Re: [at-l] look at me stunts

i'm guessing this was aimed at me, since i'm always throwing around the 
elitist thru-hiker phrase.

and this of course, emphasizes the point ramkitten made about writing a
preface to the text of your posts, as it can cause confusion.

sir, i do not think of myself as an elite individual.  i say that just to
make fun of a comment made on my trailplace guestbook sometime in virginia
(that's how i remember this past year -- by where i was, not by the date).
i think it's quite ridiculous for someone to label me as such.  i never
thought i was extraordinary.  i'm an ordinary person who happened to do an
extraordinary thing.  by extraordinary, i mean something that many people do
not have the opportunity to do.  people do extraordinary things each day.
doctors,  teachers, policemen, firemen, parents... and everyone has their
reasons for their vocations and activities.

i do, however, take quite an offense to the fact that i have been accused of
playing in the woods for six months.  i believe that is one of the things
that makes people point their fingers and say "elitist" when we try to
describe it because it was not a walk in the park.  i suffered from
hypothermia.  i had shin splints.  i had frozen boots.  i had to hike
uphill.  i hiked in thunderstorms with lightning crashing all around me.  i
nearly walked head-first into a bear.  i surprised a deer in new jersey and
was almost attacked in defense.  i almost peed on a rattlesnake.  i almost
stepped on a copperhead.  i was stung by bees.  i ran out of water and was
dehydrated and overheated and nearly passed out before i could rehydrate.
it wasn't all fun and games, and i believe that many people who quit the
trail don't realize that until they actually start hiking the trail.  it's
not a fun vacation.  it's a way of life.

i have not been to other countries to see people digging in the dumpsters
for food.  i lived in NYC for three years, so i've seen quite a bit of
desolation.  my grandfather was on omaha beach during WWII, and i've heard
quite enough stories about war to say that i don't believe in it.  i have
also experienced the feeling of not knowing where my next meal is coming
from, so i believe i'm not as sheltered as you like to think i am.  i came
from poverty, and sir, i think that is where i'd like to stay.  i'd much
rather be poor and happy, living day-to-day in the woods than rich and
miserable, tied down to a job i hate in a company i don't believe in.

belcher


----------
>From: "Orens (Jaime Pando)" <jpando38@hotmail.com>
>To: at-l@backcountry.net
>Subject: Re: [at-l] look at me stunts
>Date: Sat, Dec 30, 2000, 8:27 PM
>

>
>
>    "Elite"?!?!?!?! thru-hikers?!?!?!?!, You got to be joking!!!!!, man has
> been walking on this earth lugging his life around since the beginning of
> time, and you consider yourself "an elite" just because you took a 6 month
> sabbatical to go play 4 days at a time in the semi/civilized woods????? Now,
> I am not thru-hiker, I will never be one most likely, after I finish with
> all my obligations to "other" individuals I am responsible in "my real
> world", I will be too old to go play for six months all at once, so, I am
> happy to say that I will never be counted among that illustrious "elite"
> that you call yourself.
> I will just be a week end hiker, no pretensions to be anything else, after
> all, the only reason I do it is just to get off "my real world" and enjoy a
> bit of what the good Lord created for all of us. No other reasons than
> personal ones, I do not need anything to carry around other than my carcass
> to impress anyone, since going to the woods is just for my own entertainment
> and therapy
>
> Having been living in other countries for half of my present life, I can
> surely say, that until you don't see people going thru trash heaps to find
> breakfast, or seen people die of malnutrition or pestilence, or the
> barbarities of war, you really have been very blessed and sheltered, and
> didn't yet have a taste of the "real world" most people in this planet of
> ours lives in. Hope and pray you never have to see it though.
>
> May the New Year bring you all your heart's righteous desires.
>
> Orens. (a non-elite human)
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