Half-Mind Rant

2 Responses: Aging Hash or Not?

1. by Ima Luuuger (L)

 

My home hash is certainly not as large as it should be for the 5th largest city in the US (and I actually think that for the most part, the smaller your city, the larger your hash - unless you are too small, and nobody likes that!) I have also not traveled extensively enough to speak about hashing: the institution as a whole (although I can say with some authority that hashing can make a hole feel better).

This, I know as true: fixing an aging community is solvable. Many people, in all kinds of organizations, complain about the graying of their respective groups. As our kennels get older together and don't collect enough new boots, we find it harder to convince a bunch of youngsters in their early 20's to hang out with all the geezers, running for the love of beer. Look around, how many people do you know that are significantly younger than you and are not hash affiliated? As we age, our friends tend to be around the same age, have the same experiences and socialize in the same groups. That last one is the biggie, and in my half-mind, the solution.

We don't socialize enough outside our own group.

When I started hashing roughly 3 years ago, I invited all of my friends to hash. Some liked it, but most, not so much. Eventually, I ran out of friends to introduce to the hash and it is only the occasional new friend (who is usually my age) that shows interest and gets invited. As we all know, it takes someone "special" to be a hasher.

The solution is to expand your social group.

I know that can be challenging with family, time restrictions and even some kennel's "ALL hash, ALL the time" environments, but it has to be done if you expect to grow and prosper. We have recently seen an increase in membership and a decrease in the overall age of my home hash because we found a couple of new members who were also involved in Meetin.com and Meetup.com. Both are on-line social networking sites with the latter focusing on interest groups (hiking, kayaking, philosophy, you name it.) Most of the people who join them are, wait for it, joiners. They like new stuff and are willing to get involved.

These new hashers brought in lots of people out of their online-related social groups and clubs (mostly hiking groups) who they thought would be interested, and low and behold, we had new people from a much younger demographic who brought in even more new people from the same demographic. Utilizing new social-networking models can work well for us, and it has in my little slice of the planet.

Get out there and meet some new folks who have never been blessed with the knowledge of G'. You might just make a friend and bring some new energy into the hash! (and if you're lucky, even make somebody's hole feel better.)

ON-ON Ima Luuuger (L)
Phoenix H3 - '07 Great Pretender
Phoenix Hump D' Hash - Head(!)Master

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2. by Flying Booger

Demographics & Hashing

A few months ago, my Aussie friend Ms Cheeky wrote an interesting rant for the Half-Mind Catalog. You owe it to yourself to read the whole thing, but to summarize, she notes the average age of hashers signed up for InterHash 2006 in Chiang Mai (old), compares it to the average age of her hashing mates in Canberra (old), and comes to a dire conclusion: not enough young people are coming into the hash to keep it alive once the oldsters start dying off. More recently, British hasher Urine wrote another Half-Mind Catalog rant on the same subject, with a slightly different twist.

To both rants, I offer this counter-rant:

When it comes to InterHash, money skews the average age of attendees. Hashers who can afford to travel half-way round the world for a weekend of hashing in an exotic locale tend to be older, at the mid-point (or nearing the end) of successful careers. Very young hashers generally can't afford the trip; ancient hashers generally can't either, living, as they do, on fixed incomes.

What initially caught my attention was Ms Cheeky's comment on the increasing average age of Canberra hashers; ditto Urine's concerns on the aging of the hash. Where, indeed, are the new hashers? Here in the USA, there's no lack of fresh meat: new people come into the hash all the time. Given the popularity of hashing overseas, I'm surprised to hear Ms Cheeky and Urine aren't seeing the same influx of new hashers.

Here in Tucson, Pick'n'Flick and I are almost the only older hashers left in the main kennel, the jHavelina HHH. In the nine years we've hashed with the jHavelinas, we've seen a complete generational change. Actually, as I blogged here , the older hashers are still around - they set up a breakaway hash to escape the influx of new hashers into the old hash, and all the changes that came with the new hashers. Is that small-minded? Well, hashers are just human, after all, and frankly, if the breakaway hash met later in the day, Pick'n'Flick and I would join them more often!

No, I don't think the hash is aging, but it's certainly true that there are now many more older hashers than before. And I think the increasing presence of older hashers is having an influence on hashing. For a slightly tongue-in-cheek take on that, click here .

Urine and Ms Cheeky, if it would make you feel any better, I'd hash with you any day, and if I could afford it, lift a mug with you at every InterHash, Eurohash, and Nash Hash . . . but come to think of it, if I were to show up, the average age of attendees would go up , not down!

- Flying Booger