Stormchasing Antipathy

(originally posted December 28th, 2006)

I've had a few people inquire as to why I don't participate in the "stormchaser community" anymore...this mainly pertaining to online message boards and discussion lists. So, I thought I'd spew and vent a little bit which will satisfy anyone's curiosity and perhaps rile a few others out there. But, for the sake of brevity, I'll sum it up in one sentence:
It's not fun anymore.

Maybe I'm getting to be an old fart, but I've gotten pretty sick and tired of the increasingly cult-like atmosphere of the "stormchasing community". Bloated egos, extreme competitiveness, petty bickering, elitist attitudes, back stabbing, conspiracies, personal flame wars, vendettas, extreme rudeness and inconsideration, selfishness, self-righteousness, maniacal glory seekers, etc. have started to become more of a defining aspect of a small but growing segment of the stormchasing community. I'm seeing more and more obsessive-compulsive behavior to the point that some chasers have launched vicious personal vendettas to destroy other chasers' reputations, business-related efforts and even personal lives. I got a small taste of that last year myself.

In short, this hobby has started to resemble our current political situation. People jocky for power, prestige, and glory using whatever means necessary including lies, personal vendettas, smear campaigns against other chasers' reputations, and even destroying personal lives. They are obsessed with it 24/7 and willingly sacrifice their morals, principles, integrity, friends, family, careers, etc. One chaser even repeatedly expressed a strong desire to take a tire iron upside the head of a construction worker flagging down and holding up traffic that delayed him from reaching a target area. Yikes!! There is certainly an outstanding microcosm study in psychology for somebody looking for thesis material. LOL!!

To make a long story short, I'm just sick and tired of it all. I've mistakenly gotten myself caught up in some of the drama I've mentioned above which included a couple of broken friendships. The result is that it all really started having a serious and negative impact on my most beloved and cherished hobby. It's important to point out that only about 25% of the chasers out there are creating the problems I'm ranting about. They however make themselves highly visible and the center of attention which drowns out the other 75%. Alot of the 75% have just gone into lurk mode or have decided like I have that it's best to distance yourself from it all. I think that's a wise choice. After all....it's just a hobby.

So, now you know. I don't miss all of the drama one bit. In fact, after doing some personal "restructuring", I'm more eager than ever for the 2006 season to approach. I've regained alot of the passion that I used to have for stormchasing simply by removing the cancerous portion of it all. I'm quite happy to let the rest of the turmoil of the stormchasing cult continue onward and pass me by entirely. I'm a helluva lot better off. It's like a breath of cool, fresh air on a sultry and oppressive August day in Texas. :-)

Let the 2006 season begin!!!