Say your going to walk the dog… on the cliff.
And do a finger grind 
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I get a bit embarrassed when people find out I throw yoyos. I get more embarrassed when people find out I make them. I probably shouldn’t feel that way, but I kind do.
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You know what Glen… The only time I get embarrassed is when I have to admit to other people that I know you. Everybody gets over it pretty quick though. And after we make friends and it never fails. Before we part ways for the day they always give me a free box of termites at a couple tickets to Australia.
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I think it’s a really fun and interesting hobby so no reason to hide it, and I don’t.
People don’t focus on us as hard as we like to believe it.
I doubt anyone has ever been thinking something like:
“Haha, remember that guy playing with a yoyo or something while waiting for his train last week? What a loser, he missed that trick thingy he was trying twice in a row!”
Also something I realized while talking about my “uncommon” hobby with people, is that they’ll talk to me about THEIR uncommon hobby!
It’s a really neat way of bonding with people you meet. It definitely beats the frequently dull “I work as an X at Y…”
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No!!
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That isn’t very nice.
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You should be proud Glen. You are an excellent craftsman and thrower.
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Also the general public can not tell at ALL if you miss!
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That is so true! Yeah I haven’t met too many people who are in to skill toys like me but I love what I do!
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As someone who uploaded some yoyo videos (hard work!) back in the day, I kept them up and still look back to them. I show them to my friends, and my brothers still poke fun at me for it. But just gotta own it! They are there to remind you of the simpler days of your youth.
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definitely, I have so many great memories from when I first started out with yo-yoing. I could imagine my life without it. YOYO = Your Only Young Once
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One of my favorite public yoyo experiences was at a museum. Basically, I was just casually throwing in line for food and an entire group of middle schoolers gathered around me to watch, pulling out their phones to record me lol. I’m never or rarely embarrassed, because most people don’t notice or care, and those that do usually are just curious and or impressed or start a short conversation. I’m not a super outgoing guy, but I am well versed in yoyo talk for “normies” so it’s usually pretty fun. That being said, funerals or protests may not be the best times to pull out your snazzy chunk of colorful aluminium. (Of course we already know that…)
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My cousin recently showed me one she took when I was 14, I looked so young and my tricks were basic but it was a trip down memory lane for sure!
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Everyone know that you should use black yoyos for funerals 
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I am 37 and certainly not embarrassed about yoyoing. That doesn’t mean I am happy to yoyo in public though, I don’t yoyo in public because I don’t like drawing attention to myself or even have people look at me
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I wouldn’t say I’m embarrassed but it’s not something I run around telling people about. I’m 46 and I’ve been throwing since my mid twenties when I was in the Navy. I was on a sub, on deployment in the Mediterranean region and I received a “halfway night” gift from my parents. Inside was a yoyo. I think it was a butterfly. Started messing around with it during my off- watch time and that sparked the interest. I don’t throw for show, just for my own enjoyment. I feel like it helps with manual dexterity and concentration too. I do occasionally throw outside but mostly in the yard while the kids are playing. I always have a throw in my work backpack but I work as a Field Engineer in the solar industry, so there’s typically nobody around if I break out some tricks on lunch breaks.
Everyone is different. I don’t understand the position of the former pro thrower who wants his past hidden but hey, who am I to judge? I try to respect people’s wishes to the best of my ability and I think the OP did the right thing by taking down the videos. Respect and consideration go a long way to making the world a better place.
Have a great day everyone. Throw for the love of it.
kgb
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Dude there are so many flow toys… personally yoyoing is my favorite one. There are people everyday in the park playing with hula hoops and all kinds of ravey flow gear. I feel like yo-yos are very similar to all of those concepts and would never be embarrassed to throw! Honestly sometimes I do it in unfamiliar situations as it usually sparks a good conversation with bystanders!
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I think we’ve all probably done things in our teenage years which we wouldn’t want to be public knowledge, but for me at least, yoyo certainly isn’t one of them! I can think of a few others though… 
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Truthfully, id answer yes. I mostly try to play off my absolute obsession with the hobby as something I just very casually do for fun, but I spend tons of time actually yoyoing, thinking about it, and spending money on new ones. I downplay the obsession I have with it to my friends, cause I just don’t think they would understand. Tbh, the problem comes down to the idea that most people view yoyoing as a kid’s hobby (thank Duncan’s marketing for that one), and to show more than just a casual interest pegs you as someone just indulging in a childish past-time. Most people would find it at best cool, possibly unique, and maybe view you as a carnival geek when they see you yoyo. Even my brother would probably be like wtf if I told him the Ti-Vayder I let him learn how to bind on cost almost $200. Everyone loves it at the casual level, but at the enthusiast level you are just weird.
idk, these are just some thoughts of mine. Im also the type of person who doesn’t yoyo in public because I really don’t want to be approached by random strangers. I get enough social interaction in my life not to crave it (introvert if you want to label). Im also not good enough to be ostentatious about yoyoing. As much as I love yoyoing, it doesn’t define me, and id rather people not think of me as ‘that yoyo guy’. I appreciate all of you who can “rock it” and just do the yoyo thing without feeling judged. Sorry, but I can’t, and im sure that most of you can at least understand this point. The target of the whole conversation (the competition yoyo dude), I am sure this is how he feels. It isn’t worth trying to explain something to people when their mind is already made up. Give me 10 years and I probably wont care (already happened with me and telling conservative snooty folk that I love death metal and go to shows constantly). Im just not ready to be associated with the middle-schoolers that Duncan tried so hard to market to, sorry.
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