Why ?
So what are you doing? Like most spotters it's a question I am often asked, especially as you stand there next to a window, in a crowded airport departure lounge in the USA, having just whipped a telescope or pair of binoculars out.
You explain that you collect the registration number or tail numbers of the aircraft, trying to see as many aircraft that you haven't seen previously before. You get out your Airline Fleet lists and show them your meticulously underlined fleets with just a few lines missing, explaining that these are still the aircraft you need to see. The response 'Why?'
It's a hobby is our reply. The bemused passer-by then returns to their family and friends trying to relay what you have just explained to further inquiring minds, just as the next passer-by wonders over to ask you the same question. Mostly it's annoying, other times it's can be nice to see someone show a genuine interest in what you are doing. Regrettably it's a conversation we no longer need to deal with as the tragic events of 9-11 have changed forever the access available to airport gates in the USA, for friends and relatives of passengers, or just people like myself who want to watch aeroplanes.
Hobbies are a strange thing some hobbies appeal to a wide audience; other hobbies to a very limited group. Luckily we don't all want to do the same thing. Hobbies centred around collecting things are diverse as people collect all sorts of things. You could go on to ask why do people spend time and money hitting a small white ball around large grass areas with a club? Why do people stand for hours in freezing cold water holding a stick and piece of string with a hook upon it? The common denominator is that we all spend as much time as possible try to pursue our hobbies.
Unfortunately those hobbies not appealing to masses are usually viewed with cynicism and this is where the stereotyping comes in. Most people's view of spotters is of a sad boring social outcast called Norman complete with anorak, sandwiches and a flask of tea. I have to be honest no one I know fits that description, but like any hobby it represents a cross section of society both good and bad and therefore probably does include a few Norman's.
What is noticeably these days is that it has become a thirty something plus hobby with little interest from younger generations, so does this spell the extinction of the spotter. Let's hope not.