Are you lowering yourself?

[James K]

I thought I might pass this one on, just for fun.

Some time back, when I worked in a gun shop, a man came in whom I knew slightly and knew he was a professor at a local college. He said that he was considering talking up reloading and asked if it was very complicated or dangerous. I replied that it was not at all dangerous if the instructions in the manual were followed, and that I considered the difficulty about on a par with changing a faucet washer.

He replied, with a sniff, that he knew nothing about faucet washers and would never lower himself to do that kind of manual work.

He left, apparently having decided that reloading was beneath him.

Jim

 

[JWT]

Lower himself? That's a new one. Most reloaders do not consider it manual labor but rather a labor of enjoyment.

 

[madmo44mag]

Attitude like that he deserve to shoot store bought ammo

Loading is stress relief to me.
When I sit down at the press there is never less than 1,000 rounds in front of me.
Gives me time to concentrate on something other than day to day life.

 

[Brian Pfleuger]

Pretty common attitude. A guy I grew up with, building engines and fixing things, is a relatively high-ranking corporate IT guy now. He's embarrassed if people see dirt under his fingernails.

I consider it to be lifting me up, not lowering me now. Lots of these types of folks look down on anyone who changes their own oil or wires their own outlets or loads their own ammo... until they need it done. Suddenly, that skill is pretty valuable and it's too late too learn it, for that need at that moment.

EVERY skill is a valuable skill. Doesn't matter if it's changing diapers or setting up a 10,000 user IT network. Knowledge is valuable.

 

[g.willikers]

When he retires from polluting his students' brains, he'll probably run for office.

 

[schmellba99]

Reloading is a stress relieving and enjoyable hobby for me. One that happens to have some side benefits of allowing me to produce higher quality ammo than I can buy and at a cheaper price.

Nothing like sitting down at the bench and getting off into my own little world for a couple of hours. And at the end, I usually have a nice little pile of ammo that I can shoot at my leisure.

I do not view it as "lowering myself". Kind of like I don't view most manual labor that way either. The idea that doing something manually is "lowering" yourself is a problem in my view.

 

[603Country]

I know an upscale gal that I used to work with, back in corporate America. She's one of those that would rather spend $400 on a pair of shoes than spend $40. After I retired, she phoned to ask how things were going. I mentioned that I had been mowing with the tractor. She gasped. I asked her what was wrong. She said that, until now, she'd never known anyone that had a tractor. I really didn't know how to respond to that.

I guess she grew up with money. I grew up with little money. Wife and I used to get the discounted canned food in bent cans at Safeway. The wife worked there. And we got the 'old' steaks that were past the sale date, before it was fashionable to eat aged beef.

And don't be talking bad about my tractor. I like my tractor. I wonder what she'd say about my reloading.

 

[armoredman]

Mmm, aged beef - I love the bargain bin on the meat aisle...good stuff, Maynard.
I have three hobbies I enjoy immensely, shooting, reloading and bullet casting, and if other people thinks it's too "low" for them, well, they can be the ones scouring the internet for ammo while I am enjoying my home rolled at the range. .

 

[allaroundhunter]

Am I lowering myself? By his standards, I guess so.... But I'd love to have a little competition with him on the range

He probably also bought a Glock so he wouldn't have to worry about cleaning his gun

 

[Mike / Tx]

Well by his standards I must be lower than whale poop. I knew I should have gone on to further my education.

I not only load my own, but also change my own washers, oil, snake the sewer pipes, and what ever else I can do to save a buck here and there.

Growing up I didn't know folks actually would come to the house and fix things until I was in high school. Not that I led a sheltered life, but pop and I always did what ever needed fixing ourselves. There wasn't any, "i have something else to do", it was "lets go we're burning daylight". Also pop's motto was "never turn down a dollar, the one will lead to more along the way". I sure miss him...

I guess I will slink back into my dark corner now.....

 

[AllenJ]

I don't know James K, the moral of the story I'm seeing is that you are not a very good salesman

 

[Chili Palmer]

I do some serious complicated Enterprise IT work and pay a lot more attention to detail reloading. It's a different kind of challenge.

When I have done the same thing in IT 1000 times I know it is good.

When I have done the same thing reloading 2000 times I always double check / keep check gates in place.

 

[Machineguntony]

I think a better explanation could have been in the works to the professor, or something is missing from the story.

At the risk of sounding arrogant, I am also in a business where I need to appear professional, I can't have dirt under my nails, and I associate with guys who consider $1 million a year to be minimum wage (ok, I exaggerate a bit because it's fun to exaggerate). It would be highly detrimental for any of those guys to be seen "chopping wood". It's just an image thing, and it's necessary for business.

But everyone, everyone I know, no matter how wealthy, will do something that involves their hands and physical exertion as a form of hobby. If it's an IT guy, then he might tinker with computers. A surgeon might go fishing. A bank executive might build train models. A CEO might feel up high priced model escorts. You get the idea.

Me, I reload. I love it.

I'm sure there is more to the story than it appears.

 

[rclark]

It's just an image thing, and it's necessary for business.

Boy, am I glad I'm not in any of those businesses . I certainly don't see where being seen 'chopping wood' would be considered unprofessional, or fixing a sink, or packing a gun, or going to the dump with your garbage, or.... As we say, no matter who you are, you still "put your pants on one leg at a time".... No better than anyone else.... That's got to be the strangest thing I ever heard . Pride/peer pressure can sure get to some people . Answer to OP's question.... Nope! Any I don't care what other people think about it either .

BTW, I have a Computer Science degree and am a professional embedded, Windoze, and Linux programmer in the process control industry....

 

[Misssissippi Dave]

Doing reloading well is a type of art form. I know of many people not able to follow directions and feel doing something twice the same way boring. These people are not going to do well reloading ammo. Making the changes needed to improve your ammo can be time consuming. Once you find what works well for you, everything else becomes easy and relaxing.

I am often surprised to find someone with master and/or doctorate degrees willing to do something requiring manual labor. Working out at the gym or playing golf is as low as they are often willing to go. One exception is for engineers. They are often a breed of their own. I do smile when one of these highly educated people does take on reloading. They often find out how enjoyable it can be and the satisfied feeling you get from rolling your own. I don't know if they tell the people they work with about this hobby.

 

[stubbicatt]

D'you suppose that was a form of "sour grapes?"

The professor was UNABLE to do something, so rather than confess ignorance or incompetence, he would proclaim said task as beneath him?

Just sayin'

 

[David13]

I have done office type work, of what would be considered a 'higher' nature all my life.
And one of my favorite recreations is working on anything I can get my hands on to work on.
My cars and motorcycles, and cars and motorcycles for others.
I have never reloaded, but I am spending time learning, and watching others.
And I will do it, but at this time I won't invest in all the equipment, just for me.
And it's fun, and relaxing, and interesting to learn. To expand your abilities.
The professor is missing an essential and important part of life. A hobby, a recreation, a passtime. It's a very important part of good mental (and often physical) health.
dc

 

[wncchester]

I suspect Stub is right. What the poor sniffing dufus was really accepting is that such a complex mechanical device as a faucet is far over his ability to comprehend. A lot of librul innerlecshuls are like that, it's why so many of them are college "teachers" because they really don't have to know what they're even talking about there. And our typical college grads show it!

 

[Nick_C_S]

Yep. He's a professor.

 

[SL1]

I agree with stub, that prof was probably cowed by the idea of fixing a faucet by replacing a washer. I am one of those "breed apart" engineers that Dave mentioned, one with a couple of advanced degrees, who likes shooting and reloading, but worked with a bunch of folks who are afraid of guns. One ex-physics-professor-turned-bureaucrat needed to go to a facility that was under construction, which required that he wear a hard hat. After spending a good long time messing with the suspension system in the new hard hat that he took out of the box, he gave up and HIS SECRETARY put it together for him. My grand dad used to call his type "educated d*mn fools." Apparently, there are a lot of them running our governments, these days. At least they aren't competing with us for components.

SL1