Penn, I find it's good to stagger when you start new hobbies. Many, if not most, hobbies have people that treat you like that. My wife found the same thing in sewing; I must say, though, that I was treated very well locally by model railroaders. There's still some snobbishness, but overall pretty good.
But if you stagger when you start new ones, you'll be a vet in others and not only will you feel more secure in those hobbies, you'll also know to expect that kind of treatment in new hobbies. Not that it's right or anything, but it does seem to happen a lot.