Inflamed Ego Disorder is easier to diagnose than it used to be, but so far, an effective treatment has not been discovered. Symptoms range from mild rudeness to outward cruelty and the most perplexing aspect of the disease is that the sufferer him/herself actually feels very little pain as the disease progresses.
IED is believed to be contagious, but scientists have been unable to isolate the method of transmission so far, which makes it difficult to create an anti-venom.
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When I realized that I was going to spend more time than I truly enjoy with not-so-great players, I decided that I better figure out a way to benefit from it instead of being miserable.
If they don't play as well as me, it is MY JOB to adapt. If they aren't taking their instruments out more than once a week, I have grace enough to be glad that they take them out at least once a week. If music is their Social Activity and not their income source, they're perfectly justified in playing as infrequently as they choose.
If I had chosen to quit instead of deciding to adapt, the loosely bound group would have stopped gathering...and there would have been a handful of old men losing the chance to keep on playing. They're cranky, rude and sometimes don't play very well at all.
To have a chance to play, they need the security of a consistent guitar for back-up. I'm a snob, but I'm not cruel.

Reading some of the rant threads, I've learned that although I have been thinking that it would be nice to have a chance to play with a new group of musicians so I could play different songs and maybe snag some neat guitar tricks, I think I'm better off with my batches of poor musicians--and I'm absolutely certain that I'm more likely to keep improving my own skills close to home.
Playing with bad musicians has taught me a lot of things I wouldn't have learned with hotshots.
When I'm playing, I want to Play..not exclude (or be excluded.) I have opinions that are every bit as pointed and unbending as a lot of the things I've read lately, but the whole greedy/possessive/competitive thing creeps me out.
Music is like conversation..if you don't like the way it's going, you can change the direction, quietly endure, or step out.

It seems to me that it would be handy if there was a thread dedicated to warning us away from gatherings advertised as "open" when that's not what the session regulars intend.

I find the whole ego-stroking routine exceedingly unseemly.

I opened this thread because I've been thinking about "Green Eggs and Ham" lately..as it turns out, that's kind of what the topic is, I guess?

M