US News Professional stone skipper makes it all the way across lake

[tom_mai78101]

BENNINGTON, Vt., Sept. 24 (UPI) -- A professional stone skipper shared video of a throw at a Vermont lake that skipped more than a dozen times and appears to reach the opposite shore.

Kurt Steiner, who holds the world record for stone skipping for a 2013 throw that bounced off the water 88 times, posted a video to YouTube showing a recent throw at Lake Paran in Bennington, Vt.

The stone skips more than a dozen times and appears to hit the shore on the opposite side of the lake.

Steiner told Guinness World Records his technique involves finding stones "that weigh between 3-8 ounces... that are very smooth (they don't have to be perfectly round), flat bottoms and are between 1/4-5/16th of an inch thick."

Watch: Skipping stone crosses Vermont lake - UPI.com

A professional stone skipper shared video of a throw at a Vermont lake that skipped more than a dozen times and appears to reach the opposite shore.

www.upi.com

 

[Accname]

How can you be a "professional stone skipper"? That doesnt make any sense to me.

 

[KMilz]

How can you be a "professional stone skipper"? That doesnt make any sense to me.

People pay dude to skip stones. It's a budding industry. What's not to understand?

 

[Accname]

But how would that be professional? Does he have like a contract? Otherwise its just like an artist, people pay him to *perform*. Would you call an artist a professional?

 

[KMilz]

First, I was being facetious. Second, an artist that's getting paid for their work and makes a living off of it would be a professional artist because that's their profession. That's kinda how it works.

 

[Accname]

So you would say that if somebody was begging for money and makes a living off of it he would be a professional beggar?

 

[Slapshot136]

So you would say that if somebody was begging for money and makes a living off of it he would be a professional beggar?

That sounds redundant, I think beggar already implies living off of begging for money/donations/etc.

 

[Accname]

Doesnt answer the question.

 

[KMilz]

I'm pretty sure we've had articles about professional beggars in Oregon making $300/day, haven't we? So yeah, that's a thing.

 

[Accname]

So at what point do the become professionals? Is there some kind of minimum wage for professionalism?

 

[KMilz]

I feel like the only requirement of being a professional at something is for that something to be your profession. Right?

 

[Accname]

You are going in circles. I could just ask you about your definition of profession now.

But lets just ask the web:

A profession is a vocation founded upon specialised educational training, the purpose of which is to supply disinterested objective counsel and service to others, for a direct and definite compensation, wholly apart from expectation of other business gain.

by this definition (which I have shamelessly copied from Wikipedia) a beggar would never be a professional. An artist would also not be a professional. And I would say the stone skipper would also not be a professional unless he is "compensated directly and definitely".

 

[KMilz]

I will ask the web:
noun

1. 1.
   a paid occupation, especially one that involves prolonged training and a formal qualification.

The important part being "a paid occupation." So yes, it does qualify. And as I said before, unless he is actually getting paid by someone to do this, I wouldn't consider him a professional.

 

[Accname]

prolonged training

You think beggars have prolonged training?

formal qualification

You think mr stone skipper guy has a formal qualification?

 

[KMilz]

That's why it clarifies with 'especially,' which is preceded by the only absolute requirement.

 

[Accname]

So by your definition everbody who ever gets any money for anything he does is automatically a professional in it? No matter how good he is, or qualified, or whether he has a contract, or gets paid regularily or only once, or whatever. Everybody who ever got only a tiny bit of money is immediately a professional at something. Okay.

 

[KMilz]

If that's what their occupation is then yes, they are a professional at it. A professional does not imply any level of skill. Sorry dude, but that's just not what the word means.

 

[Accname]

But how can "beggar" be an occupation? As far as I understood an occupation is a kind of job.

 

[KMilz]

job
noun

1. 1.
   a paid position of regular employment.
   "jobs are created in the private sector, not in Washington"
   synonyms:occupation, profession, trade, position, career, work, line of work,livelihood, post, situation, appointment, métier, craft; More
   
   
2. 2.
   a task or piece of work, especially one that is paid.

Seems to fit both definitions. Here's emplyoment's, to clarify:
noun

1. the condition of having paid work.
   
   • a person's trade or profession.

So it's kinda circular, seeing as how the words keep using each other in their definitions, but yeah.

 

[Accname]

So just to point that out: Begging is a job to you, and getting money tossed in your face by strangers is equal to getting paid. Okay.