A far more productive pastime comes to mind when I go to the DIY Centre. What is more masculine than building things? That is being constructive rather than destructive (although one can demo old buildings to build on them). The pride I feel when I know that I can handle power tools to build projects. Although, it was dangerous when shopping for tools when the sales person said "you could build a deck in an afternoon with that!"
Not within earshot of my wife, please!
Her abode is a Wendy House as is a large,expensive one, but a Wendy House nonetheless! It would be an even more intricate Wendy House with me spending my free time doing that (of course, that is much more productive than blogging).
But the feeling that you made something on your own is far more empowering than shooting a tin can that is unable to shoot back at you.
Trainspotters
Of course, there are my other passions, Archaeology and Astronomy. Even playing with a metal detector can be considered archeology of sorts, although most archaeologists dislike metal detectorists who just dig things up without consideration for what they have found. Metal detectorists have, however, made some significant archaeological finds: I've mentioned the the Crosby Garrett Helmet and Terry Herbert’s Anglo-Saxon hoard before. There needs to be archaeological sensitivity on the part of metal detectorists.
There's trainspotting as well. That's much more productive. I remember a rail journey where I saw both trainspotters and hunters. The trainspotters were having much more fun with their flasks of tea and anoraks, whilst the hunters were stalking a dear that was several miles from where they were slogging (and would have been a dangerous shot to take). What's the fun of spending hours in the cold trying to kill something that eludes you because it is much smarter than you are?
I can think of several commenters who would be much better trainspotters than they are gunslingers.
Or much else for that matter.
Perhaps, that answers my train of thought that these people are incapable of tasks which require complex skills. Even trainspotting require than one is numerically literate to track which train one has seen (and where). I can imagine that the gunsels are lost on dry land, let alone trying to look at the heavens to find messier objects. These pastimes require thought, which is a characteristic sadly missing in the American mind.
