[Harp-L] Gear Shaming Other Harmonica Players

[Clarke Comollo]

Owen is correct
I ignore her


> On Feb 5, 2024, at 12:43 PM, Owen P. Evans <opevans at xxxxx> wrote:
> 
> Good morning all,
> First of all, I have never shamed Amy. She is very focused on her likes & dislikes. In past conversations, I have been very patient to the point where I now ignore her repetitive complaints to whoever will listen.
> 
> I have heard this complaint from Amy for almost three years. She has attempted to change the minds of many and has also been adamant about making defiant statements toward anyone who disagrees with her.  She has been banned from certain FB pages because of this. To wit, the comment at the end of her letter herein: "I don't know why "harmonica players" on Facebook are so up their own ass when they criticise my choice of harps, when I never did the same thing to them.” Not 100% true. (See below.)
> 
> I have heard her ask similar questions of a large number of my friends once & sometimes twice on a weekly to bi-weekly basis. We have all given the same good advice & guidance that I see herein. Be prepared that your advice will probably be ignored, and the questions will be repeated.
> 
> Let’s not encourage reverse ’shaming’. To wit from Amy’s letter herein: 
> "These people are the reason why I hate the Marine Band so much is because other than being terrible to maintain, the members of its fanbase are almost entirely made up of people who drag other people down.” This statement is false & inflammatory. We are all entitled to our opinions and often “never the twain shall meet” 
> 
> I for one shall ignore this invective and carry on. I hope everyone else does.
> Sincerely,
> Owen
> 
> 
> 
> 
>> On Feb 4, 2024, at 7:27 PM, Amy Rister <amyrister02 at xxxxx> wrote:
>> 
>> I don't know if anybody else has ever experienced this, but I get gear
>> shamed every time I mention that I like a certain model of harmonica. I
>> often get gear shamed by the Classic Marine Band Player's Cult (I call them
>> that because they all play the original Marine Band, play exclusively
>> tongue blocked Chicago blues, have a cult-like mentality surrounding tuning
>> and comb material, and harass anybody that has a different opinion than
>> them) every time whenever I say that I like the Golden Melody. They always
>> tell me that the tuning on those harps suck, that I should be playing a
>> Marine Band instead, and not use my Golden Melodies at all (which I had
>> mentioned in the past). These people are the reason why I hate the Marine
>> Band so much is because other than being terrible to maintain, the members
>> of its fanbase are almost entirely made up of people who drag other people
>> down. I even got bullied because I owned two good playing Chinese
>> harmonicas, the Kongsheng Bluebird and the Golden Bird Parrott Tuning
>> harmonica (which I received as a gift from my friend/teacher, Todd
>> Parrott), and said they are "useless for expression". I don't know why
>> "harmonica players" on Facebook are so up their own ass when they criticise
>> my choice of harps, when I never did the same thing to them.
>> 
>> Sincerely,
>> Amy Rister
> 
> Owen P. Evans 
> 1020 Palm View Drive - #104
> Naples, Florida. 34110
> 
> 519-984-4376
> 
> opevans at xxxxx
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> “ If you can’t dig the blues, you must have a hole in your soul.” 
> 
> Jimmy Rogers
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