Well now that's just lousy advice -- tongue in cheek or not.
If below average players didn't play, there's be a new average and half of the remaining players would end up below average again... Just play, enjoy, and if it's something you feel compelled to do, strive to improve. Playing games is probably the best way to get better, especially for beginners.
Definitely not. You will IMPROVE!!! Before New Year's Eve, my rating dipped down to the 900s, 800s, 700s, 600s, and even 500s! Not many challenges appeared, and right then, right after the San Francisco New Year's Countdown emerged and everyone in my house started raiding the apple cider, I played a 5?? (the question marks denote unknown numbers) and I won after he blundered his bishop for a pawn. Then in the nights, my rating slowly rose to the today rating of 1000s. Even now, I'm struggling to get it to the 1100s, though my Correspondence Chess rating is way off. It's in the 1200s. Hell, I don't know how it got there.
Forget about others, just concentrate on yourself. Play more games. How is it bad ettiquette to play chess?