back to the op,
mikeef, i'm so glad you posted this as it happened to me as well as a new flyertalker in late 2005. i was in the ord red carpet club with my brand new ft tag and was thrilled to see a yellow tag (just like mine!) on a young 30-something guy's luggage. i walked by and said something like 'yay, flyertalk' and he looked at me like i had horns growing out of my forehead and smelled funny to boot. typically i get a better reaction from men, and hadn't been traveling long enough to smell bad, so i concluded it was about my less than scintillating attempt at conversation--or, at least, that it wasn't about me.
it never occurred to me to assume all flyertalkers were like that. it did strike me as odd that someone would put a tag on his bag who didn't want to be approached (the guy was alone, and not rushing anywhere) but...whatever.
i've since been to a couple of do's and have met several ft-ers on planes and on holiday and find flyertalkers to be much like people everywhere--some are great, some are fascinating, some are less so. we're all human and we all share this strange little hobby. it's lovely to use that as a jumping off point for broader conversation--or, even just to learn a trick or two to maximize your miles and points.
that said, if you've got a flyertalk tag on your bag, i'm coming over to say hi. if you don't want strangers talking to you in airports, you might consider removing the tag.
