How to sell a model railway

simon said the following on 01/03/2008 23:10:

Whether you need it or not :-)

It is more the case that some of the shows have a few normal(ish) people But we can't get to every show.

There are a worrying number of parents who will stand and watch their kids poke things, without saying anything. I doubt they would understand the "hilarious" warnings of 12000 mV in the track, even without the milli.

Greg Procter said the following on 03/03/2008 02:11:

There's plenty of nutters about! Like the guy who used to go to Warley wearing shorts and wellies, the "snap and run" bloke in the flasher mac who visits shows in the South West and just pokes his camera at a layout and dashes off to the next one.

Eeep!!!

I reckon around 60,586,998 of them.

You and your Mum aren't?

Greg.P.

Probably just as well for the operators in some locations irrespective of the visitors. A couple of shows I have visited(not always Model railway) take place in schools ,community centers etc. Some poor souls must dread getting their allocated position and finding they are located in the Gymnasium,sports hall area some of which have the pong of such sweaty activities well ingrained in the fabric.

Perhaps Hornby could add a sewage works to their Scaledale Range, with an accessory along the lines of a smoke unit that emits pongs. Sort off a 12v Glade plug in. Could use it with the gas works as well. Can the general public buy methyl mercaptan I wonder? Authentic smelling refuse container trains could be another ,move a visitor who has worn their welcome out by stopping a trainload of boiled cabbage under their nose.

G.Harman

Or you could model the rendering plant that was just outside Temple Meads, simulating warm days as required....

Cheers Richard

[soapbox mode]In a recent UK survey around 50% of parents said it was "not there job" to "control" or "discipline" their kids in any way.[/soapbox mode]

(kim)

A different survey would probably say something different. These surveys are completely meaningless. Sometime when I'm bored I answer surveys in the High Street, just for the fun of saying "but none of the available answers are applicable" and watching which of the boxes they decided I obviously "meant".

I did a drinks survey where "real ale" wasn't on the list as such, so they said that given I was male and under 30 they would put me down as a lager drinker. They didn't have port either...

One survey asked about travel, and couldn't cope with someone leaving the UK by train but not using the Channel tunnel.

Belfast - Dublin, of course :-)

More likely theyre hoping the little blighter gets a swift sharp shock - something parents arent allowed to give nowadays.

Cheers, Simon

I say, I say, I say, my dog has no nose ! So how does he smell then ....

Get coat ? Cheers, Simon

"kim" wrote

When the government removed the one serious sanction (smacking) which a parent had to control their kids, there's little wonder that parents gave up.

It's amazing how often a family will storm out of my shop in anger if I ask them to stop their kids touching expensive models, and how unwilling those same parent are to reimbure my for any damage caused.

John.

John Turner said the following on 04/03/2008 08:30:

I feel that at some point something's going to break in a big way when the current generation of nannied and state-cossetted kids grow up with no fundamental idea of why discipline is needed, never having experienced it themselves. They accept the way things are as being "right". We're already seeing that in the way younger parents object strongly to other people attempting to discipline or criticise their kids.

to quote Kim :-)

The guy in the unit nest door's mate was here on Saturday picking up the last of his stuff to take to France. His teenage daughter had been a "problem child" over here, but 6 months in a French school had transformed her. Here she'd been for eye tests, hearing tests, been evaluated by everyone including Mr. T. Cobbley, and finaly "diagnosed" a having Attention Deficit Disorder or whatever it's called. Had she been "cured" by councelling? Special Needs? Behavioural Psychologist? Nope. Every time she messed about they put sellotape on her gob and stood her in the naughty corner for an hour. As the Head explained to him; "We'll sort out your English hooligan. Don't worry, people here would only complian if we *didn't* do it."

Now where's that lottery ticket....

Cheers Richard

Reminds me of the time we took a cheap short break holiday at Butlins. Never again, it was dreadful!

We were given a customer satisfaction survey to fill in at the end of our stay but my salary was off the scale (not even an =A3xxk + option) and my broadsheet newspaper wasn't one of the choices.

MBQ

Except the government hasn't done that. People are free to beat their kids, it is only their wife (and perhaps dog?) which they can't hit any more.

State cosseted? How many of the people here got milk which people like me famously never got? :-)

How many expected cradle-to-grave welfare, or free healthcare and free education, rather than been told to believe in "alright jack", and "sorry, we need the cash to fund your parents' pyramid scheme"... perhaps most of all, how many benefited from the educational opportunities which kids are now denied because the social mobility it leads to is "unfair", in that it allows people to have a chance of doing better than - and escaping from - thugs, layabouts and idiots?

grow up with

"I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words... When I was young, we were taught to be discreet and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly disrespectful and impatient of restraint." Hesiod, c.700BC.

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

What were people of your obvious breeding and social status doing at Butlin's in the first place? ;-)

On the contrary, look at the Greeks/Greece after that. it was downhill for a long time, esp the state of some of theyre old buildings - just ruins some of them.

Cheers, Simon