Gary,
The majority of chippers are not abusive. When I joined in 1995 I was excited and enjoyed a lot of fun with some of the bigger collectors here in Los Angeles. It was the abusive nature of a few chip collectors that made me leave in 1997. I took a 7 year break but am now back and renewed a lot of the friendships that I had back in 1997. As I said the vast majority of the chip collecting community are great people. You will find that in ANY club you join. Don't let them get you down. I have found it is best to just ignore the few and have fun with the many.
Mike