When you don't get an activity
 

What popular activities don't do it for you?
1) fireworks- I'll leave a perfectly good baseball game to avoid fireworks
2) themeparks- mmmm... standing in lines, thats how I want to burn vacation time
3) pro-football games at the stadium- in this case tv is better, warm and cozy, cold beer available at reasonable prices, nobody throwing batteries, college ball is a different matter
4) mall shopping- same as fireworks too much input
5) NASCAR- seriously wtf?

feel free to hammer me. :alien:

I don't mind any of those, though I'm not a big fan of malls. You're hillbilly, so I don't understand why you have such an aversion to NASCAR.

The only thing that I can think of right now is church...I've never gotten that. I pray better alone than with a bunch of people.

I agree w/ live football. I don't mind hanging out at the mall and window-shopping--but not this time of year!! :cool:

I've never gotten the appeal of golf, either playing it or watching it.

To each his own I guess. I'll take NASCAR racing any day over baseball or basketball. Boring! :thumbsdn:

Jogging is what I don't get. If I'm running, somebody is probably chasing me. ;)

I run 4-5 miles a day and love it! Once you get going you feel great and you really do get a "runner's high." It's not for everyone, but it's a great stress reliever, and defintely will keep you in shape. :thumbsup:

Baseball on TV. Even if it is my beloved Cubs. Live baseball is an entirely different experience. Or maybe it's just the availability of overpriced beer, peanuts, and difficulty parking ... maybe make that just baseball. No, scratch that. there are worse things.
Basketball.
Going to the Beach.
Daylight.
Golf.
Rap Music.
Gas Fireplaces (Especially replacing a REAL one with one of these).
Artichokes.
Escargot. My Doc at work is planning on becoming a snail farmer when he retires from medicine and returns to his native land. Several of my coworkers, including myself, have been promised jobs on the snail farm. Snails are fairly low maintenance so we are promised long hours of relaxing on the veranda of his mansion, sipping palm wine, and sampling the most excellent herbal smoking products produced by his country.

Waving like a madman when the TV camera swings your way. "omigod omigod i'm on TEEVEE!"

Pulling in the driveway to park and calling on your cell phone to tell the people 20 feet away that you're home. :smack:

Familiarity breeds contempt. I've got family who live for gascar, I've got family who raced short track for years and years... As I understand it, Nascar is driving... like a commute... to work... except it is Sunday... and it is 500 miles... in an oval... and you end where you began... too much like real life.

Some of the maddest fun i've had has been with fireworks! I think the most pointless pastime has to be English football. A game played mainly by overpaid bell-ends, for the delectation of fight happy pikeys.

Smoking. I just don't get it.

I'll tell you what I dont' get. Golfing. But someone else already brought that up. So, make mine horseracing. What a total waste of time. In Virginia, everyone who goes to the Gold Cup (tin cup is more like it) thinks they are "special." :vomitblu: And what passes for Virginia wine which they invariably push at those events tastes like Pine Sol.

Things I just don't understand the attraction to....

NASCAR....it's a bunch of rednecks driving in a circle. What's to watch?
Golf
Country Western Music
Line Dancing
Skiing/Snowboarding
Cyber Sex
Tractor Pulls/Monster Trucks
Motocross
Bungy Jumping
Organized Religion
Reality Television
Socialism
Fascism
Cigs/Cigars
Jennifer Lopez/Julia Roberts/Pam Anderson/Ann Coulter

Concert-going. And listening to music in general.

Day at the beach. Go, swim, dry off, leave -- fun. Sit there for hours in the scorching heat with the nearest cold drinks and the nearest rest rooms what feel like miles away? No thanks.

Golf. Might be my lack of co-ordination, though.

Parades.

Going drinking as an activity unto itself. Also known as "drinking to forget you're sitting around in a bar, drinking".

I don't get wax museums. Why do people pay good money to go see wax figures of celebrities? If it was cold outside and maybe raining, and the museum was free, and there was not much else around, I could see myself walking around in one for a while.

I think wax museums would be cool for halloween, but only because of the whole Vincent Price house of wax thing.

It's not so much the wax celebrities, as it is the traditional "Chamber of Horrors." A good wax museum has a strongly worded disclaimer that one must read, and on occasion sign off on, to heighten the effect.

There is also a level of skill and atristry related to working in wax that often goes unregarded. Does the figure look like the named celebrity, or is it only though careful examination of the tableau or description that you figure out who it is supposed to be? Is it the steely eyes and craggy visage that reveals to you the identity of Clint Eastwood, or is it the "Do you feel lucky, punk?" pose?

Instant mashed potatoes.

Champagne and orange juice. If the wine is good enough to stand on its own, it's only ruined by anything added to it. If it's not good enough to stand on its own, it's only going to ruin perfectly fine OJ. This drink was invented by people who needed an excuse to drink in the morning.

I know. It's so low-class. But I like instant mashed potatoes.

We eat them a lot. They're Crohn's-safe and I can whip them up in ~ 5 minutes which helps on piano/gymnastics/jazz nights.

Chewing tobacco.
Watching golf on TV.
Playing fantasy football - why? WHY? I'll even mark "obsessing over sports and statistics" on this list because of this friggin' hobby, too.

But I like instant mashed potatoes.

Shhh. I like KFC mashed potatoes. And you know those things have nothing to do with food, much less potatoes.

In the long-ago, there was a very active Fantasy Baseball League here on The Cellar.

I only just avoided participation.

Televised or live, doesn't matter; golf, baseball, synchronized diving, who cares? I can't understand FANDOM in general. Why do people get whipped into a frenzy over how a particular team or athelete performs on a particular day? I can see the fun of occasionally attending a live sporting event, but I don't get the team allegiance.

Why do people get whipped into a frenzy over how a particular team or athelete performs on a particular day?

I'd actually love to know the answer to this -- any sports nuts here on The Cellar? Some of my co-workers are extremely homophobic, so when I asked why they were so obsessed with big, burly men playing football and their physical attributes, I really didn't get much of a reply other than, "Its a hobby. Shut up."

I'll second Parades and fireworks. Dont get em.
I dont get circuses and clowns either.
And I dont get scrapbooking as a hobby that rates an industry.
I dont get the red hat lady thing. (Expressing supposed individuality and liberation through conformity and gang activity).
I dont get gun collecting (but youse knew that)
I dont get autograph collecting.
I dont get leaf blowers as a useful tool.
I dont get cruises.
I dont get Las Vegas.

Then you've never had to rake a large yard.

I guess I don't get some of the things that you guys don't get..:D

It should go directly from hand rake to composting mower. :)

i don't get cleaning the house the night before the cleaning lady comes.

i gotta go, my wife says i have chores to do...

I agree on all the above, except Las Vegas. I LOOOOOOVE Las Vegas! :thumbsup:

One to add to the list: BOXING. I'm sure these guys have skills of some sort, but what is entertaining about watching two big sweaty guys beat the hell out of each other? Yuck.

I also dont get adults collecting dolls. It strikes me as kinda creepy.

I used to work at a gift store a few years back during the whole beanie babies bizzaro market. Hourly calls about the beanie shipments. Nasty, elbowing adults knocking kids out of the way for Princess Diana bear or whatever the hell piece of crap. I expect those moves from a defensemen on the ice, but not in the toy section. First the management put a limit on the # you could buy during one visit- 10. Then they just dropped carrying them. These "collectors" would grab them at our $5 price (or whatever they were), put them online and resell immediately. Ugly. I give the store management credit for bowing out of the ugliness.

One more: I dont get the frenzy of shoping on the day after Christmas for Christmas crap. This is a major activity for many people. Lines and lines of people aggressively grabbing that stuffed santa....ugh.

I don't get clowns. What's the big deal?

Scrapbooking...man, I could talk to you for hours about it...while I'm getting pages done...

I don't get big hats period.

I used to live in Vegas, so I may be able to help you figure it out if you really wanna know.

Well there's dolls and the there's (nsfw)Dolls. :blush:

Wow, they're having a year-end sale, too!

I was looking at that. The animated gif that shows the elasticity is quite interesting.

What an extraordinary series of products.

I was quite impressed by the product gallery.

And extremely amused by the photo series of "Charlie."

Classic, indeed.

Pricey, but appears worth the cost.

I did wonder, though, about the lower cost latex version ... do they make you sign any kind of disclaimer regaring allergies before purchase?

I don't know if this fits in this thread, since it isn't really a trend or something popular, but it certainly is common...

I don't get computer help desk people that don't know anything about computers. These people probably never saw electricity before they got these jobs, much less computers...they were probably shanghaied into service from the Appalachias, or something. :yelsick:

In general: County fairs as a whole...
In particular: the "Dress your Potato" contest held at some such fairs. :eyebrow:

You are clearly a city person.

I am not a city person, even though I live in proximity to one.

I love watching the kids in the 4H competitions, and enjoy a good sheep shearing contest.

Freshly made pie and funnel cake and cotton candy are part of what completes an excellent afternoon.

How can you not enjoy a county fair?

Oh, and I'm guessing you never had a Mister Potatohead as a child. Or were traumatized by one. Of course, you could be young enough that you missed the period in time where the parts were small and dangerous, and you supplied your own spud. Mister Potatohead is not as much fun when you can't choke on any of the face parts.

This does, though, lead me to something I don't get ... how parents can be so inattentive of their children that it becomes necessary for there to be government regulations on the size of toy parts ... and television content, for that matter ... whatever happened to personal responsibility? I don't get that lack at ALL.

Sheep shearing? ... nope, don't get it. These are the things that I just stand there and blink at. I doon't understaaaand!

The funnel cake and cotton candy I can comprehend, uh-huh. But you get those at the Circus or the (Ethnicity of choice) Festival.

But I did have a Mr. Potato head. I think. It's hard to remember that far back. Holding a contest, though? Uhm... no?

My roomate delights in suggesting we go to these fairs and things. There's a lot of hokey community events that I don't get. But then again, maybe I'm a little bit peculiar about my social habits.

She just likes to watch for the pained expressions that run across my face.

hey everyone, how ya been? been lurking for about a month now, started to miss it here. don't remember why i left...think i o.d.'ed on philosophy and religion discussions.....

what i don't get:

oxygen bars
tanning booths
extremely hot salsa
sex fetishes, particularly those involving pain. or stuffed animals.
snuff (it's making a comeback for some reason - filthy habit)
televised home remodeling on 50 channels
the franklin mint
organized gymnastics for children under 5
organized anything for children under 5
flavor flav and brigitte nielsen having a tv show based on their mutual wuv.

If by "oxygen bar" you mean a place where you can pay a couple ducats and get yourself a hit of fresh, tasty O2 ... I didn't know such things existed. I've typically gotten my O2 rush from a friendly EMT for free. I figure there will be more than enough time to suck off an O2 tank on a regular basis after the COPD sets in good.

Definitely goin' with you on the other stuff, though.

I never in my life coveted the Civil War Chess Set or any other Franklin Mint Product.

Oh wait, didn't they do a Star Trek Chess Set that I drooled over? I might have to retract that. I just couldn't afford it. Oh poop. They make this.

Please help the economy of Southeastern PA. Buy crap from them.

sonofabitch

:drool:

The only way I'd pay $595.00 plus $25.00 S&H for THAT is if it came with real currency.

When you don't get an activity
 

1. Caroling
2. Reality TV
I am on board with the fireworks, parades, circuses, nascar, boxing, watching any sports on tv, fantasy football, scrapbooking oh, and do people play "bunco" where you live? What the?

I scrapbook AND play bunco *G* Both are addicting and relaxing in their own right.

Yes, I'm weird, but there's a lot of stuff I don't 'get' either.

Carolling has it's moments. I actually miss doing that. Of course, if you do it these days, you get the ACLU all over your ass.

What I don't get are:

People that dress those damned geese (and their little dogs, too--said in Wicked Witch of the West's voice) in seasonal/holiday clothes. :headshake

Jerks who, while driving, will intentionally swerve to hit some poor critter on the road (or curb) :mad:

the French (apologies to any Cellarites that are French, you must be the very rare exceptions) My brother-in-law is French, and I count down the holidays for exactly the opposite reason of most other people--with dread--because *he* will be here. :bonk:

Ditto on the French. They walk around like their doo-doo don't stink when, in fact, they themselves offend the olfactory. :fart:

Something that I don't get is how newspaper articles refer to criminals and suspects in crimes as Mister.

Like Mr. Soandso and Mr. Thug robbed the little old lady and then escaped in Mr. Jerkwad's vehicle.

I was taught that Mister is a title of respect, not meant for the dregs of society. :eyebrow:

If they are only suspects, they still deserve common respect. Once they've been convicted, I guess they don't anymore--but I can't recall a remotely recent newspaper article that actually called anyone Mister anyway. All the news stories I read just refer to people by their last names. "Jones will appear in court," etc. What newspaper are you reading?

NY Times

A snip from an article about the arson fires in Maryland:

What I don't get: the use of the following words and phrases. In fact, I demand the following be removed from popular use. Forever. I know time will do it for me but it cannot possibly happen soon enough.

"That's classic!" - offered as a response to a funny joke amusing story.
"Got a question for ya..." - I'm not answering.
"Teh" - as in "teh internet" or "you are teh retarded". Verbally spoken.
"Bling" - needs no explanation.
"Blog" - unrelated to "bling" despite both sounding like onomatopoeias.
"Get 'er done" - people at my office have started using this one, complete with grimy redneck accent and dirty old man laugh at the end. Plthijinx is granted a waiver since he blurted it in a post after successfully getting his commercial pilot certification where I suppose it is acceptabled.