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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;umtrr-author, post: 142575, member: 5719&quot;]My experience so far since returning from my 20+ year hiatus has been overwhelmingly positive.&nbsp; I am fortunate to live in a community that has one of America&#039;s oldest coin clubs (founded 1912, ANA Club #2, Life Club #8) and a solid set of dealers, one of which is exceptional in terms of patience, knowledge and class.&nbsp; And the way in which the juniors are treated is a lesson that the many of the folks in my other main hobby of model railroading could stand to learn.</p><p><br /></p><p>We have not had any really bad experiences yet, and we&#039;ve had some really good experiences.&nbsp; I&#039;m sure that the not so good side of the hobby exists, but we haven&#039;t been exposed to it, and we&#039;re not going out looking for it either.</p><p><br /></p><p>This board is also perhaps the most active, positive, even-handed one to which I belong across all of my interests, and that&#039;s no small compliment! </p><p><br /></p><p>I think what you may be reacting to with respect to the &quot;nerd&quot; label is the attempt to stereotype anyone (and that includes model railroaders) who has any kind of passion for anything that isn&#039;t part of Majority Pop Culture.&nbsp; I sure don&#039;t know who was last voted off the island, for example, nor do I know anything about the last American Idol other than he&#039;s already shown up in a Ford commercial.&nbsp; We deal with the same issues in model railroading and railfanning, and unfortunately there are enough people who fit the convenient stereotype (i.e. unwashed, non-social) to make it stick.&nbsp; Can I suggest that you&#039;d find the same anywhere, from a mathematics conference to Yankee Stadium?[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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