Are we special?

[John K]

Over the years of being involed in boating I have noticed that boaters seem, on the whole, to be mild mannered, very courteous, and very helpful to other boaters.

I have only ever met one " lady" who was very rude, swearing in front of her children, and being generally disruptive to all around.

 

Does boating make you more relaxed and chilled out, or do you have to have that sort of personallity to enjoy boating.... I wonder?

[Richard Bustens]

It grows on you as time progreses, the lady you met had probably only just sarted boating, or if she had been doing it for a long time, just think yourself lucky you did not meet her 6 months before.....

[John Orentas]

I think we are pretty much a cross section of society, given that you rarely come in contact with the very wealthy or the very needy.

 

Human nature being what it is, you tend to remember the nice, generous people and put out of your mind the selfish and obnoxious. How many of us havn't helped a middle aged couple through a lock in the pouring rain because they are short of crew, only to find as the boat comes up that there are 3 or 4 teenagers inside lounging around inside.

 

When I was a member of our local boat club, I used to help in organising the odd buffet, to our embarrasment we had to ask that it was put out on idividual plates. The members were a bunch of 'gannets', on previous occasions a good minority would be getting second helpings before others had got to the food for the first time.

 

We would have a barbeque, some would blatently put sausages on the grille and walk away with someone elses's sirloin.

 

John Squeers.

[maffi mushkila]

Are we Special?

No not in the least. We are all ordinary people who have the same aspirations and fears as other folk.

 

We all want a quality of life commesurate with what we think is 'quality'.

 

We all want to go about our business without being scorned or treated as second class.

 

We all should be free from the fear of attack!

 

We all want to enjoy what we do in peace.

 

Are we special? No! Just ordinary.

[nbtafelberg]

I'm not sure about this one you know....

 

Everyone is special in their own way, I think boaters though especially narrow boaters and even moreso liveaboards develop a sort of link with the history and traditions of the cut.

 

I know we have as a family, I'm even painting roses and castles....

[timboharticus]

I suspect that we tend towards being "middle England"

 

ie. White, reasonably well educated, fairly old fashioned in our views.

[wynd lass(nb.Black Pearl)]

yup were ordinary.........we are people who have taken the plunge and had a go basically........you can sit back and dream or you can do it......., if you really want to do it, you'll find a way.