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In the mind of Lakota - Issue I
13 years ago
General
So, I thought that I should start expressing my thoughts about many subjects, rather than keep them bottled up and tell one person at a time. I'm very expressive and I love speaking my mind and telling information to other people. One of my greater points is writing. I'm a good writer and I've been told that at home, school, and in various writing competitions, but I've never pursued it.
Without further ado, the first issue of "In the mind of Lakota"
Topic: Furry Meets
Warning: This content will have choice words and is more suited to an adult audience. I do not take the blame if you are offended by what I say about certain subjects. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. I appreciate constructive criticism, but if you babble on about how I'm wrong and blah blah blah, you will get a smack to the head.
Furry meets, I consider them a hit or miss opportunity, more miss now these days. The original intent of furry meets is for other furries in the area to meet up and make friends. It's more of "meet up" rather than make friends now it seems. I swear, high school follows us and engraves us to become isolated people where if someone were to say hi and try and be friendly, we give weird looks like they just grew a third eyeball and play the cold shoulder game.
As a social person who is making friends slowly and has been subjected to being alone for more than half his life with little to no friends, I'm naturally picking up on being a social butterfly. I feel like I'm meeting new people everyday and I'm always wanting to find another person to add to my "I'll hang out with him today, you tomorrow" list. It's nice, because it adds diversity to an otherwise boring life of work, school, sleep schedule. Gotta have fun in life, right? What I don't get is why people go to these events where you're supposed to make friends and stuff and then turn around and group yourself and not talk to anyone else? You're stepping backwards!!
Here's how I see meets. There are 4 different types of meets and each one has a varying degree of success.
Firstly, the bi-monthly meet: Foxtrot is a perfect example and is a very successful meet. It takes place every other month to add something to look forward to after the first boring month and allows many people to schedule their way so that they can make it. It's huge and it keeps getting bigger every time! It's full of fun people and I've made more friends at that event than any other event.
Next up, the monthly meet: This meet takes place once a month and it's a 25/75 shot of either being empty (25%) or jam packed (75%). The same people usually meet up at this event every time since it can be changed way ahead of time and it's still a lot of fun! You get to meet the people that you want to meet, not random people every time. The new people quickly become buddies and soon become friendships afterwards.
Third, the bi-weekly meet: This is a definite hit or miss. 50/50 chance of being busy or not. You get many regulars, but that soon goes down since it's more repetitive every time, but those who can make it are somewhat cool people. These are usually the meets geared more towards the older crowd, offering alcohol and something that the older crowd wants.
Lastly, the weekly meets: the ones destined to be the 75/25 chance, being 75% empty a lot and 25% busy. These always get packed at least a few weeks after a convention, and this is due to people feeling PCD (Post-Con Depression) and need to fondle a few more groins to get their satisfaction (kidding, for all you serious silly people out there).
Why did I just recap a lot of the meets here in Colorado? Well, there's good reason. I've had more bad experiences at these weekly meets than with the other ones. For instance, there's a meet that takes place out East by the airport every week. I went there just to have some fun and to see a friend of mine as well. I took my fursuit to just be silly and I put it on. Sure enough, one fur got the idea that I was comfortable with being humped every minute and made it clear to do so. I knew they were drunk, but I am to a point where I don't plan on going back to that particular meet as well. Don't even get me started on what happens after a certain time...*shivers*
Anyway, if you really want my honest opinion, meets aren't always bad. Not good, but not bad either. You're either in a hit or miss scenario where you either make the best friends of your life or you get a clingy person who just wants you for your fursuit. If you want a little survival guide to these meets, then here's mine.
1. Don't go with a fursuit, unless you know others will be present.
-This one is key, as you never want to go alone. It's like hiking in the woods. Have a buddy with you, so they can whack the bear that's gnawing at your leg with a stick and scream at them to go away.
2. Unless it's a huge party, bring your own friends.
-Again, bring a buddy or two. Going at it alone is like going into a gunfight with a slingshot, expecting to get a shot in. There will be groups of people that just don't want to associate and add new people into their group.
3. Expect a younger crowd.
-If you go to a meet, try to make it to the ones that only have 18+ or better yet, 21+ (if you're old enough). I don't like to hang around anyone younger than 18, because I can't relate to the newest generation AT ALL. It's like trying to get me to listen to Justin Beiber music while I'm listening to Led Zepplin in my car and I'm the one driving!
I don't hate meets, but it seems like everything is going south with them and the newer ones that pop up, they seem to die out because nobody likes change or doesn't care much for the newer meets. I'm not saying "don't go, you won't survive" I'm just saying to watch out and be cautious with where you go.
Without further ado, the first issue of "In the mind of Lakota"
Topic: Furry Meets
Warning: This content will have choice words and is more suited to an adult audience. I do not take the blame if you are offended by what I say about certain subjects. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. I appreciate constructive criticism, but if you babble on about how I'm wrong and blah blah blah, you will get a smack to the head.
Furry meets, I consider them a hit or miss opportunity, more miss now these days. The original intent of furry meets is for other furries in the area to meet up and make friends. It's more of "meet up" rather than make friends now it seems. I swear, high school follows us and engraves us to become isolated people where if someone were to say hi and try and be friendly, we give weird looks like they just grew a third eyeball and play the cold shoulder game.
As a social person who is making friends slowly and has been subjected to being alone for more than half his life with little to no friends, I'm naturally picking up on being a social butterfly. I feel like I'm meeting new people everyday and I'm always wanting to find another person to add to my "I'll hang out with him today, you tomorrow" list. It's nice, because it adds diversity to an otherwise boring life of work, school, sleep schedule. Gotta have fun in life, right? What I don't get is why people go to these events where you're supposed to make friends and stuff and then turn around and group yourself and not talk to anyone else? You're stepping backwards!!
Here's how I see meets. There are 4 different types of meets and each one has a varying degree of success.
Firstly, the bi-monthly meet: Foxtrot is a perfect example and is a very successful meet. It takes place every other month to add something to look forward to after the first boring month and allows many people to schedule their way so that they can make it. It's huge and it keeps getting bigger every time! It's full of fun people and I've made more friends at that event than any other event.
Next up, the monthly meet: This meet takes place once a month and it's a 25/75 shot of either being empty (25%) or jam packed (75%). The same people usually meet up at this event every time since it can be changed way ahead of time and it's still a lot of fun! You get to meet the people that you want to meet, not random people every time. The new people quickly become buddies and soon become friendships afterwards.
Third, the bi-weekly meet: This is a definite hit or miss. 50/50 chance of being busy or not. You get many regulars, but that soon goes down since it's more repetitive every time, but those who can make it are somewhat cool people. These are usually the meets geared more towards the older crowd, offering alcohol and something that the older crowd wants.
Lastly, the weekly meets: the ones destined to be the 75/25 chance, being 75% empty a lot and 25% busy. These always get packed at least a few weeks after a convention, and this is due to people feeling PCD (Post-Con Depression) and need to fondle a few more groins to get their satisfaction (kidding, for all you serious silly people out there).
Why did I just recap a lot of the meets here in Colorado? Well, there's good reason. I've had more bad experiences at these weekly meets than with the other ones. For instance, there's a meet that takes place out East by the airport every week. I went there just to have some fun and to see a friend of mine as well. I took my fursuit to just be silly and I put it on. Sure enough, one fur got the idea that I was comfortable with being humped every minute and made it clear to do so. I knew they were drunk, but I am to a point where I don't plan on going back to that particular meet as well. Don't even get me started on what happens after a certain time...*shivers*
Anyway, if you really want my honest opinion, meets aren't always bad. Not good, but not bad either. You're either in a hit or miss scenario where you either make the best friends of your life or you get a clingy person who just wants you for your fursuit. If you want a little survival guide to these meets, then here's mine.
1. Don't go with a fursuit, unless you know others will be present.
-This one is key, as you never want to go alone. It's like hiking in the woods. Have a buddy with you, so they can whack the bear that's gnawing at your leg with a stick and scream at them to go away.
2. Unless it's a huge party, bring your own friends.
-Again, bring a buddy or two. Going at it alone is like going into a gunfight with a slingshot, expecting to get a shot in. There will be groups of people that just don't want to associate and add new people into their group.
3. Expect a younger crowd.
-If you go to a meet, try to make it to the ones that only have 18+ or better yet, 21+ (if you're old enough). I don't like to hang around anyone younger than 18, because I can't relate to the newest generation AT ALL. It's like trying to get me to listen to Justin Beiber music while I'm listening to Led Zepplin in my car and I'm the one driving!
I don't hate meets, but it seems like everything is going south with them and the newer ones that pop up, they seem to die out because nobody likes change or doesn't care much for the newer meets. I'm not saying "don't go, you won't survive" I'm just saying to watch out and be cautious with where you go.
I feel that high school has really failed this generation and is likely to fail generation to come. This is because now, instead of being taught how to behave as adults, we're being taught how to take tests, because that's how schools get money from Congress. There don't seem to be any classes on etiquette or on how to hold a conversation and I think this is because the people in charge assume everyone is capable. But people need to be taught how to behave. While some people are socially gifted, many aren't, and instead of teaching them how to be more social, the school would rather blame this on the students being socially awkward or having mental problems, because it's easier to blame somebody else than to actually correct a problem. I'm also not sure just when it became uncool to share your interests with other people. Suffice to say, I didn't have a lot of people I would consider friends in high school.
Your observations on the different types of meets seem to be spot on. I don't know why Foxtrot is so much more fun than the other meets I've been too. It may be partly because of anticipation and because there are likely to be a lot of new people. I would think the theory behind the smaller, more frequent meets is that you get to be with the people you know, but this implies that you want to be with them or vice versa. As such, it may be harder for new people to get in. I get the feeling this is because of social circles, and while we try to believe we are above such behavior, we still tend to fall into them.
I'm trying to put together a furmeet of my own, but at the moment, it's just going to be a one-shot deal, because of the situation I am in. I would like it if somebody could get something regular or occasional going down here, but so far every attempt seems to have fizzled out. I don't know if it is because the situation is wrong or if the people down here would just rather be with close friends.
At any rate, I seem to be rambling. I just find it interesting that you've posted this now when I have been contemplating on this matter for a bit. I have a meet up in Denver that I'm planning to go to, but I still hold reservations about it, partly because I don't like traveling the distance and back for the chance of human contact, and partly because I don't seem to fit in well with these people. But that's a different matter.