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What is it like to be homeless?
Being homeless feels scary, depressing, empowering and humiliating. On the one hand you’ve hit bottom and there’s nowhere to go but up, but finding the UP staircase is a bitch.
If you want to know what being homeless really feels like, ask people if they remember their first night being homeless. It’s usually the loneliest feeling in the world – like everything, everyone and all you ever knew has abandoned you, forgotten you or betrayed you. Your entire perspective of life turns upside down.
There is no place where you ever come closer to who you are, how you feel about yourself, than when you’re homeless. Not only do friends want nothing to do with you because you’ve obviously screwed up big-time, but they assume you’ll want something from them – a couch for the night, money, a ride – and not many people can give to someone whom they see as not being able to give back any time soon.
My pain was the death of my abusive father in February 2006. A month after he died from brain cancer I walked away from a new job making $50,000 a year as the editor of a small-town newspaper outside Steamboat Springs, Colo. My life was good. I was making more money than I ever had in my life. I loved where I was living. I loved the future. What I couldn’t handle was the pain.
I’d been estranged from my father for 15 years when I learned he was terminally ill. We had a bittersweet reunion before he died; he finally told me for the first time in my life that he loved me. But when he died, the hurt was atomic. He was a man who had physically molested and beat me most of my life, a man who had emotionally devastated me. His death should have been a relief, but it wasn’t. Not only was the monster I feared gone, so was the fantasy that he had changed, that he’d return and love me as a daughter. The fragile hope of a potentially healthy relationship that had just begun was crushed with his passing.
So I quit my job, bought a used van and took to the road to grieve and to escape. The only thing he ever regretted, he’d said, was that he never got to travel. So I would travel for him, for me. I wouldn’t have that regret myself. And in being on the open road I’d feel closer to him. What began as an adventure turned into a nightmare. My freelance jobs ended and I took a series of minimum-wage jobs with a temp agency. I was living in the van, and by all accounts of the powers that be, I was homeless. For almost 18 months I sweated in 110 temps that baked the van, or single-digit temps that literally froze the tires to the pavement. I changed where I parked every night to avoid my biggest fear: hassles from the police. If I couldn’t find an open bathroom at a gas station or a Walmart, I had a 5-gallon bucket filled with plastic bags that doubled as a toilet. I ate tuna and ramen when I had money, and drank lots of water when I didn’t. I worked full-time, but money was spent on repairing the van and gas.
It’s not that the van was comfortable. It was an empty metal shell, painted six shades of green, that I promptly named “booger,” for the obvious reason. I slept on a cot with a 1-inch foam mattress on top. A piece of plywood was the floor. It must be, I told myself, what the inside of an Easy-Bake oven feels like. The metal walls frosted in the winter, radiated heat in the summer. I covered the windows with adhesive shelf lining.
But there is safety in being invisible. No one expects anything. You’re living the life you believe you deserve. No matter how you ended up on the street, a part of you believes you deserve it somehow. Stay on the street long enough and your self-esteem bottoms out. You begin to say you want out, but the reality is that the demands of a job, a schedule, are daunting. As hard as life on the streets becomes, a part of you enjoys the simplicity. Days become a blur and you become numb. And being numb from the pain is almost as much of a high as being numb from the bottle or the needle.
For some bizarre reason the kinder a stranger is to you, the more pain you feel. There is shame in feeling unworthy and in not measuring up to others’ expectations. It’s an awful dynamic: The greater the support of others, the more panicked you become. The more someone says, “You rock!” the more you feel like a fraud. The chasm between their reality of who you are and your distorted self-perception becomes too great. So the pain returns in force and so does the need to stop the pain in whatever way possible. Rehab helps, but as odd as it sounds, the emotional pain is often sharper, deeper and darker when people care about us than when they don’t. If you have never been loved for who you really are, you don’t know what to do with that kind of love other than run from it.
But we all run. It’s just part of our journey.
– Becky Blanton
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What’s it like to be rich as in 1% rich?
I can answer this one. For some reason, I attract these people into my life. I don’t do anything super extraordinary. I am not famous. But I count many peoplewith ultra high net wealth among my close friends and I have spent more time than even I can believe with 8 different billionaires. This is not just meet-and-greet time. This is small group and even one-to-one time. I dated the daughter of one billionaire several decades ago. So I have gotten a peek into this life.
Let’s get one thing out of the way. There are gradations of rich. I see four major breaking points:
Worth $10mm-$30mm liquid (exclusive of value of primary residence)
At this level, your needs are met. You can live very comfortably at a 4-star/5-star level. You can book a $2000 suite for a special occassion. You can fly first class internationally (sometimes). You have a very nice house, you can afford any healthcare you need, no emergency financial situation can destroy your life. But you are not “rich” in the way that money doesn’t matter. You still have to be prudent and careful with most decisions unless you are on the upper end of this scale, where you truly are becoming insulated from personal financial stress. (Business stress exists at all levels). The banking world still doesn’t classify you as ‘ultra high net worth’
Networth of $30mm-$100mm
At this point, you start playing with the big boys. You can fly private (though you normally charter a flight or own a jet fractionally through Net Jets or the like), You stay at 5 star hotels, you have multiple residences, you vacation in prime time (you rent a ski-in, ski-out villa in Aspen for Christmas week or go to Monaco for the grand Prix, or Canne for the Film Festival–for what its worth, rent on these places can run $5k-20k+ per NIGHT.), you run or have a controlling interest in a big company, you socialize with Congressmen, Senators and community leaders, and you are an extremely well respected member in any community outside the world’s great cities. (In Beverly Hills, you are a minor player at $80 million. Unless you really throw your weight around and pay out the nose, you might not get a table at the city’s hottest restaurant). You can buy any car you want. You have personal assistants and are starting to have ‘people’ that others have to talk to to get to you. You can travel ANYWHERE in any style. You can buy pretty much anything that normal people think of as ‘rich people stuff’
$100mm-$1billion
I know its a wide range, but life doesn’t change much when you go from being worth $200mm-$900mm. At this point, you have a private jet, multiple residences with staff, elite cars at each residence, ownership or significant control over a business/entity that most of the public has heard of, if its your thing, you can socialize with movie stars/politicians/rock stars/corporate elite/aristocracy. You might not get invite to every party, but you can go pretty much everywhere you want. You definitely have ‘people’ and staff. The world is full of ‘yes men’. Your ability to buy things becomes an art. One of your vacation home may be a 5 bedroom villa on acreage in Cabo, but that’s not impressive. You own a private island? Starting to be cool, but it depends on the island. You just had dinner with Senator X and Governor Y at your home? Cool. But your billionaire friend just had dinner with the President. You have a new Ferrari? Your friend thinks their handling sucks and has a classic, only-five-exist-in-the-world-type of car. Did I mention women? Because at this level, they are all over the place. Every event, most parties. The polo club. Ultra-hot, world class, smart women. Power and money are an aphrodisiac and you have it in spades. Anything thing you want from women at this point you will find a willing and beautiful partner. You might not emotionally connect, but damn, she’s hot. One thing that gets rare at this level? friends and family that love you for who you are. They exist, but it is pretty damn hard to know which ones they are.
$1 billion
I am going to exclude the $10b+ crowd, because they live a head-of-state life. But at $1b, life changes. You can buy anything. ANYTHING. In broad terms, this is what you can buy:
Access. You now can just ask your staff to contact anyone and you will get a call back. I have seen this first hand and it is mind-blowing the level of access and respect $1 billion+ gets you. In this case, I wanted to speak with a very well-known billionaire businessman (call him billionaire #1 for a project that interested billionaire #2. I mentioned that it would be good to talk to billionaire #1 and B2 told me that he didn’t know him. But he called his assistant in. “Get me the xxxgolf club directory. Call B1 at home and tell him I want to talk to him.” Within 60 minutes, we had a call back. I was in B1’s home talking to him the next day. B2’s opinion commanded that kind of respect from a peer. Mind blowing. The same is true with access to almost any Senator/Governor of a billionaires party (because in most cases, he is a significant donor). You meet on an occassional basis with heads-of-state and have real conversations with them. Which leads to
Influence. Yes, you can buy influence. As a billionaire, you have manyways to shape public policy and the public debate, and you use them. This is not in any evil way. the ones I know are passionate about ideas and are trying to do what they feel is best (just like you would). But they just had an hour with the Governor privately, or with the Secretary of Health, or the buy ads or lobbyists. The amount of influence you have can be heady.
Time. Yes, you can buy time. You literally never wait for anything. Travel? you fly private. Show up at the airport, sit down in the plane and the door closes and you take off in 2 minutes, and fly directly to where you are going. The plane waits for you. If you decide you want to leave at anytime, you drive (or take a helicopter to the airport and you leave. The pilots and stewardess are your employees. They do what you tell them to do. Dinner? Your driver drops you off at the front door and waits a few blocks away for however long you need. The best table is waiting for you. The celebrity chef has prepared a meal for you (because you give him so much catering business he wants you VERY happy) and he ensures service is impeccable. Golf? Your club is so exclusive there is always a tee time and no wait. Going to the Superbowl or Grammy’s? You are whisked behind velvet ropes and escorted past any/all lines to the best seats in the house.
Experiences. Dream of it and you can have it. Want to play tennis with Pete Sampras (not him in particular, but that type of star)? Call his people. For a donation of $100k+ to his charity, you could probably play a match with him. Like Blink182? There is a price where they would simply come play at your private party. Love art? Your people could arrange for the curator of the Louvre to show you around and even show you masterpieces that have not been exhibited in years. Love Nascar? How about racing the top driver on a closed track? Love science? Have a dinner with Bill Nye and Neil dGT. Love politics? have Hillary Clinton come speak at a dinner for you and your friends, just pay her speaking fee. Your mind is the only limit to what is available. Because donations/fees get you anyone.
The same is true with stuff. You like pianos? How about owning one Mozart used to compose music on? This is the type of stuff you can do.
IMPACT. Your money can literally change the world and change lives. It is almost too much of a burden to think about. Clean water for a whole village forever? chump change. A dying child need a transplant? Hell…you could just build and fund a hospital and do it for a region.
RESPECT. The respect you get at this level is just over-the-top. You are THE MAN in almost every circle. Governors look up to you. Fortune 500 CEOs look up to you. Presidents and Kings look at you as a peer.
PERSPECTIVE. The wealthiest person I have spent time with makes about $400mm/year. i couldn’t get my mind around that until I did this: OK–let’s compare it with someone who makes $40,000/year. It is 10,000x more. Now let’s look at prices the way he might. A new Lambo–$235,000 becaome $23.50. First class ticket internationally? $10,000 becomes $1. A full time executive level helper? $8,000/month becomes $0.80/month. A $10mm piece of art you love? $1000. Expensive, so you have to plan a bit. A suite at the best hotel in NYC $10,000/night is $1/night. A $50million home in the Hamptons? $5,000. There is literally nothing you can’t buy except.
Love. Sorry to sound so trite, but it is nearly impossible to have a normal emotional relationship at this level. It is hard to sacrifice for another person when you are never asked to sacrifice ANYTHING. Money can solve all problems for someone, so you offer it, because there is so much else to do. Your time is SOOOO valuable that you ration it. And that makes you lose connections with people.
Anyway, that is a really long answer, but I have a very unique perspective because I have seen behind the curtain of the great and mighty OZ. just wanted to share.
– Anonymous
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What is it like to work at a startup company that’s on fire?
Imagine this:
Since you were 7 years old, you had your eye on marrying the most beautiful, kindest girl in the entire world, Julie Dream.
However, you were the ugliest and shortest person in school. Nobody knew your name. Everyone ignored you. You were nobody.
In middle school you formed an action plan to get this girl. This was the brainstorming phase of your pursuit. You had lots of crazy ideas. Maybe you should buy a Super Bowl ad to get her attention. Maybe you should borrow millions of dollars and hire a PR firm to get your name out around school. Maybe you should invest all your resources in an inbound marketing campaign, building out your personal blog, becoming a guest columnist in your school newspaper, or creating infographics about how awesome you are. Maybe people would link to your infographic when discussing the concept of ‘awesomeness’ generally.
None of these things, however, promised immediate return. These things all seemed tangential to achieving the dream.
In high school you decided on an action plan. From here on out, you were going to take concrete action to make your dream come true. You were going to lift weights. You were going to read books and get smart. You were going to get the best grades. You were going to take lessons on how to be funny and how to dance well.
In short, you were going to do everything you could for however long it took to get this girl, and you thought about it every waking moment of your life. And that’s what you did.
In college, the rubber hit the road. It was time to get serious. Julie still didn’t know your name, and you weren’t getting any traction towards even dating her. However, you saw faint indications that your plan had worked for others, so if you worked hard enough and dreamed big enough, it might actually work for you. Some of your older friends had grown up and gotten their dream girls with similar techniques. Julie was still eluding you, but somehow she felt nearer than a few years ago.
You tripled the time spent in the gym, the time you spent studying, the time you spent learning how to be cool. Your Body Mass Index was plummeting. Someone told you Julie had mentioned you in conversation at a party. It seemed like you had kind of figured out a formula that might be working. You stepped on the accelerator; you didn’t sleep.
College was nearing an end, though, and you felt like you were reaching a decision point. Although some indicators looked great, some didn’t look so great.
For example, in addition to having an awesome body and personality that your girl didn’t even notice, you were ditching other great opportunities in pursuit of this girl. Your parents thought Julie Dream was in the "fast group" – too risky and volatile to attain. They wished you would just settle down with the ones who were actively courting you – Gail Goldman & Sarah Sachs.
Meanwhile, Julie was dating lots of other guys you looked up to on campus – Gary Google, Frank Facebook, and Tony Twitter. These guys were all 10 years older than you. These were beefy dudes, Big Men on Campus, and could provide any lady with more security than you ever could.
The worst thing was that Gary, Frank and Tony even seemed to be encroaching on your space. Every good idea you had for getting Julie – they did something similar. Every wing-man you tried to recruit to your cause – they recruited with greater ease. These guys had already achieved the dream – were they trying to shut the door behind them?
You made a decision to ignore Gail & Sarah – those seductive ladies who wanted you so bad they actually paid for your dinner. You also decided to ignore Gary, Frank and Tony – your worries wouldn’t change anything they might do in pursuit of their dream. It took superhuman willpower to keep your eye on your dream, ignore all the best advice of your family and friends, and forge on.
You graduated from college, and finally… you started seeing some real traction. At this point, your body was stunningly chiseled. Your mind was brilliant. You were hilarious. You were better in every way than all of Julie’s incumbent contenders.
Your big break came when you got noticed by Julie’s three best friends – Sandra Sequoia, Katie Kleiner, and Allison Andreessen. Not only did they notice you – they all started pursuing you, all at the same time, without any warning. You were suddenly the hottest thing in town. These three people had never heard of you two months ago, and now they all wanted your sexy body. And they were fighting over it. And the world was noticing.
These girls did so many ridiculous things to secure you as a long-term fling that CechTrunch, Shamable, and OmGiga – the three most popular gossip blogs on campus – didn’t stop coverage of this insane bidding war for weeks on end.
And even though you knew that getting into a relationship with one of Julie’s best friends could take over your life and meddle with your dream, you did it anyway – because you had seen others do it before you and they seemed like the fastest way to getting Julie, who you have dreamed of every moment of every day since you were 7 years old.
So here you are. You are living the dream that 99.99% of people in the world would kill for – you are super-buff, super-smart, super-funny, generally respected by your small campus community as super-awesome… and you’re dating one of the hottest girls around. Taken together, life is good.
But you want more.
You’re thrilled you’ve made it this far, but what you have isn’t enough. Your middle school plan is working great, but you still doubt and question it. You’re having fun and you love the pursuit, but you just don’t know whether you’ll ever get Julie Dream.
That’s what it’s like to work at a start-up that’s on fire.
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I’m a Master Mason, a Shriner and a 32nd degree Mason.
Freemasonry is a male Fraternity which was created to help with self-improvement. The core principles are Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth and a Mason always seeks new light or education to improve with. Contrary to some beliefs and arguments, Freemasons are neither a part of the New World Order nor worship the Devil. Freemasonry adopted symbols and ideas from history, particularly from Stone Masonry, to help teach our members the important principles of living a good and honorable life.
The conspiracy and negative imagery has come from many directions including:
- The Catholic Church and its fear that anyone or thing that becomes popular will usurp their authority;
- People who have made notice that the founding fathers and certain people of power are Freemasons and thus assume that being a Mason will allow you to be a part of some greater power mongering collective;
- Typical conspiracy theorists that believe that our politicians who are actually lizard men are using contrails”chemtrails” to control us and that the Illuminati is behind it, believing fully that the Illuminati and the Freemasons are the same thing;
- Devout members of certain religions who believe that those who are members of Freemasonry are worshiping a religion that holds dangerous beliefs contrary to their own.
- Disenfranchised Ex-Masons who may be a part of one of the prior groups or simply wish to discredit a group they once belonged to.
All furthered by the concept that Masonry keeps secrets and that a group with nothing to hide would hide nothing.
Masonry has always had secrets, sometimes due to the fact that there were and are people who have made open admittance of being a Freemason a crime punishable by death in some circumstances. Freemasons were one group that was targeted by the Nazi’s during WW2. There are still areas of the world where being a Freemason is punished. Furthermore there was a time when dues cards and well kept records didn’t exist and the only way to prove you were an actual Mason was to use certain handshakes and words. (Edit: This practice was adopted from Stone Masons who used certain grips to prove the level of training they had to others.) While all the past “secrets” of Freemasonry are available via the internet, some small changes have been made and these grips and words are still held private to the group as a show of respect to those that have taken the time to be initiated both past and present. There are often public installation and other public ceremonies where we welcome non members and their families to attend.
It would also make sense then that so many Founding members of our Country the US and historically significant men have become Masons when you consider the true core principles of the group we discussed. Good men, wanting to make themselves better. There will on occasion be a story about a Freemason who commits some crime, perhaps something heinous. This represents a man who has lost or never truly found his way in Masonry and in these cases, they will be removed from the Lodge and Fraternity as a whole for “Unmasonic Conduct.” Remember that a group is often remembered by it’s most notorious (either good or bad) members, this is the basis of many stereotypes in general.
Freemasons hold each other in high regard, calling each other Brother is the standard for the same reasons other groups and people call each other Brother and Sister. Brotherly Love is important, helping another Brother in need is as well, provided that it does not create a hardship for yourself. While some members may have provided special treatment to others and stories of “get out of jail free cards” are around, Freemasonry as a whole discourages this practice. In fact as I said before, the Fraternity expects more from its members and this type of specialized privileged is frowned upon. For a similar reason, no Mason is expected to give another Mason any business deal or privilege like a job over any non member simply because they are Brothers. Does it happen, as with any group, yes, however it is not a rule or guide to do so. A man may do business with another Brother because he knows that this person shares the same beliefs he does, has the same core principles of honesty and integrity which any person would want in a business associate. If the other Brother were to offer a discount, say on the repair of the mans vehicle, it again would not be done because it was expected, but because the mechanic wanted to come to the relief of a Brother in need as much as he was able to do without causing himself distress. The same applies to other scenarios as well, when you meet another Freemason, you know that they have gone the same path you have, hold the same ideals you do and can be trusted with no more information needed than a handshake.
These are the basic ideas of Freemasonry, learning to better yourself and be better to others. You take from it what you put in. You do not need to be a part of any religion to join, in fact discussion of your particular beliefs are frowned upon and often forbidden by many lodges. All that is required is that you are a man, of lawful age and that you have a belief in a higher being/power. The idea for that comes from a time when a man would give you his word as proof of an agreement or oath. A man who had a belief in a higher power and swore an oath on this power would be trusted to not break his promise because of his beliefs. This is why we used to swear an oath on a Bible before giving testimony in court. There is no worshiping anything in Lodge, meetings consist of opening and closing ceremonies with normal business relating to running the lodge and building and some type of educational/informational program all of which being preceded or followed by a meal where everyone can sit as family and enjoy each others company.
My personal experiences are nothing noteworthy to anyone but myself. I’ve learned confidence from helping with the ceremonies, the value of honesty, integrity, and what it means to be a Brother to another person. I have the comradeship that I enjoy and can be in an environment where I know that others share my same core values and allow me to freely speak, all without any concern of judgement.
If you or anyone are interested in learning more check us out over at /r/freemasonry or call your local Freemasons and ask. No commitment required.
I’ll answer any reasonable questions people have as will any other good Mason and I never deny being a member when asked.
Edit: To clarify again, there have been some that have insisted that I haven’t told enough or described the “ranks” of a lodge because there are some terrifying things that happen, this isn’t true. There are many myths about Masonry out there and I can say that are always one or two lodges that could stray, it depends on the leadership. In any group you have bad apples, think of Christians and the Westboro Baptist Church, they do not represent Christians and to say that all Christians are Gay hating funeral protesting idiots would be false.
As for the “ranks” you have three degrees. Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft and Master Mason. You must participate in each degree which entails a ceremony that has a historical side as well as some symbology involved. After you go through all three degrees you become a Master Mason. This is the highest level you can achieve, all others, including the 32nd and 33rd degrees are not considered higher than your 3rd. As for advancing through the ranks, if you wish you can become an officer of the lodge. There are many positions that help such as Steward and Marshal but the true officers are the Junior and Senior Deacons, Junior and Senior Wardens and the Worshipful Master. Ideally you would progress through this line by proving you have learned and mastered your part in the opening ceremony, however some lodges simply advance you if you have been in that chair for a year. Once you become a Worshipful Master you can move up to the State Level and be a part of the Grand Lodge which has the same positions but with the title “Grand” attached. The honorific Worshipful does not suggest that the Master is worshiped, but is used in its original meaning, “worthy of respect”. (Mayors and magistrates in parts of England are also traditionally called “Worshipful” or “Your Worship”, as are certain bodies such as livery companies). French Masons use the word Vénérable as the honorific for their Masters.
Where did all of the conspiracies about the masons come from? I’m specifically talking about the ‘lets control the world with every political leader as a Mason, and to further do this, we’ll inject people with microchips for purchases’ theories?
First and foremost is the fact that people seem to love a good conspiracy. When you combine this with the fact that we have “secrets” it just adds to the fervor. It honestly started however many years ago, it has to do with the Catholic Church and other groups that did not like the idea that there were large groups of men getting together and having meetings while refusing to disclose what went on there. For the Church, they were afraid of any group that got to large or popular and might take away from their authority. The church and many in the Monarchies around the world were closely tied together.
As for the specific New World Order stuff, it goes back to the fact that so many politicians are members of Freemasonry, not because they got some secret power by joining, but because they valued what the Fraternity stood for. Many of the Founding Fathers were Masons which may have helped this idea along. When it seems that all of the “decision makers” are from one group then you start to assume that the group has the power. Then you add this idea that Masons are forced to do special favors for each other and its not hard to imagine that people would be afraid of Masons in positions of authority.
There is also the Illuminati, the freaking Illuminati. Years ago, May 1st 1776 to be exact, a man founded the Illuminati, which just meant “enlightened” and consisted of just a handful (about 5) of people. Supposedly they wanted to change the way the church and the government of Bavaria operated, which honestly was in a pretty corrupt way. Initially, many of these members were Freemasons so thus and forever more, people associate Freemasonry with the Illuminati despite the fact that Freemasonry has existed for hundreds of years prior to the half a dozen angry Bavarian citizens. As for the people who believe that the Illuminati control everything, I can’t say. Confusion, misinformation, mental illness? Many also believe that the government and high power members of society are actually lizard men in hiding, that there are chemicals being released from airplanes and that 9/11 was an inside job.
– mesenteric
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What’s it like to attend a Furry convention?
Furry culture has fascinated me since I first encountered it several years ago. How could you not be intrigued by the idea of people putting on animal costumes to have sex?
I know what you’re thinking: Those people must be freaks. Anytime I tell someone about my interest, the response is almost always, “What’s wrong with them?”
I can’t blame you. A perusal of Google supports the idea that furries—people who are interested in human-like animals or creatures, and sometimes dress up in costumes accordingly—are somehow psychologically messed up or sexually deviant.
The few opposing opinions floating around the blogosphere come from furries themselves. As an academic, I was surprised to find that no one had studied the phenomenon.
So last year I trekked to Furnal Equinox, the largest furry convention in Canada, with more than 900 furries in attendance.
As I entered the convention center, I was surrounded by fursuits of every color and animal hybrid imaginable: foxes, dogs, wolves, and lions, to name a few. If you think it’s hard to approach a potential mate at a bar, just imagine going up to a 7-foot-tall dragon at a furry convention.
But these weren’t sex-crazed perverts. Once I worked up the nerve to speak with them, they were all friendly and welcoming, offering hugs and agreeing to have their photo taken. They were mostly young, either teenaged or in their early 20s, male, and identifying as gay or transgender. And they all happily obliged my request to chat about the furry fandom, which is what they call their community.
At one point, I entered a room where a group was playing a card game. One furry showed me his hand and explained the rules so I could follow along. None of the other furries playing seemed to mind me spontaneously joining their game. I can’t think of another time when a group of strangers was so inclusive.
As I was leaving the convention that evening, I saw a male furry kneel down so that a little girl could kiss him on the snout. I realized that he was the girl’s loving father. It’s not exactly the scene that comes to mind when most people picture a furry convention.
Being a furry has more to do with community than it does with sex. Furries don’t feel like they fit into mainstream culture, so the fandom provides a place for them to bond over comic books, science fiction, art, and video games. Several of them told me that one of the draws of a furry convention is that it’s a nonjudgmental venue to share interests.
Sex is just one part of their lives, as it is for you. One furry told me he puts his fursuit on because it’s a part of his identity, and sex is just something he does while wearing it.
Most furries, however, said they don’t knock boots in fursuits. This is for a number of reasons: The suits get very hot, have poor ventilation, are heavy and uncomfortable, and cost thousands of dollars. As fun as sex is, would you risk it in a $2,000 custom suit?
And because you’re likely wondering, there was no public sex at the convention.
In hindsight, let’s be real: I went to the furry convention with a can of mace in my handbag. I had no idea what to expect, but wanted to be prepared just in case my safety was in jeopardy.
Instead, I was completely taken aback by the kindness I encountered. In the cab ride home that night, I texted my friends that I wished every weekend was a furry convention
– Debrah Soh
The post 5 First Hand Accounts Of Different Life Experience appeared first on Caveman Circus.
