are we weird?

[Pointman PUG]

So igat talking to my boss the other day around the coffee machine and he did that polite but uninterested "so what are you doing this weekend?"

I told him I was off to an airsoft skirmish..."whats a skirmish" ...I tried to explain but he just kept backing out the door making excuses about work to do and genrally looking odd at me "grown men running through the woods with toy guns trying to look like Rambo" was the last comment I heard....twat!

[Rock-climby-Dave]

he wasn't thinking you were weird, he was trying to subtly run for his life when he realised how much more mean and deadly airsofters are than rambo

 

on a serious note. Why does it matter? do what you want to do and what entertains YOU. not anyone else.

 

I get weird looks because I don't drink, I'm not AGAINST drinking as such, I've been slightly tipsy once, didn't particularly enjoy the lack of fine motor control and have never touched a drop again. but I've given it a go and now I have an educated opinion.

 

If he has a go at airsoft and decides he doesn't like it, fair enough, I guess being a man isn't for everyone, but that shouldn't stop us from enjoying or being able to play it.

[Tariq]

If you define "Weird" as against standard social convention. Then yeah why not.

Doesn't necessarily mean its a bad thing.

 

Airsoft is just a really niche misunderstood sport. If you told him you were paint-balling, despite being very similar in theory, you would have got a completely different response.

 

Glad I'm not the only one here that doesn't drink

[HeHeHaHa]

the majority of my friends think im weird anyway, this just add to it, but i would'nt stop airsofting for anyone

[Nutster]

I think the non drinking is also attributed to the fact we spend all our cash on crap for airsoft

[Kaneweeks]

I consider airsoft to be a manly sport, taking into consideration we are paying to get shot by 500 fps snipers etc.

 

I often get called names by my friends, so I subtly ask them.. "Can I shoot you with my airsoft gun?" Their reply always seems to be "URMM... I'm good thanks". So, who's the pussy/fag now?

 

Just like to clarify, I wouldn't shoot my friends for the sake of it, i just like to drop the question to prove my point haha.

[M_P]

Am I the only one that does drink round here?

 

I get the odd few comments, but they're balanced by the amount of times people ask if they can come along for a day to see what's what. Its like football, I hate watching /playing it and so to most, I'm the odd one out. Its as the rest of the guys said, we aren't as mainstream as paintball, so technically, from their point of view we are weird. Equally to us, they're weird for not liking the idea.

And then there are some people who are just arseholes.

[Dan's Ark]

Most people I know are geniunely impressed by the idea when I explain it to them. I even managed to get one of them to come to a skirmish next week.

[Jubigala]

I think I lost a job offer because of Airsoft!

 

When they asked me what hobbies I have, I explained airsoft (it's all for all ages, like paintball but with licensed replica guns that use special harmless plastic pellets) and the interview was good until that point when they clearly heard the word ''gun'' and not ''harmless plastic pellets'', 'licensed replica guns'' or 'for all ages''.

 

I think they got pissed when I said I'd take all the residents on a day trip.. *Joke*

[TPI]

I work Saturday's so when I go Softing on sunday I don't go out I stay in, when I'm not going softing however IT's time to PARTY!!!

 

Consensus on the weird part around my area being surrounded by the military it's accepted especially when I point to the multiple scare's I now have on my face (360 FPS CQB) it actually may have helped get me the job too! But I was running a team at the time. (asshole's had to go and grow up...)

[Hibernator]

I think I lost a job offer because of Airsoft!

 

When they asked me what hobbies I have, I explained airsoft (it's all for all ages, like paintball but with licensed replica guns that use special harmless plastic pellets) and the interview was good until that point when they clearly heard the word ''gun'' and not ''harmless plastic pellets'', 'licensed replica guns'' or 'for all ages''.

 

To be honest, whenever asked about hobbies I just say that I go paintballing - everyone has heard of it and has usually tried it. As above, I think as soon as you start trying to say things about replica guns it sets off big red warning flags in some peoples minds. Especially with all that's going on in the States about gun control being in the news.

 

That said, I carry my laptop in a 5.11 messenger bag covered in molle and have met quite few airsofters when visiting customers. They usually make a comment about the bag, so I tell them it's a military laptop bag that my wife bought me because I'm into paintballing. A few times I then had a reply saying something like "you should try airsoft in that case"

[Zak Da Mack]

When I talk to friends about hobbies, I usually say I do airsoft. They then say "what's that?" to which I say its like paintball but instead uses 6mm pellets and what not... Only for them to reply "sounds like paintball for pussies".... This pisses me off quite a bit actually. However, when I ask "Do you want to get shot by my sniper?", they all back out

[Unrustle_Thine_Jimmies]

I,being surrounded by countless amounts of retarded teenage pricks,am always made fun of of playing airsoft,usually thing like ''WhY Do YOu Spnbed Sooo much muneey On Dis????!!?'' and ''OMG He Luks soo Wee-Urd in His AYUR SOOFT GeeUr'' and ''OMG Y DO U palY AiRsoft ITs gay You look Alik a Reatrded faggot'' The list goes on and on.

So I try not to mention my hobbies,one can get made fun of pretty easily these days,like listening to fucking Nightwish is weird because very few other people listen to them,for example.

I've already ruined what little social 'cred' I have,news spreads quickly with things like fagbook and twitwhore.

[Zak Da Mack]

I,being surrounded by countless amounts of retarded teenage pricks,am always made fun of of playing airsoft,usually thing like ''WhY Do YOu Spnbed Sooo much muneey On Dis????!!?'' and ''OMG He Luks soo Wee-Urd in His AYUR SOOFT GeeUr'' and ''OMG Y DO U palY AiRsoft ITs gay You look Alik a Reatrded faggot'' The list goes on and on.

So I try not to mention my hobbies,one can get made fun of pretty easily these days,like listening to fucking Nightwish is weird because very few other people listen to them,for example.

I've already ruined what little social 'cred' I have,news spreads quickly with things like fagbook and twitwhore.

 

So true, I just shut my mouth up about my hobbies now and say football or something like that, even though I'm not really a football fan. You just can't win these days...

[QuadMachine]

I'm into Game Workshop too so combine that and airsoft and I top out on the Geek scale. I do drink like a fish though so I've still got that man card left. It's annoying that Airsoft has the word soft in it, as all of us know there's nothing soft about it.

 

If I'm in polite company I say paintball, if I've got the time and patience to explain it I show em some pics on my phone on the (NOT me in my gear, there's no way of making that seam not weird)

[Kaneweeks]

I'm into Game Workshop too so combine that and airsoft and I top out on the Geek scale. I do drink like a fish though so I've still got that man card left. It's annoying that Airsoft has the word soft in it, as all of us know there's nothing soft about it.

 

If I'm in polite company I say paintball, if I've got the time and patience to explain it I show em some pics on my phone on the (NOT me in my gear, there's no way of making that seam not weird)

 

I take pride in being a geek

[Unrustle_Thine_Jimmies]

I vote we change airsoft to airhard for moar manliness.

[geoffreym]

I vote we change airsoft to airhard for moar manliness.

 

Eh, I called Copyright lol

 

but yeah, I tend to just say "harder version of paintball", and point to an injury (of which I have many).

 

I stopped drinking a couple of years ago due to a couple of rather bad experiences, mainly ending up 200 miles away, with no memory of how I ended up there.

 

my only other hobby is a man's favorite thing (with a woman, of course)

[CES_williamson]

are we weird ? well i for sure am i would be happy to go shoot someone in the head with a plastic bb shot out of a fake gun and then come play on my gaming pc for a few hours that is a good day for me for other people that sounds god awful but airsoft is a fun sport which we like and other people say it is weird cus they have never done it before

[Continuity]

I also dont drink. And have had a rather intresting conversation at my new work the other day. I was causally browsing a airsoft store, when my new boss walked by and asked if he was going to have to ask security to come and search me

 

We had a quick chat about it, i explained some of the rules, and the honor system, and that was that.

 

You should be afraid to talk about what you enjoy, most reasonable people wont take offence.

[sammy7676]

 

I stopped drinking a couple of years ago due to a couple of rather bad experiences, mainly ending up 200 miles away, with no memory of how I ended up there.

 

Hangover comes to mind

[Monty]

I hate those types of people that judge you for doing a hobby that you enjoy.

[geoffreym]

 

I stopped drinking a couple of years ago due to a couple of rather bad experiences, mainly ending up 200 miles away, with no memory of how I ended up there.

 

Hangover comes to mind

Hangover doesn't do what I had justice lol

[Chippins]

I think it is a weird hobby, but its bloody good fun... having to explain to a lass that you've brought back that that isn't a real gun propped up against the desk and that you're in no way shape or form going to murder her isn't fun, apart from in hindsight.

[Ian_Gere]

I don't drink either. I used to, just no longer. As far as toxic chemicals go, ethanol gives a poor return for the damage.

 

I understand why people worry about being thought of as weird. I'd say that there is a lot to be said for managing your 'weirdness index', especially as a young person, but it's worth bearing in mind that whilst being thought of as different is likely to knock you down a peg or two in the pecking order of a peer group which is composed, along the standard mammalian lines, of an alpha (individual or couple), one or two lieutenants (each), and a number of willing subordinates, if you are the alpha this is not true and if you are a lieutenant, the bumlicking already required of you should see you secure.

 

Something else worth bearing in mind is that, if you are weird, and have insufficient wealth and/or good looks to collect lieutenants and peer group around you effortlessly, then the problem you face cannot be satisfactorily overcome simply by keeping it a secret to fit in. You must either become successful in a way which garners respect, or cultivate the friendship of the weirdest people of all - those who genuinely have little interest in taking part in subconscious mammalian behaviour... psychopaths, sociopaths, the autistic/Asperger's, and the abnormally intelligent.

 

Some of my friends think I'm weirder for having sex with women than for airsoft, but, no doubt, there are people who are/will read this who think I'm weird for being friends with not just one but several gay men. You can't please all the people all the time and, although you can fool enough, enough of the time, it's fortunate that these days we have leisure to simply not bother our arses with doing so...