Having become firmly convinced that climate change has terraformed Indiana into the globe’s next major rainforest, my feed lines have been disconnected for the last ten days. Amateur radio station KE9V is closed due to weather for the foreseeable future. As sad as it is to say, I’ve lost confidence that this spate of stormy weather will ever come to an end. Rain, thunderstorms, severe weather, tornado watches, and major flooding have become daily occurrences here.

With nothing else to do I was poking around the web in the midst of this moist misery when I came across an interview on QRZ.com about the future of POTA. Turns out it was linkage to a video interview with one of the founders of the program and I’m seldom in the mood to watch another video so I clicked around the periphery without watching.

There were several comments, most praising the POTA program with many suggesting it had “saved” ham radio which instantly made the thing trite in my mind, but before clicking away I did see one other comment:

“I really enjoy hunting DX and POTA on HF. Without them this becomes a very boring hobby. There’s only so many weather reports and having to hear people go on about their health conditions before I just wanna find a new hobby.”

An all too common refrain among some hams and one that never ceases to aggravate the hell out of me. The implication being that one only entered the world of amateur radio for the sparkling conversation they were promised upon receipt of their ticket. It further implies that it’s our duty as licensed amateur radio operators to amaze, entertain, and delight every new licensee with a receiver lest they become bored and bugger off to find a new hobby.

Bah! Humbug! Bad weather clearly impacts my mood.

I’ve long said dragging every human being on this planet kicking and screaming into our hobby — without first considering whether that new convert has any interest in radio, or would be a healthy addition (instead of an annoyance) to our service — helps no one. But that’s not how it works. Zealots convinced the hobby lives perpetually on the event horizon, struggling mightily to avoid slipping into the abyss, will recruit any and every thing with a pulse without a moment of pause to consider if said new recruit is a good fit.

It’s all about the numbers, man.

If you’re looking to be delighted and entertained by fascinating conversation, maybe ham radio isn’t the hobby for you. “Good luck in your quest to discover another amazing avocation”, is what your friend should have said instead of inviting you to the next ham radio club meeting.