Missing the point about skiing...

[72Twenty]

Do you ever (especially in your work setting) get skiing related things directed at you becasue people know you like to ski, even if the thing is obviously way off target? Or the people just miss the point as to why you ski and to what point it is a part of your life? Like "oh, ask Jeff. He likes to go skiing..." type of thing. I guess I am not really explaining what I mean; so here is an example. Someone emailed me this cartoon thinking that I would get a kick out of it simply becasue I like to ski.



And when they see my reaction as kind of a roll eyes along with disinterest and I move on to something else, they can't understand why I didn't find that terribly funny.

Or do you ever get the people that want to tell you about how they went up to the hill and rented 180's and skied some black diamonds in their jeans and crashed and got cold? And you don't care? It has nothing to do with their ability, but rather the fact that they are only telling you becasue they know you ski, and figure you ski in the same capacity and can relate. In fact, if they didn't know you skied, they would not be relating this story to you what so ever?

And you don't feel like trying to explain this (and the way you feel about skiing) to them.

Hmmm. (shrug)

Do you know what I am trying to say?

[Dug]

Just crow, "I ski to be freeeeeeee....", and get this misty look in your eyes. And then watch their reactions.

[rideit]

Well, living here, everyone 'knows', and many don't care.

[altagirl]

I love the people who tell you that they ski "all the time". Which, when you ask a few more questions turns out to be "once or twice in the past 5 years".

[bigtrubs]

I run my university ski and snowboard club with some guys, and every time they get a retarded email asking questions that they don't know the answer to- it gets sent to me. Such as: "I want to find someone to go to Aspen with" "How do I get down to Tahoe?" "How much are lift tickets in nowhere, Saskatchewan?" "How much are rentals at every mountain in north america?" (of course I would know this, since I rent gear like, every day I go skiing 3 days a week- yeeeesh!)

[bagtagley]

It's not exclusive to skiing, I get/got the same thing w/ biking and kayaking (when I boated).

I try pretty hard to keep my personal life to myself. The less people know about me and my activities, the less likely I am to get ridiculous comics like the one above.

[lemon boy]

I find it exceedingly difficult to recommend skis to beginners/intermediates. Any ski I'd know the first thing about is going to be wholly unsuitable.

sure, the ski you're looking for is called an M103, get the 193 and if the sales dude gives you any guff tell him he's a pussy. Yes, 2-6 DIN bindings should be fine.

[homerjay]

The trick with this is to not come off as a complete elitist prick.

[Ireallyliketoski2]

One time this guy who calls himself a 'skier' came into work with a pair of sub 85mm waist skis with marker bindings. I quickly grabbed the skis from him, threw them in the garbage, then kicked the guy in the shins.

Sometimes it's a little extra work being this 'core' but I'm used to it by now.

[BigDaddy]

I use that "image of expertise" to my advantage. I frequently hint how sexually active I am, so I'm constantly being sent virgins...

[Cono Este]

I hate it when people in the midwest tell me there is skiing here. Or when my wifes family saw me pack up my stuff in tahoe and tried to reassure me that we have a "ski hill" here too. Fuck that!!

I see people out here with ski racks and I am still trying to figure it out. Or when I had my skis tuned before a Utah trip and when I went to pick them up there was a crowd of people staring at them? what are they? They are so big? Powder skis?

Excuse me while I bang my head on my desk for the rest of the day.

[Tippster]

Three things actually said to me in my office the week before I went to UT (2 weeks ago) :

"Oh, do you use those Parabolic Skis? I heard they're great."

"You should try Snowboarding, it's much cooler now."

"You're going to Utah? I love Sun Valley."

[Steven S. Dallas]

Yeah, I hate it when people take interest in me and try to make conversation. But wait a second- if everyone was as rad as I am, I wouldn't be rad anymore! What a conundrum.

[The AD]

How's this one? There's a guy who sits near me at work who, every Friday before leaving, says "if you go schussing this weekend, don't kiss a tree!"

It just gets funnier every time he says it, I tell ya...

[Steven S. Dallas]

Okay, that is pretty irritating.

[bagtagley]

Yeah, I hate it when people take interest in me and try to make conversation. But wait a second- if everyone was as rad as I am, I wouldn't be rad anymore! What a conundrum.

People who take interest (genuinely), ask questions. People who want to feel good about themselves and seem intelligent will flex they're knowledge by inserting useless tidbits about everything. When one of those things happens to be something I'm passionate about, I find it annoying.

Almost annoying as the sanctimonious nice police that patrol TGR. [winky]

[A-wreck]

How's this one? There's a guy who sits near me at work who, every Friday before leaving, says "if you go schussing this weekend, don't kiss a tree!"

...

You should reply quickly with "hey, if you get drunk this weekend, don't fuck any guys"

It's so stupid that he'll have to realize what he says is equally as stupid. And that should be the end of that.



On a related note, this lady in my office said she would be too afraid of avalanches to go skiing............................................ ...............in Michigan. Seriously, she said that.

[Steven S. Dallas]

[what bagtagley said][/wbs]

It's definitely annoying when people talk as though they're experts when they obviously don't know shit. But when someone tells me they went out, got shitty rental skis, then fell down in a pile of slush and got their jeans wet, I don't think to myself "this person must think I suck at skiing." I think, gee, you should get some boots and some wind pants next time.

Also, I'm in a foul mood.

[bagtagley]

[what bagtagley said][/wbs]

It's definitely annoying when people talk as though they're experts when they obviously don't know shit. But when someone tells me they went out, got shitty rental skis, then fell down in a pile of slush and got their jeans wet, I don't think to myself "this person must think I suck at skiing." I think, gee, you should get some boots and some wind pants next time.

Also, I'm in a foul mood.

I guess the former was what I thought 72Twenty was referring to. Ditto on the mood thing.

Wanna spoon?

[A-wreck]

Wanna spoon?

Motherfuckinghilarious

[Steven S. Dallas]

Wanna spoon?

Hold me, lover.

[cj001f]

They are hamhandly trying relate to you and show some interest. Like most human interactions it's pretty shallow unless you are drunk or stoned. Chill.

[bklyn]

Well, I don't try to explain anymore. My friends don't expect to see me regularly until April, and I managed to get out of the pesky coworker thing a few years ago. But I did hear the dumbest crap in the office about skiing when I worked there. I just learned to shut my mouth about what I like to do.

[Buster Highmen]

There's a point? And here in my infinite st00pidity I was lost in a boatwad of dogshoes, thinking that there was no point, no line, no surface and no volume that could begin to describe the geometry of my love, my infatuation, my obsession. Sparkling bowties, inflatible cumberbunds, fishbowls of digital twinkling hoohaw escape me. I searched for them in the crenillations of my cornflakes, sought meaning in the dustbunnies under the stereo and mounted investigations into the patterns of the lawnmowers. But alas, it all escapes me.

[DJMingus]

Sure, I get some of that.

It's even worse with climbing, I think. Some folks seem to think it's like some mad hiking or some suicidal could-crash-to-the-ground-at-any-moment thing. My preferred climbing is bouldering and NOBODY gets that, even a lot of climbers I know.

but so what? They're just trying to be friendly, or relate to you somehow. What I think is irritating about it is your point that they "figure you ski in the same capacity and can relate" and it's sort of vaguely insulting to imply that. It's also vaguely insulting to the sport that we love that they think their experience is all there is to it when actually they haven't even experienced the parts we value the most.

I have had to try to explain to my Dad several times over the years that one actually has control over the skis and can stop and turn on demand (well, sort of!). He sees it as some crazy hurtling down the mountain out of control thing that's not quite sane.

Like you said mostly you just don't feel like trying to explain.