liked the best, and his father was there supporting his choices on what to buy. Meeting young and serious collectors like that more than makes up for the other end of the spectrum.