Never had this problem, I see a lot of threads where people share stories about people giving them crap for yoyoing. I can’t relate but, if someone did say something stupid like that to me, I would probly just let it go. For every crap I give about what someone else thinks, that’s one less crap I give about myself.
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Something to keep in mind is that there CAN be a grain of truth in statements like these.
Are they probably just from people insecure about losing their own childhood creativity? Maybe.
But I think with anything that people spend time on, yoyos, video-games, sports, clothes, etc. etc.
There is definitely a reality where it reaches a point of irresponsibility. I know several people who would choose to spend their ALL of their vacation time on yo-yo trips instead of on trips where their family would want to go.
I know guys who spend more time on yo-yo than with their kids/spouses
same goes for video games, sports, clothes, their job… anything.
Anything someone chooses to be identified with more than their relationships is unhealthy imo.
Yo-yos can be completely childish and immature
Yo-yos can be completely creative, life-giving, and a sign of maturity.
The yo-yo [or substitute item X here] itself is neutral.
Do you let it consume you? - I’ve certainly been gulity of this in the past to the point of it being unhealthy. I don’t need that…
When yo-yos help me engage with people, I love it.
When yo-yos help me to not “be present” and to be “somewhere else” instead of relating to people… I’m not a fan.
Of course, in light of all of this, I still love yoyos, and think they’re a fantastic creative outlet… but everything we do has the power to harm or give life… and I think it’d be naive to overlook this fact just because we all like yoyos so much.
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I nominate Adam Brewster for the “Hey, What You Said There… It Makes a Lot of Sense, Thanks For That!” award (you can thank my marketing background for the catchy name!).
Sounds like another fan of my suggestion! Whirls yoyo around head threatingly
I think one of the larger misconceptions that people have is that since you’re doing it at the moment that they see you, that you must be that way all the time. Obsession is a really quick thing to default to, and easy to make fun of.
Two points: Toys are bound by neither age nor maturity, and just because you partake in an activity doesn’t mean it envelops and summarizes you.
I think it depends on how charismatic you are also… I’ve had peers try to give me crap about throwing or playing pkmn, but it’s hard for them to hate when they aren’t as cool hahaha. Jk but seriously, i like being like “you already drunk?” Lol that’s a good one
not yet … but this is a situation where I’d stop, smile, and take a line from Mister Spock and simply say…
“Acknowledged”
then carry on
This is a joke people, we don’t want to be known for being people who assault…
Seems to me that these to comments may have something to do with one another. 
I posted this 9-4-2010 on a different forum. I could copy the whole story but I doubt anyone really cares lol.
A couple of days a go, I stepped out of the building durring my lunch break, and started yoing in a hidden corner of the grounds. I really just wanted some time by myself and it was feeling good to throw a bit in the cool afternoon.
I hear a voice, look up, and there is a guy sitting on a bench and he starts just going off on me and my yoyoing. I’m pretty stubborn and there was no way this guy was going to get me to stop throwing nor was I going to engage him in debate over the pros of yoyoing.
I kept throwing he kept saying vile garbage for almost 20 minutes, I remained silent. Looking at my watch I knew I had to get back to work. I looked at him and said, “Do you feel better now?” He laughed, cursed and indicated that he did. I replied, “Yoyoing makes me feel better too. I’m glad my yoyoing helped you relieve some stress. I’ll be back tomorrow and I’ll bring you a yoyo to use if you would like.”
The next day he was back, he didn’t yoyo, but he didn’t rant. He shook my hand introduced himself and came close to apologizing. He has watched everday now and seems much more subdued.
It would have been easy to say something awful to this guy in the first five seconds of having met him. If I had said what I felt at the time he would still be filled with hate and would be confrontational.
We complain about hate on the boards, but maybe, just maybe our responses help that same hate to grow. I challenge you to find a positive way to deal with haters. It made me feel good!
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No one has ever been outright rude to me but they’ve said some funny things. I just go along with it. People love a little self-depricating humor to show that you’re not showing off and that you’re just having fun.
The only negative comment I get sometimes is the “That guys must have no life and yo-yo for hours.” It’s whatever. Different people have different reactions to things that arn’t “normal” to them.
Funny, I dropped my social life pretty much, but people don’t realize it or assume it. Probably part of growing up, but yeah…“Peers” (such an adult term, but it’s so fitting) always assume I’m out partying or something. So when I come to work looking all tired, they say “Hung over?” or “Late night partying?”… I say… “No, I was up late playing with yoyo’s”. I do get some weird reactions but it’s quite comical how it plays out from there. I actually made a post on FB the other night: “It’s 5 AM, I work in a couple hours but I’m yoyo’ing”. I got a considerable amount of likes from non-throwers.
I don’t know, I don’t get these hateful/putting down comments that other people do. The most I get is a confused look, like I just arrived in a UFO. Sometimes it’s almost like they don’t believe that I could spend more than 5 minutes playing yoyo. You can almost see their brain become perplexed through their face and body language when I explain how much time and money I’ve spent on the hobby.
You would actually be surprised how many people have very, very little hobbies. Poke their brain, ask them what they do. Most of these people who are probably putting you down, may not have any hobbies besides perhaps playing video games or watching movies/TV. You would be surprised how many people have literally no hobbies, going day to day without something to to dedicate time to other than hanging out with other people doing literally nothing. Drifters of the social world, and they often make their way up the social pyramid by making fools of others, or trying to… I haven’t had anyone give me crap yet…
…then again maybe I’m just an adult… It would be funny if a high schooler tried to give me crap about throwing though. What better would he want me to do? Do the equivilent of what he’s doing in High School and go join an adult Softball League? Lolol… actually sounds kinda fun… Sort of, not really. But you get the point. There’s not much better to spend your time on, unless your hobbies are something like this kid’s:
But again, I guess I don’t have a social life anymore, so I could care less what people say. I literally devote most of my time to my hobbies. Which right now include; Building a Rolling Ball Clock (YouTube it), Skateboarding, Building another Arcade Stick and keeping up with the FGC, Modifying Consoles, Yoyo’ing, Pokemon, Heroclix, Comics, Some TV Shows, Actually watching Good Movies not “Super Hero Movie” crap, and more stuff I probably forgot cuz I have them on the back burner like Learning Gardening or Astrojax. My time is well spent, nobody can ruin “my time”, I have a good time. ;D Yoyo’ing is my favorite though… But it’s fun to look on my PKMN cartridges and see how many hours I’ve put into my saved games haha, oh boy… actually it kind of hurts.
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Worst phrase ever, “wow, you have too much time on your hands!”
I’ve gotten that before two, but I take it as a compliment. I’ve also gotten the far less prevalent, “That’s so asian.”
I am actually Asian, so that doesn’t really bug me