[at-l] How to help a newbie?

[askowronek@mindspring.com (Amy)]

Jason Ball wrote:

> Amy said:
> You can't trust people not to lie about having a
> snickers bar in the tent.
> 
> I can't believe how many people I have gone hiking with think a little
> midnight snack in the tent is cool. Hence my looking for a smaller tent.


My friends always used to call me "The Voice of Caution".  They
thought I was too cautious about a lot of stuff.  Which meant
they didn't listen to me.  Not usually an issue, but when you're
a newbie at an activity, it's really stupid to disregard the advice
of the more experienced person.

I found that introducing newbies just made me angry, so I stopped
doing it.  However a friend is hiking with me this spring, and I'm
helping her get up to speed.  Maybe I'll turn out to have gotten
better at this introduction thing.  :)

-amy, hiking and backpacking not solo for the first time in years