Urban HermitAug 31, 2023

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#ThursdayIsKiteDay (kite pictures on page 2)

Survey! Why do you not own or are not interested in flying kites? Check all that apply. Add your unlisted reasons or story in the comments and boost for visibility, please. Discussion next week.

I had a kite as a kid, but it didn't fly. Sad.
29.4%
Don't live near the beach, only place I see kites.
23.5%
I went to a festival once. I can't do that.
5.9%
I have other hobbies, that looks more boring.
41.2%
Poll ended at .
Show threadUrban Hermit
The kite community has been in a long but steady decline since the 80s and 90s. I have been thinking about why for a while, and what we could do about it. I went to the Washington State International Kite Festival last week (see #HappyKiteDay for more pictures) and talked and asked a lot of attendees there, but that is a biased and older audience that is very dedicated to doing things the same way they have always done. Today, I want to know what you think, particularly people who don't fly.
Aug 31, 2023 at 9:24pmWeb
Show threadLeisureguyAug 31, 2023
@Urban_Hermit Probably immaterial, but "Go fly a kite" is generally viewed as pejorative. That is, the common phrase for the activity conveys no joy but rather the opposite.
Show threadUrban HermitSep 1, 2023

@Leisureguy I tend to think that "go fly a kite" means, "we are serious, you are not, go do something meaningless and trivial". It falls into the stereo type that flying a kite is for children. A more modern, and much more demeaning comment might be, "the big boys are talking".

But, in this stressful world, something trivial that brings a person joy should not be dismissed as useless.

Show threadLeisureguySep 1, 2023
@Urban_Hermit
I certainly am on board with the joy one gets in flying a good kite in a brisk wind. I was speculating on possible answers to the puzzle you raised — why isn't kite-flying more popular? — and that's the idea that came to me as a possible contributing factor.
Show threadUrban HermitSep 1, 2023
@Leisureguy it is a worth while point. I don't think many people think kiting is unpleasant (boring, maybe) but if I had to do the poll over I might include, "isn't that a kids thing?" which encompasses the stereotype that kiting is only for children or frivolous adults. The sentences in polls are not very long and my server only allows 4 choices (the Mastodon default), so I couldn't explain the choices as much as I would have liked.