posted
First off, I was inspired to do this because of Advents thread, in which he has suffered horrible and terrible times, and I think, he will redeem himself. he has, (if you have not seen) began to post again, in his resort thread, and according to my eyes, gone through a major transformation which is still continuing, and will only end when he is viewed as a peer, and has full respect from all. I hope you give this to him, as despite his tricj on you, he is a great person, and as all do, deserves to be respected.
Back to the topic at hand, though...
Advent, Cheiros, and Bando, are the only people of whom I told my age. I trusted them to keep this secret, and they did so magnificently. Now you shall read my reasons, of why I did this, and hopefully come to understand, and sympathize with them.
Here it goes:
Well, since all of this talk of respect and judging a person not by their age, but the way they act, I suppose I should tell MY age.
Well, Im 13. You may not find this suprising in any way, but I thought I should just say it. And no... I never lied about my age. I simply never said anything about it.
So, I am Reticulum, and I am 13 years old. I am not lying and I felt I would lose respect (in the beginning) if I told you guys. (And gals ) After reading this thread, I have come to realise that I will not lose any respect for being 13, but more so, for acting imature, and not being kind and productive to other members of this forum.
I was introduced here by BandoCommando, who, as you guessed it, is my band teacher. He showed me Hatrack, and I thought it would be a fun place to post on, and maybe goof-off. However, after staying here for a few months, I came to realise that that is NOT what Hatrack is for, but more so, for mature (mostly ) discussions and funny interactions of diverse peoples from all over the world.
As mentioned above, I thought that revealing my age would cause me to lose respect from the Hatrack community, and that I would be shunned, not respected, and overall ignored for the rest of the time I am here. After reading a few posts by (a) certain member(s) which specifically said that a person was judged by the way they act, and not their age, I feel that it would it be a mean, rude, unkind, and overall not right thing to do to Hatrack, since it probably explains a lot.
So now you see me, (hopefully)in a whole new light, and now know that I am not a very imature 16-20 year old, but an average 13 year old, who would like to maintain a good relationship with Hatrack. I hope this post does not change anything for the worst, but creates a good, and widespread understanding of me. Hopefuly, this will turn out for the better, and not worse.
Thank you for taking your time to read this. Thank you all, Hatrack, for giving me respect thus far.
Posts: 2121 | Registered: Oct 2005
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posted
Oh, hey...you're from Oregon. I'm from Corvallis
Thanks for being honest with us. It's not really necessary to tell everyone your age, though people around here often cut younger members some slack. Also, while we do have a lot of serious discussions here, we goof off too. Fluff threads are fine, though some people get annoyed when there are so many that the more serious threads get pushed off the front page.
So, what instrument do you play?
Posts: 3546 | Registered: Jul 2002
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Congrats on being first chair! That's very cool.
I vaguely remember a scandal involving a Salem teacher. If that's your teacher, I'm sorry. It's never fun to find out that someone at your school has been acting inappropriately. It happened at my high school when I was a freshman. I never had the teacher in question, but it was just an uncomfortable situation all around.
Posts: 3546 | Registered: Jul 2002
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I don't think I would have been targeted anyway. The teacher was female and sexually harassed a male student during a school-sponsored trip abroad. Actually, I hear a lot of students liked her quite a bit. It may have been one isolated incident. Not that that's okay, but I don't think it was an ongoing problem.
Posts: 3546 | Registered: Jul 2002
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posted
Ah, Hatrack. The giant free-association game.
Okay, on topic comment: I remember middle school. It sucked. Don't worry, high school is a lot more fun. Which one will you be going to?
Posts: 3546 | Registered: Jul 2002
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Mostly if you're not off-topic or trolling, we don't care how old you are. It also helps if you have good grammar and spelling. Which you do! So it's all good. Glad you felt like you could tell us.
Posts: 4816 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Reticulum, of course nobody finds your being 13 years old to be offensive.
Look at it this way -- we're all former 13-year-olds, ourselves. And goodness knows, you couldn't pay me enough to relieve my teenage years. That's some tough stuff life throws at you, there.
Welcome to Hatrack again. Posts: 14017 | Registered: May 2000
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As an old Scoutmaster, just let me add, if I were picking a crew for a long bus tour, I would take an excited 13 year old over a stuffy adult any day.
Posts: 1167 | Registered: Oct 2005
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I didn't respect you before, but I do now that I know you're my son's age. Good post and thanks for coming clean.
Posts: 5948 | Registered: Jun 2001
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Hi Reticulum, I actually just posted on Advent's thread my recollections of being a young teenager and posting online (here). I'm happy to see that you are able to reveal your age openly, and not at all offended nor do I think less of you for the fact. In my opinion, it is 13 year olds who are not at all apprehensive about posting among many people twice their age who deserve the sort of scorn that those that are fear (but usually don't get).
Posts: 142 | Registered: Apr 2005
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13 huh? So you're from the generation who can't remember what it was like not to have the internet--when I was your age, people other than those computer-inclined were just starting to sign up for ISPs. And I'm sure plenty of people will say to me, "when I was your age, CDs just came out". I like that I belong to a board whose members ages' span so many decades. Different perspectives and all. :-)
Posts: 484 | Registered: Feb 2006
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Hi! I've said this a few times before but this is an appropriate place to say it again.
I'm only 16. I find Hatrack a place where I can go to have fun but serious intellectual discussions with so many different people. As a 16-year-old, I'm also on myspace and places like that where things like politeness and good grammar don't seem to matter - and Hatrack is my relief from that. Even the 13-year-olds like you, Reticulum, are able to have intelligent discussions with the rest of us.
Tangent: I'm in band too- 1st chair clarinet. Being first chair is fun! My band director didn't introduce me to Hatrack (reading EG did), but he did introduce me to his band, Sea of Red, and for a while their website's message board rivaled Hatrack for my first logon. They recently dissolved, though, so rest assured that Hatrack is safely the third website I check daily.
Posts: 206 | Registered: Jun 2005
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No sweat, Reticulum. I'm sixteen as well, there's nothing wrong with being young. I mean, truly, I came onto this forum when I was young.
Of course, when I was that young, I didn't care too much about grammar and I took a two year hiatus from Hatrack.
It's not the age that matters, especially online, but rather how respectable and mature a person is. Trust me, you have actually gained more respect from me in the fact that you are far more mature than many of the older people I've seen online.
Edit: Hey, why not? My tangent: I dislike MySpace in every aspect.
And I've never been in band, I'm sorry! I just have been more wrapped up in Debate type things I'd never be able to make time for it. I am shamed at my lack of musical aptitude. Posts: 1831 | Registered: Jan 2003
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posted
I have to say Reticulum, I pegged you as a whole lot older than 13. Eeesh. I wish I coulda been that mature at age 13. And had that good of grammar. I still write like I think. Choppy, with lots of pauses and elipses. (I've refrained in this post). But yeah, you're quite the cool Hatracker. Welcome.
To continue a tangent ... (ahh! elipses!! apologies if I'm using that word wrong) Myspace is evil. End tangent.
Posts: 2827 | Registered: Jul 2005
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Nothing wrong with being thirteen. 13-year-olds tend to be cool - largely because most haven't yet mastered the supression of the human spirit, so they can still approach things with an openmindedness and enthusiasm that many adults do not share. On the other hand, they often aren't so great with logic, and tend towards craziness. (Not that there's necessarily anything wrong with that!) Posts: 2432 | Registered: Feb 2001
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posted
Thank you all, Hatrack, for your support, and kindness. I feel a lot better, and as if I am not pretending anymore.
And as for myspace. It is the single worse thing I have ever seen in my life. It is nothing but a log-on for pedophiles who can easily get their pray. Some of my peers have actually been dumb enough to post where they live, and stories about how they smoke...pot. Do not worry, I don't associate with these people, and simply ignore them.
Also, in 2-3 years when a child is murdered because of myspace, here is what you will see on the news:
The United States of America V. MySpace.
Posts: 2121 | Registered: Oct 2005
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They are going to be sued by the United States for endangering the welfare of a minor. They will lose, of course.
Posts: 2121 | Registered: Oct 2005
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If I'm not mistaken, something like that already has happened.
Some girl met a guy on MySpace, they chatted for a while, she decided she'd like to be in one of his paintings, he kills her... something like that.
The way I figure, if I need to talk with my friends, I'll talk with them face to face, if I want to talk with new people online, I'll use a website that doesn't require your address so that everyone can see it.
Posts: 1831 | Registered: Jan 2003
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posted
Aren't you supposed to be practicing?! /glare
I'm kidding, of course.
Ah yes, early in the school year, Reticulum approached me at the beginning of the band class and asked me, "Have you ever heard of a book called Ender's Game?"
Now, usually, I ignore Reticulum's pre-class inqiries (of which there are MANY, let me tell you), because I'm otherwise occupied with getting ready for the class. You know. Writing information on the board, finding my music, telling the tuba players to stop wrestling, and getting the saxophonists to actually get their instruments out. That kind of thing.
But THIS question was one that I had to answer. "Are you kidding?! That's gotta be one of my favorite books!"
Thus the conversations ensued. I was much impressed by Reticulum. I first read "Ender's Game" at about his age, but the depth of analysis was about the level of, "Wow! It's like lasertag in zero-g!! Cool!!!" And I also thought I was really smart for wondering wither the perjorative 'bugger lover' had any relation to 'n-word lover.'
But Reticulum walks into my office at one point and asks, "Do you think that the human race would ever find the complete annihalation of another species acceptable?"
*pauses to ponder*
I reply, "You know, I think that this may be one of the points that Mr. Card wanted us to consider."
Let's not forget that Reticulum often makes very insightful observations about interactions between people. Though, his timing in making these observations out loud often makes listeners ... uncomfortable. I have yet to determine whether Reticulum does this on purpose, or if he simply needs more practice in something called tact. /wink
Anyway, it was me that introduced Reticulum to Hatrack, and for that I make no apology. It gives him a forum in which to express opinions among those that are his intellectual equals, which is not something he often can get at school. It is also a place full of people that I respect, who are able to accept the ideas and opinions of others, or at least discuss them until the thread is inevitably derailed. I guess what I am trying to say is that this is an ideal place and group of people to help with the education of one of my more promising students.
Now, Reticulum. Don't let my raving about you get to your head. Just remember this whenever I scathingly criticize you. I have a great deal of respect for you and for many of my students. The criticism is only intended to speed your growth, not only as a musician, but as a person.
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