Before you get tight jaws over this posting - it is about trains - or at least about a member of our forum family!
I gritch and grumble about today’s kids - lots of noise and no respect, but I met one young gentleman this weekend that posts on this forum.
Willy2 came to Lincoln from Omaha for a weather symposium. We met for lunch and I had a most delightful time with him. He is a well-mannered, interesting young teen and his parents must be so proud of him. Dad came along and they got to meet Millie and the Driver as well as Pseudo-Mookie (the real one wouldn’t get close enough to see with binoculars!)
Even caught him totally off guard when I asked him “besides Mookie, who is your favorite poster”.
Took him a minute to recover from that one! [:I]
We have some of the best minds posting on this forum and Willy is just one example of the many nice, young people on here! How nice!
Mookie is the nicest person I have ever met! We had a great talk about all of the places we like to watch trains. We also talked about trains of the past, why some engineers blow the horn more than others for the grade crossings, and about the yard in Lincoln. We also talked about our relatives who are conductors and engineers.
Yes, Mookie did catch me a little off guard when she asked who my favorite poster is besides herself. Everyone on this forum is my favorite poster and I thank you all for being such a great, kind group.
I had a wonderful lunch with Mookie. I am so glad that I got to meet her!
And Mookie, I try to be as good as I can be, but sometimes even I do get a little bit noisy, but not often. Thank you for a great day!
I met Hank Morris and others in Bryan.I got to meet Nora and her family in Fostoria.Anyone passing through here i’ll be glad to show you around.
stay safe
Joe
For a downunder newcomer to US RR, both model and 12 inch to the foot scale, I appreciate greatly everyone’s comments. Responses to my questions have been very helpful and I hope they start threads that other people can benefit from too. [:D]
I may ask/comment on things already covered in threads long past, so apologies for that to the long timers on the Forum, and appreciate your patience. [;)]
It is nice to hear that there are still young people out there who are respectful and not self centered. I have read many posts from many of you, and feel we have a lot of these well-mannared youth on here (And if any of you young people live around the Potomac River, Come on up to the Museum & You may catch me or Timthechef wandering about.
Nothing wrong with a little bit of noise. Better than the sound of squealing brakes as a 100-car coal train locks up!
Glad all of you had fun!
Oh, and Mookie, no reason that I can see that would have caused tight jaws. It’s trains that draw us to the forum, but it’s people who love trains that make the forum. Glad you shared it with us.
Well young master William,
That sure sounded like the stamp, excuse me, Paw Print of approval from the Mookie.
And if she says your a good guy, then it must be true.
Although anyone who can raise butterflies has to be a smart, intelligent person in the first place.
They got you hook, line and sinker. Mookie doesn’t really exist. “Mookie” is an employee of Kalmbach publishing, usually Kathi Kube, who generates topics and makes posts. Who you met was an actress, hired by Kalmbach to portray the character. Their polls have shown that railfans seek to have a friendly, matronly figure that shows an interest in trains…becasue our mothers never did. They created Mookie to fill this void in our lives that we never had, which would generate greater interest in the forums and in turn increase circulation of their publications. Sorry to be the one that had to break it to you. [;)]
Dan - now that I have quit laughing - you don’t know how many times that has crossed my mind - that people would think the Mookie is a plant by Kalmbach! However, the royalty checks are still “in the mail” - along with the company credit card - somewhere.
Kind of thought Willy had to be a great guy, from the posts of his I’ve read – and with Mookie’s paw of approval, well ! Keep it up, laddie!
For that matter, most of the young 'uns these days are still pretty good kids – not much better than I was 60 or so years back, but not much worse, either – it’s just the few who are ‘newsworthy’ (read: antisocial – good kids don’t make the news!) who get the press, and give a distorted view.
Well on my mind numbing (not too difficult when you have a small mind) drive to work, I thought of something more terrible and horrific that it would be something from a K.P. Harrier topic…what if Mookie isn’t really human at all…she/it is a MookBot. Probably created in an evil Kalmbach / Union Pacific / CIA / North Korean plot to to influence railfans young and old. Her prime directive is to achieve the matronly profile and then slowly inject propaganda into our minds…she may even be directing countless sleeper Bots worldwide…Nora, the seemingly mild manned curious mother of two (and one NS engine???) and Me…the mysterious woman who writes in red…ITS A PLOT I’M TELLING YOU!!! WHERE IS KPH? I’ve got to go now and find my tin foil hat before she starts trying to read m y m i n d a gggain …
When Mook mentioned the weather symposium you attended, I checked your profile, and noticed an interest in weather.
If you are interested, feel free to email me (as opposed to boring everyone on the forum) regarding weather stuff. I’ve been a storm spotter for the National Weather Service for many years, and have been involved with weather since I was about your age.
Or we could start our own thread about weather here in the Forum. It is the beginning of severe weather season!
[#ditto]
Been an “official” Skywarn type for just two years, but worked with NSSL in the early days (via USAF), maintained AF weather equipment for 8 years (including rawinsonde), and grew up at the upper end of tornado alley (in SE Michigan). The most significant weather events I deal with these days are winter-related, but I still love watching it.
It’s good to know that some kids have an interest in something besides video games and expensive sneakers…