Some time ago, a coworker of mine was saying about an opera that he attended with his wife. He asked if I ever went to see an opera. I have not. He started to explain why he liked the opera. It made no difference to me. I’ve seen parts of operas performed on TV. When I was in high school, we had to watch a recording of an opera for my English class.

I have nothing against operas, but to be honest, they are of no interest to me. Operas that are performed in Italian are the worst because I can’t understand a single thing they are saying. Even the ones done in English have so much signing in them, I can’t follow the words. My attention span with an opera is about one minute. Then I’m bored and I need to find something else go do. People will disagree with me, but that’s just my personality.

That same argument can be made for stamps. Collectors, like myself, enjoy stamps for various reasons. They are tiny works of art. They are about the history of a country. And so forth. Just because I find pleasure in stamp collecting doesn’t mean everyone else will find those same pleasures. There are probably many people who think that collecting stamps is a waste of time. And if they had to do it, they wouldn’t enjoy it.

Sometimes I think customers feel bad when they tell me they are selling their collection because their kids aren’t interested in stamps. Sometimes they almost sound apologetic; like they did something wrong. Otherwise, of course their kids would be interested in stamps.

I think it’s important to expose people to stamp collecting. Some will catch on and become stamp collectors. Some will not be interested and want no parts of stamps. There is no right or wrong about it. It’s just personal preferences.

Opera isn’t for me. But I realize stamps aren’t for everyone. That’s perfectly OK.