I have watched over the last couple of days the negative [and defense]
comments about our conch-l friend "James".  Unlike the majority of you folks,
I have had the pleasure of personally meeting James.  I found him to be a very
nice young man and I certainly enjoyed his enthusiasm with our mutual hobby.
Please try to remember how you were when you were his age...when you got
excited over a special gift or a new endeavor, did you always remember to say
"thank you"?  One of the biggest problems I have observed with our hobby, is
that so many of "older collectors" forget about the young collectors coming
up...I have seen and heard of young collectors quiting shell clubs because the
older, more serious collectors did not want to be "bothered" by the
"youngsters"...they get in the way...they ask too many questions...I come here
to the club to get away from "kids"...etc, etc.  If you want to see our hobby
continue into the future, if you want to find welcomed homes for your
wonderful collections [other than the basement of some museum], you need to be
more understanding with these young collectors...encourage them, not
discourage them.  Remember, we were all young once and we all made mistakes,
mannerswise, even before computers and the "net"!
Edward T. Schelling
Worldwide Specimen Shells
Shalimar, FL