snookered_again
Well-known member
Just thought I'd pass this by others that have more varied experience.
Where I play there are a few that migrated from the legion which is basically a club of heavy drinking alcoholics. Many smoke weed too, it's both legal and common place here. the weed smokers tend to be a lot more polite and considerate but some of the drinkers are too. Some who drink do not make a habit of becoming childish., that's of no bother to me.
Some though get so hammered and obnoxious its become a bit of a problem, lots of disturbing players to make them miss shots. getting so drunk they can't play then sitting and commenting and drinking the rest of the night.
I had a chance to play a visiting english player who was really good and it was very embarrassing to see him being harassed during play so much. I'm talking about a guy dancing and waving his queue and doing all he can to distract, , going what I'd consider way over the top, The guy was just here for a short visit and I really admired his skillset, he made a comment about the level of sportsmanship, in this case the disruptive guy has some psychological issues. he wasn't even drinking. Seemed mad at him because of being jealous of his skill-set? I felt bad for the way he was treated, I respected the visitor's skills and would never lower myself to such childish behavior.
On my last visit, well there is one drinker who is always going off about chalk on the table. its a continuous thing , if someone leaves a chalk he makes a big deal about it and throws it on the floor..
He was finished playing for the night but felt it necessary to go onto a 20 minute uninterrupted rant about people who put chalk on the table , I had just entered.. he was going on and on saying that never happens in most pool halls, never on a pro level. It's disrespectful and so on and on..
after listening to him pipe off for some time I merely said, "I dont actually find it bothers me if someone left a chalk on the table", and I'm not trying to argue that it's more "proper" to not do that but I dont feel its necessary to go into a rage about.
his behaviour was so extreme.. well such a simple comment set him off ranting even longer, next the guy is putting chalk all round and yelling ans creaming and knocking them on the floor creating quite a spectacle of himself.
meanwhile there are about 4 others just being quiet and letting the guy go off.. I was pretty quiet, just said I don't feel like arguing about this. finally after he droned on I said this is the most boring argument ever..
it wasnt; a fight , I didn't take it too personally, I dont think it really came between us.. but it seems to be ongoing.
I thought about it a lot more after , and I truly feel that while he may have a point about leaving chalk on the edge, That his act of going on such rants is disturbing everyone and a lot more bothering to me and others than about where the bloody chalk is kept.
Many put it there as they shoot , wanting to re-chalk and not put it in their pocket. I feel if that's what they want to do when they are up, that's their business, they are not doing damage. I think if I felt the chalk bothered and someone put it there I'd simply pick it up before I shot. Its not something I'd go into a rage about. maybe there are other underlying issues.. ?
Some adults just turn into children with too much booze. Then they can't drive, but many do, and that's another matter.
There is one other who drags his cue tip on the table and does it frequently, he also stomps his queue.. I dont mind the guy actually hes a colorful character but I dont dislike him.
The owner asked him not to do both but he still does, its abitual.. That guy is also a heavy drinker.
I think touching a pool tip to the cloth is bad etiquette myself, I don't care about the chalk, they never put it on the table but sometimes on the rail. I do care about all the ranting, it spoils the atmosphere and people play less well when they are all upset. I've seen other good players who are very nice people but not shy about dragging their pool tip on the cloth.. often while explaining and such..
I can discuss with the owner, but HE doesn't; want to have to run around acting like a cop. He's a very kind and considerate man and he doesn't deserve to be policing everyone.. he doesn't even drink.. also no one else can make rules.. If he doesn't like whats happening he can close the doors. We are lucky he is so nice to let us play on his tables. I don't care to trouble the owner or become the poolroom cop. I do want to reduce the bad feelings that result from this. Running to the owner to "fink" isn't really helping anything so I dont think that is my first choice although I may choose discuss it casually with him.
I gave it all some thought , especially about how I should react, I'm thinking I'll just leave when the drinking gets so out of control, and maybe to try to make sure I never leave a chalk if its upsetting to someone else. I think I also want to bring up the point that if we are speaking about pool room etiquette then drunken ranting is also bad etiquette..
do you see similar issues? what do you do to resolve them? do you feel its common or very rude to leave a chalk on the edge of a table? Would it be enough to upset you to such a degree?
Sure, the chalk can be tied up but I'm not really sure the chalk has so much to do with it. I know many just carry their own. maybe its a way to defer the issue but I have lots of things in my pockets, do I really always need to always have a chalk in there too? it is not a case where Im leaving chalk to make a point or piss anyone off at the most I might have forgotten it. More often I'd just pick it up off the rail, use it and set it back..
the owner accepts donations and we try to be generous and there just arent; a lot of restrictive rules and we all appreciate that. It is a very friendly and supportive group for the most part.
one "rule" that could be created is if you leave a chalk on the table or touch your tip to the table you put a dollar in the donation box, but again I dont make the rules. It just seemed a creative way to defer the problem and maybe they would smile about it and the donations help. I suppose there could also be a house rule that calls it a 4 point fault to do this , that would be not so much different from your shirt touching a ball and that is called as a fault. Either can happen when the player isn't up so I'm not sure if that's even practical.
I do think there may be rules in other places, perhaps unwritten rules of etiquette? I don't travel all over. what are you seeing? Are lots of players ultra sensitive about this? Is leaving a chalk on the rail just a pretty normal occurrence in your world?
Where I play there are a few that migrated from the legion which is basically a club of heavy drinking alcoholics. Many smoke weed too, it's both legal and common place here. the weed smokers tend to be a lot more polite and considerate but some of the drinkers are too. Some who drink do not make a habit of becoming childish., that's of no bother to me.
Some though get so hammered and obnoxious its become a bit of a problem, lots of disturbing players to make them miss shots. getting so drunk they can't play then sitting and commenting and drinking the rest of the night.
I had a chance to play a visiting english player who was really good and it was very embarrassing to see him being harassed during play so much. I'm talking about a guy dancing and waving his queue and doing all he can to distract, , going what I'd consider way over the top, The guy was just here for a short visit and I really admired his skillset, he made a comment about the level of sportsmanship, in this case the disruptive guy has some psychological issues. he wasn't even drinking. Seemed mad at him because of being jealous of his skill-set? I felt bad for the way he was treated, I respected the visitor's skills and would never lower myself to such childish behavior.
On my last visit, well there is one drinker who is always going off about chalk on the table. its a continuous thing , if someone leaves a chalk he makes a big deal about it and throws it on the floor..
He was finished playing for the night but felt it necessary to go onto a 20 minute uninterrupted rant about people who put chalk on the table , I had just entered.. he was going on and on saying that never happens in most pool halls, never on a pro level. It's disrespectful and so on and on..
after listening to him pipe off for some time I merely said, "I dont actually find it bothers me if someone left a chalk on the table", and I'm not trying to argue that it's more "proper" to not do that but I dont feel its necessary to go into a rage about.
his behaviour was so extreme.. well such a simple comment set him off ranting even longer, next the guy is putting chalk all round and yelling ans creaming and knocking them on the floor creating quite a spectacle of himself.
meanwhile there are about 4 others just being quiet and letting the guy go off.. I was pretty quiet, just said I don't feel like arguing about this. finally after he droned on I said this is the most boring argument ever..
it wasnt; a fight , I didn't take it too personally, I dont think it really came between us.. but it seems to be ongoing.
I thought about it a lot more after , and I truly feel that while he may have a point about leaving chalk on the edge, That his act of going on such rants is disturbing everyone and a lot more bothering to me and others than about where the bloody chalk is kept.
Many put it there as they shoot , wanting to re-chalk and not put it in their pocket. I feel if that's what they want to do when they are up, that's their business, they are not doing damage. I think if I felt the chalk bothered and someone put it there I'd simply pick it up before I shot. Its not something I'd go into a rage about. maybe there are other underlying issues.. ?
Some adults just turn into children with too much booze. Then they can't drive, but many do, and that's another matter.
There is one other who drags his cue tip on the table and does it frequently, he also stomps his queue.. I dont mind the guy actually hes a colorful character but I dont dislike him.
The owner asked him not to do both but he still does, its abitual.. That guy is also a heavy drinker.
I think touching a pool tip to the cloth is bad etiquette myself, I don't care about the chalk, they never put it on the table but sometimes on the rail. I do care about all the ranting, it spoils the atmosphere and people play less well when they are all upset. I've seen other good players who are very nice people but not shy about dragging their pool tip on the cloth.. often while explaining and such..
I can discuss with the owner, but HE doesn't; want to have to run around acting like a cop. He's a very kind and considerate man and he doesn't deserve to be policing everyone.. he doesn't even drink.. also no one else can make rules.. If he doesn't like whats happening he can close the doors. We are lucky he is so nice to let us play on his tables. I don't care to trouble the owner or become the poolroom cop. I do want to reduce the bad feelings that result from this. Running to the owner to "fink" isn't really helping anything so I dont think that is my first choice although I may choose discuss it casually with him.
I gave it all some thought , especially about how I should react, I'm thinking I'll just leave when the drinking gets so out of control, and maybe to try to make sure I never leave a chalk if its upsetting to someone else. I think I also want to bring up the point that if we are speaking about pool room etiquette then drunken ranting is also bad etiquette..
do you see similar issues? what do you do to resolve them? do you feel its common or very rude to leave a chalk on the edge of a table? Would it be enough to upset you to such a degree?
Sure, the chalk can be tied up but I'm not really sure the chalk has so much to do with it. I know many just carry their own. maybe its a way to defer the issue but I have lots of things in my pockets, do I really always need to always have a chalk in there too? it is not a case where Im leaving chalk to make a point or piss anyone off at the most I might have forgotten it. More often I'd just pick it up off the rail, use it and set it back..
the owner accepts donations and we try to be generous and there just arent; a lot of restrictive rules and we all appreciate that. It is a very friendly and supportive group for the most part.
one "rule" that could be created is if you leave a chalk on the table or touch your tip to the table you put a dollar in the donation box, but again I dont make the rules. It just seemed a creative way to defer the problem and maybe they would smile about it and the donations help. I suppose there could also be a house rule that calls it a 4 point fault to do this , that would be not so much different from your shirt touching a ball and that is called as a fault. Either can happen when the player isn't up so I'm not sure if that's even practical.
I do think there may be rules in other places, perhaps unwritten rules of etiquette? I don't travel all over. what are you seeing? Are lots of players ultra sensitive about this? Is leaving a chalk on the rail just a pretty normal occurrence in your world?
