Half-Mind Rant

No "Ugly Hashers" Please

by Horn-E

Ra posted this on Hash-l recently. "Someone have pictures of ugly Hashers out there we can use?" "Please correspond directly with runners World" I replied, "And how does this help hashing?"

All right, I got a little criticism in return.

'It was a joke.' 'They are going to write the article anyway.' 'We might as well help them and get some positive stuff in the article.' 'Maybe showing some hashers running and throwing flour might stop one call to a Hazmat team down the road.'

All true. I responded to the term "Ugly Hashers" And that is the point of this rant.

I wrote several hashers off line the following post:

"I interpreted that as meaning hashers doing some of the things we don't necessarily want our reputation associated with. Drunken hashers, hashers doing down downs, mooning hashers, puking hashers etc. That we don't need. Hashers, both ugly and good looking running trail, jumping into waterfalls, crossing streams, crossing swamps, running in forests, running in back alleys, climbing fences, laying checks, cleaning up our litter, etc.

I have no problem with those. Especially showing that our marks aren't anthrax. But show our better sides. That might help hashing. I found hashing through a news article myself. But lets show our better sides, not ugly hashers doing ugly things. We have enough problems with the authorities. Lets have good articles."

There are too many pictures of hashers on the Internet showing us constantly with a glass in our face. We're constantly calling ourselves, "A drinking club with a running problem." Cute at first, but it is coming back to haunt us. When that out of control States Attorney from Connecticut went after the hash for an unwarranted Hazmat scare, he had that ammunition to use against us. We are a bunch of drunks. Some of us are, but we don't have to wave that flag.

I call us, "A running club with no problem drinking beer." To me, that is closer to what we really are.
If we are going to contribute to articles, lets tell them about the camaraderie, the mixing of races, religions, ethnic groups, etc., without animosity. Just good fellowship. Mention the charitable things we have done. Take advantage of the new study that showed that drinking beer re-hydrates better then water after vigorous exercise. Tell about learning more about the city you live in whether new or old time residents. Emphasize the adventure of our trails over boring runs in the park. Mention the challenges of resolving trails.

Tell about how we let our hair down in our little politically incorrect world for a few hours and then we return to the real world the next day, better able to handle the stresses of our jobs. And yes, we have good jobs throughout the work force of the world. Many with doctors degrees, military, business owners, etc.

But not "Ugly Hashers." No pictures of drunks passed out, or puking, or urinating in someone's flower bed, etc. You get the picture.

Many prominent hasher first heard about us through the media. I did. Okay, I'm not prominent, but because of one little nice article, I have done over 1500 hashes. We in Chicago are having our 30th Anniversary of Hashing in Chicago on June 20-22, 2008. With a little luck, I hope to write an article myself for publication. I do intend to write about trail, camaraderie, friendships, travels, and include bits about our politically incorrect ways and a chance to just let your hair down with friends that will accept you as you are, no matter what.

But no "Ugly Hashers."

ON-ON
Horn-E
Chicago H3