"The Most Annoying, Pretentious A**holes": People Are Exposing The Hobbies With Such Obnoxious Fans, You Should Never Actually Pursue Them — And Honestly, I'm Relieved I Never Got Into Any Of These

Sometimes at 2 a.m. I like to think about all the lives I'll never live because of all the hobbies I will never take the time to experience. It causes a lot of FOMO...

So when u/graaahh asked, "What hobby is the height of 'the worst thing about this hobby is the other people who do it?'" I immediately jumped into the replies...and yikes:

1. "Pretty much any area of the equestrian world. SO many judgy, stuck-up, know-it-all, and entitled people. If you don't do things exactly the way they do it, you're wrong. If you can't afford all the best, most expensive equipment, you're wrong. If you don't own your own horse, you're less than them. The list goes on..."

2. "Airsoft. If it's not the 50-year-old ex-combat vets with 20 years of experience, it's the 12-year-old with an overpowered gun sliding around."

3. "Pickleball. My ex made it her entire personality. Her friends made it their entire personality and didn’t like me because I didn’t have much of an interest in it. When we broke up, she said she would prefer to date a 'pickleball guy.'"

4. "As a car guy myself, I'll say cars. Most car groups have a lot of people I just don't like hanging out with anymore. They'll just try to one-up each other on everything. Not my style."

—u/ConsequenceNational4

5. "Craft beer gets an honorable mention. I don’t drink anymore, but I met some of the most annoying, pretentious assholes when I was really into craft beer."

6. "I used to play Magic: The Gathering professionally. You'd think the top tables would be the biggest magic nerds that exist. Turns out it's mostly normal people who love games and being good at them. However, the VAST majority of the player base... In my opinion, many of them maybe shouldn't leave their mom’s basement."

—u/inertia_53

7. "Motorcycling. Harley bros and sport-bike bros are dreadful in their own unique ways."

8. "Watches. I love collecting quirky micro-brands, as well as some of the more well-known brands, and I hate that some of the folks clown on people for not having the big name brands. I hear 'poor man's Rolex' thrown out a lot. It's a bit ridiculous. That teenager repping a Swatch shouldn't be getting dunked on by a grown man with a several-hundred-thousand-dollar collection. Let the kid have their moment and try to build a positive interaction with the watch community."

9. "Poker. The most degenerate, miserable, sad, and aggressive people find their way to the table."

—u/Confident-Syrup-7543

10. "I’ve watched anime all my life, and I've unfortunately been around people who also do all my life. The absolute cringiest people you’ll ever meet. Very nice, though; I will say that."

11. "Surfing. Surfers love other surfers in nearly every context...until they are in the water at the same time."

—u/croutons_for_dinner

12. "Trains. I enjoy watching them. At the top of the ladder of train-watching are the ones who video everything they see, take photos, and know every single symbol or 'route' that goes along a specific set of rails. They will only talk about train stuff and then get arrogant when you don't know as much as they do, or they begin to show off how much they know. I just want to sit there, relax, watch some trains go by, and not hear about how a specific three-mile set of tracks just off of the New Castle District once belonged to Baltimore and Ohio before being subleased to so-and-so in 1923, blah blah blah."

13. "Cycling can get pretty intense. Most cyclists are awesome, but there are those who treat every ride like it’s the Tour de France."

—u/g_rich

14. "I used to LARP (live-action role play) for years. The best part about LARPing was the people. The worst part about LARPing was also the people."

15. "Golf. The sport itself is fine, but the 'networking' and 'club house culture' are shocking."

—u/HenriDeToulouse

16. "Radio amateurs. Some of them are absolute knob jockeys who think that they're so much better than others because they passed their exams before X date — often the same ones who complain about people using modern technology for amateur radio, too. Some absolute tossers. If you're going to ragebait a reply, you're the problem!"

17. "I am a progressive person who enjoys target shooting. I never talk to anyone at the range."

18. "MMA is a cool sport, but it also attracts probably the dumbest people you'll ever meet."

19. "Video games are my first thought. Some online communities are so incredibly toxic that it's a wonder there are people who play those games in the first place. Plus all of the attempts at gatekeeping."

—u/jolsiphur

20. "Any hobby with dogs. That is a living animal, not a tool for your ego."

21. "Acting. For me, it was a hobby until I met other actors. Literally some of the worst people."

22. "Comic books. I have been collecting comics since I was 10 years old, and I'm now 40. No matter what, there's always a guy who 'knows more than you.' These are funny books about people in tights punching each other. It's really not serious."

—u/ThesaurusRex_1025

23. "Chess! It often draws people who are extremely antisocial, and/or people with big egos and superiority complexes. I generally play casually with friends and family, but I've been to a few chess clubs where the vibe seemed cliquey and almost hostile to more casual players."

24. "Being a rollercoaster enthusiast. I’ve met a lot of really wonderful folks in the community, but my issues with it are that it's male-dominated, requires huge amounts of money and time to ride most premier attractions, and there's an outrageous level of elitism among many die-hards so that they can feel superior over the vast majority of people who ride rollercoasters because they're at the park."

25. And finally: "Anything related to coffee."

What hobbies are you involved in that you feel have too many annoying enthusiasts? What about hobbies with the best fans? Share with the class in the comments or anonymous form below.

Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.