OK, I don't mean new Techs on 10m. I cut those guys some slack and sometimes explain some of the ropes in a friendly way. Everybody's got to start somewhere. That's the main reason Novices and Techs have fewer privileges-- a place to learn without causing any damage to themselves or other operators. (I cut my teeth on the 40m Novice band, and I think all I damaged was my hearing!)
BUT- during my first tests of my yagi this past weekend on 20m, just a few minutes before FD started, I listened to a few QSOs of a station in Georgia. This was interesting to me for a couple of reasons: 1) He was 20/9, which is rare on 20m to Alabama, and 2) He sounded a lot like a CBer-- not an unfriendly guy, but fit the "ratchet jaw" mold.
I assume he was a new general, given that he was on 20. But he kept saying "Rod-joe", "Hay-four", and the like, and mentioned to a couple of people that his new vertical was just up on an 8 foot pole but "has pretty good ears." At first I thought it was a joke, but nope...
Call me elitist if you want to, but I really hate to hear that kind of thing on the ham bands. To me, that's like going to church and shaking the preacher's hand on the way out and saying, "G$d D**n Preacher, you preached like a m&*$%f&*#$r this morning!".
It just doesn't fit. The amateur radio fraternity is a wide umbrella, and one of the great things about the hobby is that there's room for all kinds of people with all kinds of interests. But there are traditions in the fraternity, and if a person doesn't like them, why would he be there? I'm afraid that aspect of amateur radio is getting lost on some people.
What do you think?
Rick