Tom_in_CA
Elite Member
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2013
- Messages
- 20,637
Been many years since I related this true story. But it bears repeating. (And here's a "shout-out" to flies-only. Please tell me your thoughts on this ) :
Starting when I was still in High school, in 1980, a metal detecting club was formed in our city. It was a typical 1x per month club, where 20 to 25-ish guys get together. Have a show & tell, raffle, talk about detectors, blah blah. Very typical of all such detecting clubs of the era. And at each monthly meeting, one of the routines was : If there were any first-time visitors to the club meeting, the moderator would give them the opportunity to stand up & introduce themselves.
At one such meeting, in about 1984-ish (?) I recall that a new person was in attendance. As the meeting came to order, the moderator called on him to introduce himself. He stands up , says his name, and told how his job had moved him to our city in CA. So he was a new resident in the town. Transplanted from the SE states if I recall. He gave a quick bio of the type machine he swings, their CW type hunting in the SE, blah blah. After thanking the group for the warm introduction, he sits back down. And the meeting progresses.
Later, as we moved into the show & tell portion of the club meeting, each member gets a chance at the front to show off their favorite find of the month. Typical geeky md'ing club stuff, where you get their 1 minute of "bragging rights", haha. And then a vote is held, and whoever has the best find gets an extra "atteboy".
One particular member's turn was at the front podium, showing off an old coin he found . And said ".... found in Central park". At this junction, the newbie raised his hand. The moderator called on him. He stood up for a question :
"I thought md'ing in Central park wasn't allowed" ?
A few of us turned around, looked at him, and said "Since when ?" He said that when he'd first arrived in town, a few weeks earlier, he'd gone to city hall, @ the park's dept. desk, and .... asked. Someone there had told him "no".
Confusion erupted in the room. Several people were concerned that ... perhaps there was a "new rule" that had been enacted ? Because, you see, the parks here (inc. Central park, the oldest biggest park in our town) had simply always/ever been detected .... no problem. I recall people asking him : "Was that just Central park ? Or all the parks in town ?". And there was discussion that we now need to go to city hall getting this clarified. And ... if true, start a solidarity to "overturn this" blah blah.
I was just a young guy in my early 20's at this time. And was merely watching all this from the sidelines. Eventually, a wise-old-salt (who'd been md'ing for 10+ yrs. by that time) interrupted the entire conversation and announces :
"Nonsense. You can detect Central park. DON'T go asking for clarifications. You'll simply open up a can of worms. Trust me, I've detected there for years, and it's a non-issue and no one cares. "
But others in the room took issue with that seemingly careless stance. Saying things like "What do you mean 'no one cares' ? Didn't you hear the fellow ? He got his answer straight from City hall ! And as a club, we're supposed to obey all laws. And be 'one-for-all and all-for-one'. How is it fair that this one fellow can't go, and the rest of us continue going ? Therefore it's our duty , as a club, to get this straightened out".
The debate went on for awhile. And now ... 35-ish yrs. later, I don't even recall the outcome. I can't remember what became of the issue . I don't recall whether anyone ever stopped md'ing there, on account of the fellow's info. Or whether the fellow disregarded the answer, and took the advice of long-timers in the area. Or whether the club went to "seek clarification". I just don't remember what happened after that.
And now ....35-ish years later, you can detect all the parks here, including Central park, until you're blue in the face. Assuming, of course, you're not being a nuisance in some other way, or begging for attention, etc....
To me, this is an example of "No one cared till you asked" psychology at work. It had never even OCCURRED to any of us long-timers, that we needed to "ask", in the first place. It had just simply always/ever been md'd, so .... it was an odd concept that someone had gone in asking "Can I ?".
As the years went on, (this was when the FMDAC was very active, with "coming to a place near you" type scary stories in every newsletter), I began to wonder if the same psychology doesn't manifest itself on larger scales. Eg.: County & state, and even national levels. And any time (up to this day) that I read of places that are now "off-limits", I sometimes wonder if the same evolution isn't at play. As to what-gets-the-ball-rolling.
I have no idea if the fellow did or didn't have a "million dollar smile" when he asked. I have no idea how he phrased the question. Or how the exact answer was phrased as a "no" to him. This story is just a micro-example of what I feel can happen on larger scales (and I have many larger-scale accounts of the same inescapable evolution !).
Starting when I was still in High school, in 1980, a metal detecting club was formed in our city. It was a typical 1x per month club, where 20 to 25-ish guys get together. Have a show & tell, raffle, talk about detectors, blah blah. Very typical of all such detecting clubs of the era. And at each monthly meeting, one of the routines was : If there were any first-time visitors to the club meeting, the moderator would give them the opportunity to stand up & introduce themselves.
At one such meeting, in about 1984-ish (?) I recall that a new person was in attendance. As the meeting came to order, the moderator called on him to introduce himself. He stands up , says his name, and told how his job had moved him to our city in CA. So he was a new resident in the town. Transplanted from the SE states if I recall. He gave a quick bio of the type machine he swings, their CW type hunting in the SE, blah blah. After thanking the group for the warm introduction, he sits back down. And the meeting progresses.
Later, as we moved into the show & tell portion of the club meeting, each member gets a chance at the front to show off their favorite find of the month. Typical geeky md'ing club stuff, where you get their 1 minute of "bragging rights", haha. And then a vote is held, and whoever has the best find gets an extra "atteboy".
One particular member's turn was at the front podium, showing off an old coin he found . And said ".... found in Central park". At this junction, the newbie raised his hand. The moderator called on him. He stood up for a question :
"I thought md'ing in Central park wasn't allowed" ?
A few of us turned around, looked at him, and said "Since when ?" He said that when he'd first arrived in town, a few weeks earlier, he'd gone to city hall, @ the park's dept. desk, and .... asked. Someone there had told him "no".
Confusion erupted in the room. Several people were concerned that ... perhaps there was a "new rule" that had been enacted ? Because, you see, the parks here (inc. Central park, the oldest biggest park in our town) had simply always/ever been detected .... no problem. I recall people asking him : "Was that just Central park ? Or all the parks in town ?". And there was discussion that we now need to go to city hall getting this clarified. And ... if true, start a solidarity to "overturn this" blah blah.
I was just a young guy in my early 20's at this time. And was merely watching all this from the sidelines. Eventually, a wise-old-salt (who'd been md'ing for 10+ yrs. by that time) interrupted the entire conversation and announces :
"Nonsense. You can detect Central park. DON'T go asking for clarifications. You'll simply open up a can of worms. Trust me, I've detected there for years, and it's a non-issue and no one cares. "
But others in the room took issue with that seemingly careless stance. Saying things like "What do you mean 'no one cares' ? Didn't you hear the fellow ? He got his answer straight from City hall ! And as a club, we're supposed to obey all laws. And be 'one-for-all and all-for-one'. How is it fair that this one fellow can't go, and the rest of us continue going ? Therefore it's our duty , as a club, to get this straightened out".
The debate went on for awhile. And now ... 35-ish yrs. later, I don't even recall the outcome. I can't remember what became of the issue . I don't recall whether anyone ever stopped md'ing there, on account of the fellow's info. Or whether the fellow disregarded the answer, and took the advice of long-timers in the area. Or whether the club went to "seek clarification". I just don't remember what happened after that.
And now ....35-ish years later, you can detect all the parks here, including Central park, until you're blue in the face. Assuming, of course, you're not being a nuisance in some other way, or begging for attention, etc....
To me, this is an example of "No one cared till you asked" psychology at work. It had never even OCCURRED to any of us long-timers, that we needed to "ask", in the first place. It had just simply always/ever been md'd, so .... it was an odd concept that someone had gone in asking "Can I ?".
As the years went on, (this was when the FMDAC was very active, with "coming to a place near you" type scary stories in every newsletter), I began to wonder if the same psychology doesn't manifest itself on larger scales. Eg.: County & state, and even national levels. And any time (up to this day) that I read of places that are now "off-limits", I sometimes wonder if the same evolution isn't at play. As to what-gets-the-ball-rolling.
I have no idea if the fellow did or didn't have a "million dollar smile" when he asked. I have no idea how he phrased the question. Or how the exact answer was phrased as a "no" to him. This story is just a micro-example of what I feel can happen on larger scales (and I have many larger-scale accounts of the same inescapable evolution !).
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