What makes a true Who fan? Long

[SicilianMother@xxxxxxx]

Question:  What is the true measure of how devoted a fan is of the Who?

How many shows they've been too?

How many shirts from that many shows?

How old the shirts are?

How well preserved the shirts are?  Or how warn out the shirts are from 
wearing the shirts?

How many autographs the person has and the amount of times the person has 
been fortunate enough to come in contact with a member of the Who?

Whether that contact was positively receptive by the Who member or did the 
contact annoy them?  Or did the member blow off the fan?

When a Who fan is mentioned by a member of the Who as being a familiar face 
(i.e., going to so many shows, they have helped paid the mortgages of the 
members of the Who!) during a show?

How close up the person pays to get close to the stage?

How close they get by persistence or force to get the closest to the stage as 
possible?

Being content no matter where their seats are just to hear the Who songs?

Whether the person is a musician and can play the most songs from the Who?

How many albums the person has?  CD's?  8 tracks?  Cassettes?  DVD's? 
Video's?  Bootlegs?

How much reading the person has done regarding the Who?

How much of Who trivia does that fan know?

How many of the Who family members can the fan list?

How far a fan traveled to just see where a member from the Who lives, and 
actually being greeted kindly by the member of the Who? (this one is for you 
Sandy!)and then getting their photo taken with Who member?

Does the fan have a Who related website?

The percentage of money to the fan's income that the fan has spent on 
recorded music, live shows or who memorabilia?

How many miles a fan has traveled to see a show?

What kind of car that fan drove the most miles to see a Who show?

What the weather was like while driving that car the most miles to see a Who 
show?

How much drugs and alcohol the person consumes before the show?

How little drugs or alcohol the person consumes immediately before seeing a 
Who show or how wasted that they were they could barely remember the Who 
show?  (I have been at both extremes).

If the fan can project her voice as loudly as possible and the exact moment 
of silence or lull before a song ie. that was me at the Universal 
Amphitheater who yelled "I love you Roger so loud", that when I asked my 
ex-boyfriend if he thought Roger could hear me, he said "EVERYONE HEARD YOU"  
He was slightly annoyed, the ex-boyfriend that is. hehehe

Is a groupie a devoted fan or a whore? (see article about stripper who spent 
the last night of John's life with him).

How many fights, either fist to fist, face to face with no blood shed or 
keyboard to keyboard that the fan has been in defending or debating the Who?

How many Who Fans, that you barely know at first, but have traveled long 
distances, you have invited to your home to gather, break bread, fellowship 
in honor of and share the appreciate for the Who?

How much they cried when a member of the Who has died?  How long the fan took 
in dealing with the loss?

Or, is the measure of the fan made by how deeply, emotionally, culturally or 
even politically moved the fan has experienced or impacted because of the 
music of The Who?

At what point does a fan turn into fanatic/stalker  because of their 
obsession?

All I know, is that when I hear the music, which I know probably 95% word for 
word, my brain is comforted and my brain waves are soothed and comforted, 
every time.  The music is MY music (but I am happy to share with other fans!) 
The Who has been the soundtrack to my life.  Due to personal manners that are 
very intense, I have not been to as many shows as a fan of my depth deserves 
to be at.  Do any of you hear from friends or family "I heard a song from The 
Who and I thought of you"?

I am sure there are many other criteria that I have not listed or thought of, 
but would love to get input on.

Even with the differences of opinion that are on this list daily, I feel like 
I have a growing and strong bond........that bond I believe comes from the 
appreciation of the genius songwriting and guitar playing of Pete, the vocal 
interpretation of his music by Roger, and the respect that we feel towards 
the Zak's and Simon's and Rabbit's that contribute to the, and in my opinion, 
the relevant evolution and yes, the inevitable aging of the Who.  What if we 
all got older listening to their music and they stayed the same age 
performing the music the same as always?  That is the magic of what makes 
each Who tour performance relevant.  Thank God, they are on 
fire......(although some don't agree) because it makes me proud of MY 
Who..........I only wish I could tell them that.

Sorry for the length..........but it has been going through my mind ever 
since I discovered this list of passionate, opinionated and for the most 
part, good hearted, true blue Who fans.

Sincerely,
Johannah