Vs: [Leica] Bitter pill

["Raimo Korhonen" <raimo.korhonen@pp2.inet.fi>]

Take it easy, Mike. You had to choose and you chose right.
IMO you belong here because you have experience of Leicas which you can share. Ownership is not everything. I´m not rich either - I have just accumulated photo equipment, including Leica, during 37 years. I remember clearly how ecstatic I was when I bought my M6 in 1985, I´m sure you´ll experience it later, too. And I think that you are not the only one here who´s still planning to get a Leica. Thank you for sharing this with us.
All the best!
Raimo
photos at http://personal.inet.fi/private/raimo.korhonen

- -----Alkuperäinen viesti-----
Lähettäjä: Mike Johnston <michaeljohnston@ameritech.net>
Vastaanottaja: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Päivä: 08. maaliskuuta 2000 18:18
Aihe: [Leica] Bitter pill


>Having cooled off, I have a few more things to say.
>
>First of all, some evil jerk has been sending private messages through a
>"filtered" server posing as Mark Rabiner--for example, I received the
>following message yesterday:
>
>>>>>>
>Subject: you
>
>Mike, you are such an asshole.  How you got to be an editor of anything
>is beyond me. Why don't you just crawl back into your cave and let the
>rest of Luggers enjoy life.
>Fuck you
>Mark R.
><<<<<
>
>Mark Rabiner did not write this. There have been other such messages
>sent over Mark's signature to other people.
>
>Whoever is doing THAT, be ashamed of yourself--although there is
>probably little hope for you, since you lack basic decency and have no
>courage at all.
>
>Second, I have a lot of faults, but a failure to come clean is not one
>of them. Fact is, Mark's sarcastic, taunting message to me of a few days
>ago did indeed hit home. It hurt. A lot. Why? It's true.
>
>Seven years ago now, I was presented, abruptly and without warning, with
>an infant. I hadn't seen his mother in months. She was trying to give
>him up for adoption. I figured if she had the guts not to abort him, I
>should have the guts to be a man and accept my, er, implication in the
>matter. I basically decided that if he was my son, then I would do my
>best by him, whatever that turned out to entail.
>
>That decision completely tore up my life. I quit my job, moved away from
>the city where I had lived (and where I had all my professional
>contacts), and left most of my friends behind. I knew zero about raising
>babies--I had never once in my life changed a diaper. Scrambling, I
>managed to relocate and find a new job (at about half my former pay).
>What followed were by far the most difficult two years of my life. I
>learned how to care for a baby full-time while doing everything else
>that needed doing, despite sleep deprivation, ineptitude, and limited
>resources. To paraphrase something Mark Twain said of old age, single
>parenthood is not for the faint of heart. Emphasis on NOT.
>
>We've survived. My son just turned seven. Pretty much everything I've
>done in the last seven years, pretty much every decision I've made, from
>what I do to where we live, has been for his good. It's a long story,
>and I'm sure you don't want to hear the whole thing. (Talk about OT.)
>
>Point is, prior to seven years ago, I was shooting with Leicas. My main
>axe was an M6 with a pre-ASPH 35/2. I had a couple of other lenses and
>was about to get a second body. TX in D-76, Leica with a Summicron. Pure
>and simple.
>
>No, it isn't the perfect camera and no, Leica lenses aren't perfect.
>But...I loved it. I shot with it all the time. I practiced with it
>nightly, and my Leica-handling skills were VERY good. I carried it with
>me all the time, from sunup to sundown. I believe I could still work
>that camera blindfolded.
>
>It was my axe.
>
>But when my son got dropped into my life, I got caught short of cash in
>the very early days while everything was getting sorted out. I knew I
>was in for some very rough sailing in the months and years ahead, so I
>liquefied all my assets. Everything I could. Including my Leicas, most
>of the rest of my photo gear, and most of my darkroom equipment. I just
>didn't know whether, or when, I'd need the cash.
>
>Since then, I have just not been in a position to spend three grand on a
>camera. Any camera. It would be irresponsible. It's that simple.
>
>It's been surprisingly painful. It's not a complex issue--it's just that
>photography has always been my thing, and it's become (irony of ironies)
>a luxury a bit beyond my means. I've tried to replace my Leica many
>times with something cheaper. Haven't found anything. I go from one
>thing to another. I borrow a friend's Leicas from time to time. I do get
>cameras to test, but despite my assertions a few days ago, that's no
>substitute. I even tried to sell my prints in the magazine, hoping I'd
>make enough to buy another Leica. I didn't. Tough petunias, eh? I'll
>live.
>
>Difficult though it is for me to admit it, Rabiner's right. I don't own
>a Leica. Can't afford to. A bitter pill to swallow. A lot of you guys
>are rich. Power to you. I'm not.
>
>Pathetic? Maybe. But I've made my choices, and I'll live with them.
>
>But I guess it means I'm not a member of this club, just as Mark Rabiner
>implied. You win, Rabiner, if you want to be that way about it.
>
>--Mike
>
>