Lounge It's Just Me, But I Hate the Word "Community"

I realize I'm old, but the idea of calling a bunch of (possibly degenerate) gamblers a "community" makes me queasy, and not in a good way. I'm an old English (writing) major, and it just rings off tone, like calling Manson's crew a "family."

Yeah, yeah, I get the sub-cultural niche thing (I have many sociologist/anthropologist friends), but really? "Community" is the best you can do?

I mean, really, what would Lefty Rosenthal's response be to being told he was "part of the gambling community?"

How about a "sneak" of gamblers? Or a "pack?" Or a "boogle"? Or a "confusion" of gamblers?

Note: these are all terms for groups of weasels.

 

Community:

a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common:
"Rhode Island's Japanese community"
"the scientific community"

a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals:

synonyms: brotherhood · sisterhood · fraternity · sorority

To me these definitions and synonyms perfectly describe "The AP/gambling community". It isn't one website or forum of folks. It is people spread out among several different websites/forum, with some cross-over members. People meet in person, off the websites and know each other and know one another even from websites and forum that they do not participate on together.

Discussion with Mickey Crimm yesterday, where I can throw out a handle from a website that I participated on 5 years ago, that he never participated at, and he knows the person, not by that handle but by actual name exemplifies just what I am talking about.

 

This is about my sense of semantics. Do you think Lefty Rosenthal would cringe at being called a "member of a gambling community?" How about Mickey? That doesn't seem to be a phrase that would roll off his tongue.

I know I cringe. It's probably a generational thing. I'm not sure when gambling became synonymous with singing Kumbaya, and I'm not sure it has.

 

I am really not following you. Maybe it is a generational thing, IDK.

I consider myself part of a blackjack AP group or community, that is a subset of a larger AP community that includes machine players like Mickey, and poker players and maybe some sportbetters (few playing with an advantage).

Including gambling (which I did) is a little problematic for me. I don't think most AP's think of themselves as gamblers, even if we sometimes use that word.

I don't know what to say. If you feel community is a misuse of the word, or it some how offends you, that's your right. But I am not going to say a "boogle" of AP's.

 

who cares about this......just have fun with it.

 

Most gamblers are a herd of sheep, and APs are a wolf pack.

 

I think it's weird that anybody would want to label themselves as a "community" when they are doing such completely disparate things.

Machine playing is not blackjack is not sports betting is not poker playing. They have very little in common.

The idea that some basic familiarity with casinos and getting an "A" in Probability 101 and hanging out on a gambling website somehow prepares one for tackling all of these very, very different endeavors is semi-ridiculous.

 

What makes you think half of these folks understand probability? Some of us cant even spell it without auto correct.

 

I have heard.."jewish community. gay and lesbian community, teaching communty, sports memorabilia collecting community".....they all have some things in common and other things not in common. Thats life.
So the teaching community doesnt all teach math and not all even use textbooks,, the sports collectors dont all collect baseball cards, the jewish community has their own personal varied interests.... a "community" is not a bunch of pre-programmed robots.