About a month ago, along with some family members, I was invited to a birthday party, by some people I've never met. We were a group of four people, they all knew each other and I happened to be the new one to most of hosts, except one. I'm not a huge fan of these situations, plus I had work to do, but could not refuse the invitation, so I put my polite face on and went along, as the birthday girl was a relative of mine.
You know how it usually happens in these situations. You introduce yourself upon arrival, the usual pleasantries, name and pleasure to meet you, then the conversation starts with those knowing each other, but after that, you need to give some attention to the newcomer as well as the etiquette asks for it, plus you need to make them feel welcomed. At least that's what a good host does.
Through my relatives, I knew a thing or two about the hosts, but I don't know how much they knew about me, in terms of work, as not even my relatives know exactly what I do. This is not new, it happens all the time and to be on the safe side, I usually don't reveal the true nature of my work, I prefer to say I have some investments and managing my portfolio. Then we'll see how it goes and if I learn they are into finance or into crypto, then maybe I'll say more, but so far, this has not happened yet. This secrecy is kind of necessary, if you don't want to expose yourself to unnecessary unpleasant situations and life teaches you to do that.
In this case the chances for someone in the group to be in the same boat as me, were slim to none and I was 99.99% convinced it's best not to say anything specific and I was right.
Lucky me, the conversation started with the usual pleasantries, then shifted to the festive dishes we were having, then they started sharing stories and at some point we found some common topics, places have visited, time flew by and no one bothered to ask about my work. It was a relief honestly as I didn't want to sound evasive, neither look so full of myself.
I bet I am not the only one in this situation. Most of you don't actively trade, which is the hardest part to explain to non crypto/finance people, but all of you are on Hive and have crypto investment. Having a Hive wallet already qualifies you for that.
On our way home from the party I was thinking, how much time has to pass for people to have an open mind, to try to look further than these stupid social media platforms that are ruling their free time and lives as well and star thinking freely, start educating themselves and be open to learn about what is coming.
Not a day goes by without $BTC being mentioned and crypto in general in the news. Yes, most of us don't watch the news as we get our info from different sources, but they do. They need to be in line with the latest gossips about celebrities, about other people's personal lives, so they have something to talk about.
Personal development should be just as important as health, family, and so on, but it requires making an effort, so going with the flow is easier.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming them, it's their life, their choice, they are free to live it as they please. However, good life is not delivered to your doorstep and none of the governments are particularly concerned about handing you a better life on a silver plate. Working for others has its advantages to some degree, but we all know what it means.
Build your own dreams, or someone else will hire you to build theirs.
About four years ago, one nice sunny day my dad came to me and asked what is Bitcoin? I knew this day is going to come as unless you're living under the rock, you can't escape hearing about it. I also knew it's going to be my toughest job explaining to him what it is and what it means, and I would come out on the losing end, but I took a deep breath and started explaining. After 10 minutes he left saying it's a ponzi.
Since then, I've taken him to the grocery store, showed them how you can pay with crypto using your card, what you can do with it and now he knows more than the majority of his generation. He know El Salvador is leading as far as adoption is regarded, he knows about mining and so on. I have a lot of work invested in making him understand what, how and why, but regret nothing.
What about you? How do you handle these situations? How much are you sharing and with whom? Are you telling everyone what you do? How many unpleasant situations you had been in because of crypto?
If you're a newbie, you may want to check out these guides:
- Communities Explained - Newbie Guide
- Cross Posting And Reposting Explained, Using PeakD
- Hive Is Not For Me
- How To Pump Your Reputation Fast - Newbie Guide
- Tips And Tricks & Useful Hive Tools For Newbies
- More Useful Tools On Hive - Newbie Guide
- Community List And Why It Is Important To Post In The Right Community
- Witnesses And Proposals Explained - Newbie Guide
- To Stake, Or Not To Stake - Newbie Guide
- Tags And Tagging - Newbie Guide
- Newbie Expectations And Reality
- About Dust Vote And Hive Reward Pool, by libertycrypto27
I am not doing well enough in crypto that I really need to worry about people coming after me, but the negative sentiment is definitely a concern. I remember a few conversations I tried to have at various points and one person in particular pretty much dominated the whole thing talking about how stupid it was. I wonder if he still feels that way now... Honestly, I don't care :) Social situations are hard for me in general, so usually I fall back to talking about things I am comfortable or familiar with.
This mostly comes down to education and even if one doesn't have a favorable opinion, they should still respect the decision of others regarding crypto or other investments, but I guess some like to look smart by voicing their opinion.
That's certainly this guy. Thankfully I only see him a couple of times a year.
You're brave 😆 I don't have much patience with people like him.
Oh, this guy, you have no clue. I don't even know how to describe him!
Italians have a very good saying: Meglio perdere che trovare, which means Better to lose it, than find it
i litterally not even mention crypto, not even with colleagues of the same age or younger because unless it's bitcoin, crypto=scam for them
i also never talk about sport trade because in the end of the day then you get called a gambler, an addicted and so on, and since it's a niche thing, i never ever find anyone to talk about that... it is what it is i guess
I suppose you're in an even worse situation with your sport trades as those are most likely seen as betting
What I don't understand is why are people so quick judging others especially on matters they don't have a clue about. They tell you you're stupid for investing in crypto, while knowing nothing about it. And all this to (in their narrow mind) avoid looking stupid.
Yep, I don't even tell my parents because they would just scream for betting and gamble and lose all my money and so on... Nowadays if you are not aligned with what's the norm you get biased...
Unfortunately that is how things work 😕
Keep it to yourself is always good advice and I have a couple of people I am helping as long as they listen and follow instructions. Majority of people including family have no clue what I do in my spare time. I do think what we are all doing is very smart and will most likely be the most lucrative time we have spent in our lives.
We agree on that. Better not to say anything if you don't want trouble for yourself. You never know how they react to what you say.
In real life I am a very private person, so I don't share what I do or anything about my investments. Crypto is a tiny portion of my investments so it is not even worth mentioning... I regard it as a lottery ticket :)
Same here, and even if I reveal something, it's minimal.
I read your story and it could be as well a story told by me… lol i think most of us deal with these situations… well my family still thinks that crypto is a scam and I had only a few chances to advocate in favor to crypto when someone brought e that up. Probably the only chance was when Brazil was talkinh about creating a stable coin . Well it is what it is… social gathering just for terrible gossiping about society and other family members
I think many or most of us are in this situation and it's not going to change anytime soon, unfortunately.
As I said my dad was a big skeptic and my only wish for him was to be able to show him you can use crypto as a means of paying and I have. Now he knows more and it's not against it, but you can't babysit everyone to educate them.