Yoyoing in public

o you guys ever yoyo in public? why or why not? if you do do people stare judge or…?

I dont yoyo in public. I’m not saying it’s show-offish, but I think its unnecessary to do and draw attention to yourself.

I’ve never really had the urge to do so.

I just like to yo-yo, whether or not i’m outside or in public doesn’t make much difference. If i want to throw i do.
However i don’t make plans to go out in public and try to gather a crowd or anything, that’s not my style. i throw for myself, no matter where i am, be it public or private.

The looks people give will always vary. Most of the time they are looks of amazement, some confused, some just plain look annoyed. The key is to stay away from busy areas where you can hit people and just stay out of the way of large crowds of people and most the time they wont care.

4 Likes

I throw in public when I find myself to have 5 mins to spare, But to try and get attention no. It’s more like a relaxing whenever you have a few minutes to spare. I throw mainly in my bat cave but when I do hang out with friends I occasionally whip it out and play for a bit just to kill the urge. I get crazy Yoyo urges. Lol. Then a few throws and I’m all fine :slight_smile:

Same with what most said. If I’m walking from point a to point by myself, I throw a little. Same with waiting in line or if its a non busy area. Don’t like attention but I try and ignore anyone who’s watching. If try give a compliment, I thank them and then zone out back on my tricks.

I throw when i think im alone then bind awkwardly when I see people and pretend i have a rock in my hand

I don’t do it to “get attention” or “show off”, but I’ll be darned if I’mma let a spare 5 minutes pass and not throw a yoyo. :wink: What else am I supposed to do while I’m waiting in lines and such?

I do have people watch from time to time and I don’t mind. I’ve never had anyone get too bothered by it except this one grumpy old man I’ll never forget. But that was just kinda… odd and funny…! For the most part, it’s not a bad icebreaker and people enjoy the little surprise in their day. They can go off and say “I saw the weirdest thing earlier today…!”

Walking home after dropping off my son at school the other day, and I’m yoyoing as I’m on the walking path. Turns out a military reserve unit was doing a training march on the same walking path. They’re doing their cadence song “I don’t know what I’ve been told… (I don’t know what I’ve been told!)” and this one guy breaks from the expected lyric in order to yell “That yoyoing is awesome, man!” or something like that. Made me chuckle to myself. His regiment (including the drill sergeant) just laughed, too.

I like to yoyo. I get that it becomes a bit of a “spectacle” at times, but I’m not really fazed by a few curious eyeballs… usually young people but often people my age or older being brought on a nostalgia trip. Regardless, I’m still yoyoing mainly for me, not for them. Nothing to be ashamed of, so I don’t feel any shame from it.

3 Likes

I don’t understand why people find yoyoing embarrassing or whatever. A friend of mine said that he won’t let a girl he’s been hanging out with know about his yoyo hobby. It’s a hobby just like any other. My other coworker said he would never play with a yoyo, assuming he thinks it’s some how degrading yet he’ll play with kendamas. This ignorance kinda pisses me off so I tell him to stop playing with yoyos and kendamas if you’re too afraid to have a hobby. Also, a girl who judges you for “playing with yoyos” is not worth keeping around.

I’ll throw in public. I don’t to it to show off, I do it to pass time. I don’t mind a few curious minds, more people interested in yoyoing, the better!

When your wife is clothes shopping a yoyo is your best friend. I’ll go clothes shopping any time. Yeah you get looks. Some good, some bad but whatever I’m having a good time.

5 Likes

I take my yoyos all the time to the park (especially when going to my niece’s softball tournaments). Last weekend I had several yoyos on hand as I knew it would be a long, relaxing day at the park. I was throwing and filming some POV tricks when these kids start watching me. Next thing I knew they were somewhat mocking me, talking like a carnival barker saying “Come see the world famous yoyo expert” (they read my shirt or saw my bag I had with me). Later that day I see the same kids, One asked if I could sign their forehead. If I had a nice permanent marker, one that’s next to impossible to wash off, I’d be delighted to :slight_smile:

I was debating digging through the threads and revive an old thread I started about things that non yoyoers say. I hear good stuff all the time like “is that a trick yoyo?” (as opposed to what other kind of yoyo would there be…yoyos are designed for tricks)

I yoyo anywhere and everywhere, taking a walk. At the store. It doesn’t matter to me. I couldn’t really care if people are watchin. As long as I am having a good time and enjoying myself. What does it matter if I’m throwing in public.

Haha dang, that’s a solid answer. I’ve been single for a while now and forgot how boring it was to cloths shop with the girlfriend sometimes.

That makes me rethink my first post.

Thinking when I was younger and I’d be with my parents when they took my sister clothes shopping…man that took forever. I took my red Duncan Imperial everywhere I went. While mom 'n dad would be inside the store for what felt like an eternity looking at the same outfits, I stood outside the store (inside the mall) playing yoyo. It kept me happy especially because I was too young to actually go wandering around in the mall. I’d be in their view but out of harm’s way while I yoyo’d in a safe open area.

I do this to but enough with that! I’m throwing in public no matter who watches, it’s for me and only me. If someone catches a look lucky them. The Yoyo is the one of oldest toys and one of the coolest toys ever, no more hiding! Forget the haters. In the end they wish they had a Yoyo to play with. I have always loved yoyos. If you never played with one as a kid I don’t know what planet you came from.

There is not to many moments I am not thinking about yo-yoing. Hey my job even put YOYO on my name tag. Its my biggest passion in life and its really in some ways defines who I am. It’s simple, I Yoyo in public because I want to. In some ways I do it for show. I want people to see me and just maybe I can put that seed into another person and they can experience the joy I found in a toy. Biggest example is the grocery store, as my wife pushes the basket I yoyo up and down the isles. Being that I work a lot I try and use any free time I get it. The managers recognize me because of the yoyo and when I don’t have my throw they have commented. The manager even brought the district manager to show him my skills. Times like that are awesome, I love it when people feel nostalgia. Some may think I am showing off but I just want to share what I am passionate about. Also about the work thing, anytime I supervise a work crew and there is no safety incidents I buy them all yoyo’s. In May 2015 I bought 12 yoyo factory one’s that had the dvd. Even grown men love it and if they don’t they know their kids will. Every time its gone over really well, its just something you normally don’t get at a chemical plant. so yes please everyone lets yoyo every where and spread the love. I have even yoyo’d at a club, the DJ even called me out. I am never afraid or ashamed, some places I do feel more comfortable than others. Once people know me they just except a yoyo in my pocket.

2 Likes

i throw when i feel like throwing. sometimes that’s at home on the porch, and sometimes it’s when i’m out and about. now that i’m a grown up, i try hard not to take up a ton of personal space when i throw out in the world. i don’t do it as a performance or anything, and people usually just keep on walking. the ones who do say something are generally nice and curious. a benefit of playing fixed axle is that i don’t get a lot of the “does that have a motor in it” kinds of questions and if someone requests a trick, i pretty much always do it and collect high fives after.

yo-yoing is fun as introspective meditation, but it’s also engaging to people, and i think you should try to experience both sides of that coin.

1 Like

well said. :wink:

as far as me, im basically the same as all of you guys.

i yoyo for myself and only myself (usually; because i also want/have to compete lol), but the fact that the only place i usually yoyo publicly is at my high school means that i get VERY mixed responses, but most people think im showing off (even though im just living out my life ::)) and there are obviously going to be the people who bully me (because…reasons) so they taunt me every chance they get, but i have gotten better with ignoring them. then there are the so-happy-that-its-creepy seniors, who practically treat me like their son…it gets wierd, i know… :-X

as ed said, i yoyo when i feel like it (obviously being the timing is adequate) i dont do it for fame, money, or to be cool. i do it as…

=stress reliever
=fun
=a cure for boredom
=to let out my creativity (not that i have much lol)
=if someone REALLY wants me to do a trick (again, has to be good timing)
and most of all…

because it gets me through the ups and downs (no pun intended) with the fact that without the support of the yoyo community, i wouldn’t be here. (looooong story, involves being bullied)

its one of the few forms of entertainment i have (i dont have an apple device like most of you. jk) :stuck_out_tongue:

and it is also the only sport i can say i actively do, soooooooooooo… ::slight_smile: ::slight_smile: ::slight_smile: ::slight_smile: ::slight_smile:

I always find it interesting that so many of us want to be individuals, different from everyone, but are hesitant to be different in public. Desire to be one’s self v.s. Desire to conform to the norm. A little internal turmoil for humans.

1 Like

I see yoyo as “me time”. It’s like a game or a book. I carry my plastic with me at all times in case I end up in a situation where I don’t need to be “in the moment” with everyone else. But when I’m out and about that time doesn’t happen often.

I’ll throw at parties after asking my close friends if they’d like to see something new I’ve learned. But I’m not waking around throwing cause at that point I’d feel like, I dunno, like I’m supposed to be hanging out, conversing, socializing, focusing on work or learning something - instead I’m in my own little world throwing.

I’d rather do that at home. The same times where I’d be reading or playing a game or music or something like that. So no, I don’t throw in public very often. I also don’t stare at my phone all the time either. Same kinda thing.

2 Likes