Re: YB in #46

[Lev Polinsky <lev@alacrim.alanex.com>]

RE:
>Before I get serious, I want to clear up a petty little detail regarding my calling the Odds and Sods list new, and my quoting of that [blahblahblahblah]
not be appropriate here. A stupid thing to get upset about, I know, but
it was bothering me.<<<<endquote

I'll keep in mind that you can't take a joke (even if it's not a very 
funny one) without producing a dictum in response.  You're more like 
WFang than you think.
> [snip]

RE:
>And finally, the matter of young people on this list. Just a few days
ago there was a lot of moaning about how young people today don't
appreciate good music like the Who, and all they listen to is trash,
blah de blah. But to paraphrase my mother, "Don't ask for more young Who
fans until you appreciate the ones you already have." If you care so
much about the young Who fan, then for goodness sakes stand up for them
once in a while! Apparently a lot of you don't notice this, but there
are plenty of people on this list who are very mean to teenaged Who
fans.<<<<<

That wouldn't be me, would it?  Wouldn't that make me self-loathing?

RE:
> I'm not just imagining this either. After my initial post on the
subject, I recieved several e-mails from teenagers on this list agreeing
with me and saying that some older Who fans tended to treat them as if
they could not possibly be good fans or know anything about the Who,
just because they happened to be young. You will notice that these
teenagers have not said anything about this on the list. I can hardly
blame them. Just look at the kind of response I've gotten for daring to
take a stand on this issue.<<<<<<

I'm sorry, Yellow, your courage and bravery on this issue have been 
quite excessive and worthy of adulation.  I bow to you for your great 
daring.  However, you're not understanding the discussion here.  The 
fact that you, and the others like you (myself included) exist does not 
mean that there is some great well of young Who fans that the bad adults 
are ignoring.  "The overwhelming majority of kids today don't listen to 
the Who" is, like it or not, a true statement, and, granting a small 
number of exceptions, I'd say that the generalization "Kids today don't 
listen to the Who" is, too (or at least it is as true as any 
generalization can be).  "Well, I'm a kid and I listen to the Who" is 
not a valid response to the first statement quoted in this paragraph.  
Neither is telling us about another couple of dozen loners* who love the 
Who.

As far as "you can't possibly be a good Who fan because you're young", I 
think anyone who makes statements like that can't possibly be a good Who 
fan.  In fact, anyone who thinks there's such a thing as a 'good Who 
fan' isn't a good Who fan.  As I've said in previous posts, the music is 
timeless, and you don't have to be of a particular age to appreciate it.

* to stave off protestations to the contrary, let me clarify:  loners as 
in people who are alone among their peers as fans of the Who.

RE:
> The very people who are most bothered by the
age discrimination that goes on here are the people who are afraid to
say anything about it. That's why I have to be the one to speak up. For
anyone who may have forgotten, it isn't easy being a teenager.<<<<<

I'll never get why people are always so afraid to post on a mailing 
list, and always beg, "please don't flame me", but maybe it's just a 
personality trait.  And as far as the whole thing on how it's not easy 
being a teenager, I think you'll find life in general--no matter your 
age--ain't no piece of cake.

RE:
> You get
treated like the scum of the earth everywhere you go. And if you've just
had a horrid day at school and come home hoping for a good discussion on
your favorite band to take your minds off things, and instead you find
people who don't even know you calling you a teenybopper or worse, it's
not going to make you feel any better.<<<<<

Believe me, there are many things worse than a horrid day at school, and 
if you want to take your mind off your troubles, how about listening to 
the Who?  It's like the difference between sex and talking about sex.

As far as the last sentence, if I don't know you, what do you care if I 
call you a teenybopper?  Especially if you're not one?  (And what could 
possibly be worse than being called a teenybopper?)

Is your parting shot below anything if not an example of obsessive 
fandom?

RE:
And now I've got to go watch Roger on "Sliders".<<<<

- --Lev.