A MOMENT WITH MIKE: R-E-S-P-E-C-T

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Mike Garrison

0 Oct. 30, 2018, 9:09 a.m.

By Mike Garrison
LiveRC.com

A Moment with Mike is a weekly opinion column where LiveRC’s Mike Garrison gives his take on hot-button issues, general topics, and conversations within the RC industry. The views and opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of LiveRC.

Have you ever been scrolling through Facebook and you find a post that you wish you could like 10,000 times? Last week during one of the lunch breaks at the IFMAR On-Road Worlds in Miami I stumbled across a post made by friend and accomplished racer Zeke Ballinger.

Zeke is 110% on point with this post, and I couldn’t agree with him more. I've touched on this topic in a previous Moment with Mike (CLICK HERE), but I think it's time to bring it up again.

This goes further than just social media, as I see it too often in person at the track as well from racers, track owners, promotors, organizers, and so on. 

After qualifying at last week’s IFMAR Worlds the entire LiveRC crew went out for a team dinner. As we all sat together laughing, joking, and telling stories it occurred to me that moments and friends like this are all because of R/C cars. Not because we are all successful paid professional racers, which none of us are, but simply because of our shared love for the hobby. 

R/C cars have introduced me to some of my closest friends, has provided me the opportunity to travel the nation, has provided me a career working in the industry, has provided me an outlet to chase a dream of becoming a professional announcer, has provided a hobby to enjoy for many years with my family and wife, and after being paralyzed has provided me a way to continue feeding my hunger for competition and racing.

R/C car racing and the R/C hobby is an amazing thing, and I owe it the world. Sure, it has its flaws, but then again don’t we all have flaws? To constantly see and hear people complaining, griping, and whining about R/C car racing is not only annoying, but it is also unnecessary and doing no good for the hobby. As Zeke said - if you are really that miserable in this hobby either quit or quit complaining. 

This hobby means a lot more than just “racing toy cars” to many people. Not everyone shares such a close bond and love for R/C as some of us do, and that is okay, but just as we should respect one another as people – we need to remember to respect the hobby as well.

I truly believe if some people put as much time into their racing as they do complaining about it, they might be World Champions by now. 

Life is too short to live unhappy. Respect the hobby, respect those in it, and respect yourself by enjoying your time rather than wasting it away by constantly complaining.

For all things in life, not just R/C car racing, if you complain about it more than you enjoy it – it’s time for a change.