I haven't had anyone tell me that Esperanto was a waste of time, it's more like "oh that's cool/interesting"

...but that doesn't stop them from making jokes about it later, which is extremely annoying. This has happened to me so many times, first when I was in school, later in the workplace, hence my current attitude of keeping the Esperanto activities quiet.

I've had one friend (so far) tell me the whole thing's a waste of time, but his reasoning was that I should've taken a crash course in Arabic to get a government translation job. Those conversations happened in the thick of a scandal where the US military was discharging a large number of translators that they couldn't afford to lose just because they were gay, so at least his reasoning was vaguely relevant to a language issue.

Fortunately, I know enough people with their own quirks that they indulge mine.

Everybody has its opinion, we have to heard and apply only our opinion. If not, we can't have our life. It's our life, so if you want to speak Esperanto because it's interesting, you'll learn that !

erinja:I haven't had anyone tell me that Esperanto was a waste of time...

Oh, I most definitely have.

Doesn't really bother me any, though. Since it is obviously NOT a waste of time, anyone who says it is clearly is using different criteria than I am.

Maybe some of this depends on where you live and what you do for a living. I live in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Almost all signs here in stores are either bilingual or trilingual (English, Spanish and sometimes in Kreyol - the language of Haiti). Public brochures often add Portuguese. Most English speakers have tried to acquire enough Spanish to be understood and are terribly frustrated because that is hard - especially seeing that there are so many different dialects of Spanish spoken here - but Spanish evening classes are booked out and there are waiting lists.
I am a professor at Florida Atlantic University. In one of the courses that I teach, our department requires the students to study a foreign language. I offer them the possibility to study Esperanto. None of my students have ever heard about Esperanto before and once they start hitting Lernu they are enthusiastic. "Why didn't anyone every tell me about this before?" is often what I hear. Of course, I am their professor so they aren't going to dis Esperanto in front of me. But I really have found very enthusiastic learners who continue after the course is over.
I have several t-shirts with Esperanto sayings on them. Twice in the last four months, people whom I had never met before have asked me about Esperanto and told me that they are studying it.
I think that the younger generation what tweets and texts has less fear of change and many of them find Esperanto a cool solution to a problem that we face.
I suspect that in Missouri one does not often meet people who don't speak at least some English - but that happens all the time here. I am not putting Misouri down, just noting that in that state there is little need to speak a language other than English. That is the case in Brazil. Everyone takes English in school (and now Spanish, too) but NOBODY speaks either of those foreign languages. They simply don't need anything other than Portuguese for their daily lives. But - Brazil is where Esperanto enjoys a certain success.
To those of you who are studying Esperanto where English is "enough" - I send my warmest congratulations.

Maybe the answer is very simple. In those counties or parts of a country where there is little cultural or ethnic diversity, (whether or not accompanied by language diversity) then Esperanto may seem strange, or at least eccentric, and prompt ridicule.

Brazil is I believe one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world with a high inter-racial tolerance.

In short acceptance of Esperanto is bound up with the society's tolerance of deviation from the norm.

But even where the society is most uniform, do not Esperantists have a duty not to hide away their interest. The more people are ready to confess confidently that they speak Esperanto the more attitudes towards the language are likely to become more favourable.

I totally agree. People meet me and get to know me as I am. When they learn that I also speak Esperanto, there is nothing strange about it. I am also gay and have noticed the same reaction. When people know me first as Robb and get used to me as I am and then find out that I am also gay, they do not react with disdain. I am just Robb who is also gay and speaks Esperanto among other things about me, like the fact that I live in Fort Lauderdale and love mangoes. The more people who are just themselves but also speak Esperanto, the more non-Esperanto speakers will get used to it.

robbkvasnak:I totally agree. People meet me and get to know me as I am. When they learn that I also speak Esperanto, there is nothing strange about it. I am also gay and have noticed the same reaction. When people know me first as Robb and get used to me as I am and then find out that I am also gay, they do not react with disdain. I am just Robb who is also gay and speaks Esperanto among other things about me, like the fact that I live in Fort Lauderdale and love mangoes. The more people who are just themselves but also speak Esperanto, the more non-Esperanto speakers will get used to it.

I'm sorry, I just simply cannot continue to use the same forums as somebody like you. It's nothing personal, but it goes against everything I believe in. There's just simply no way I can peacefully coexist on the internet with a.. with a... MANGO EATER!

if nothing more this langue is a vary good spring board for and other Latin language. i've taken 3 years of french and lived around Spanish speakers all my life, other of thought have similarity to Esperanto.

sudanglo:But even where the society is most uniform, do not Esperantists have a duty not to hide away their interest. The more people are ready to confess confidently that they speak Esperanto the more attitudes towards the language are likely to become more favourable.

What does it mean to "not" hide away an interest? If that means promoting/propagandising Esperanto in an unsolicited manner - well, I don't think that's likely to be received well.

On the other hand, if Esperanto somehow naturally comes up in the course of a conversation, it seems quite harmless, maybe even beneficial. There are a lot of misconceptions about EO in the popular mentality - or, more likely, total ignorance of its existence. But I'm not sure one has a duty to reveal that one is an Esperantist, even in an appropriate circumstance. Surely this is best left to the individual's discretion and comfort level.