So I’ve considered attending these sorts of things for a while. And honestly, I think I’d be a good fit, based on what I’ve read about the sort of people camps look for. I’m cooperative, easygoing, helpful, and I like contributing to common goals. I have more experience in nature/camping than 99% of people and am well versed in LNT. I have a fair bit of experience doing diy projects, and am at least somewhat competent with carpentry, electrical work, plumbing, welding, and building/deconstructing temporary structures. I’m a big wall climber and am rope access certified, and am good at solving problems of moving heavy things where I need them or using leverage and ropes to exert lots of force. And I have the sort of athleticism that lets me do manual labor in the hot sun all day. For all practical purposes, I think I’d be a great addition to most people’s camp.

you’re a participant, an integral part of the experience for everyone else

But this bit is honestly terrifying. Really, I never really “got” the appeal of festivals… you just show up at a place and… look at things? Talk to people? Based on pics and videos I’ve seen of these events, the art looks cool. And the people I’ve met who are burners are cool people. But I feel a kind of existential dread that once the work is done and it is time to “enjoy” the event, I’ll just end up walking around, looking at things, being like “that’s cool”, awkwardly talking to no one or having very shallow, surface level conversations, and being bored.

So I challenge you: convince me that going to one of these events will be a good time.

I’m going to die.

That’s it. There’s not much I’m really certain of, but I’m pretty damn certain that I’m going to die.

So I ask myself - how do I want to live my life in light of this fact?

Def all over the business world. It’s more polite than saying “okay, let’s have a 5 minute break from this meeting so everyone can piss and get some more coffee”

They are arguing about market fundamentals, which means at least one of them is actually arguing “capitalism bad”, which is political.

Unfortunately, it fails the thread, as it is political.

Get a P38.

It works.

As a guy, I can firmly say that I’ve never made a friend at the bank, grocery store, or coffee shop. If anyone started talking to me at one of these places, I would be very confused, and wonder why they are talking to me and what they are trying to get from me. And similarly, I have never struck up a conversation with anyone in these places - that would be super weird.

Of course, I see hot women in these places frequently, and I’d like to talk to them. Well, not really talk to them so much as fuck them. I’d like to say “hey, you have a really nice ass. Wanna bang one out in the bathroom right now?” Which is not unusual - this is just standard male sexuality. Hence why if you look on Grindr, a guy’s profile will be a picture of his asshole, and a common opener is “Hey, you in the McDonalds too? Wanna fuck in the bathroom right now?”

Unfortunately as a guy talking to a nice lady in the grocery store, that would be sexual harassment, and then I would be banned from that Safeway or whatever. So if I want to approach the girl with a nice ass, I need to have some kind of excuse - like, I dunno, what apples she’s looking at or whatever. But now it feels like I’m lying, because I don’t give a shit about apples - I just care about her nice ass.