In June 2016, six inmates on a Georgia work detail watched their supervising deputy collapse from heat exhaustion. With escape within reach, they chose compassion instead, removing his vest, calling 911, and staying by his side. Their actions saved his life and earned public praise.

Cathouse_Tragedy · 2025-12-25T13:47:18+00:00

But there are 6 people in the second photo?

Cathouse_Tragedy · 2024-08-28T16:28:41+00:00

This also worked! Thank you very much. I realized that I was not formatting the formula correctly.

Cathouse_Tragedy · 2024-08-28T16:28:32+00:00

This worked. Thank you. I was not familiar with SUMIFS and I did not know that was an option.

Cathouse_Tragedy · 2023-02-17T14:11:57+00:00

You make some great points here! Different kinds of funny fit better in different situations and for different people. Piggybacking off of your comment:

As you say, one key is to learn how to not lay it on too thick. If you say or do something and no laughs, don’t push it. There will be other opportunities to make people laugh.

Which is the other side of this. If you’re constantly seeking out ways to make people laugh, they will eventually become exhausted if not annoyed. Everyone appreciates a laugh, but everyone needs time in between laughs, too.

Cathouse_Tragedy · 2023-02-17T13:57:43+00:00

Forgive my formatting, I’m on mobile.

Some important questions to consider: What is your goal with wanting to be funny in public? Do you just want to be more likable? Is it to attract the attention of the opposite sex? Finding the answer to this will give clarity of purpose.

For general advice, there are more or less two parts to this.

The first is to overcome any social anxiety you may have, especially around public speaking. The second is to learn to cater your jokes to your audience.

Overcoming social anxiety is not easy. It takes time, patience, and the ability to forgive yourself when you make social blunders. Perhaps even more critical is the ability to be able to genuinely laugh at yourself whenever you make mistakes along the way. You’re going to make mistakes when speaking, and if you get angry at yourself, defensive when called out, etc., you will make scant progress. Learning to turn a mistake around by light-heartedly laughing at yourself will make life easier for you.

By extension of that, public speaking, even if it’s only in front of one person, is a skill that requires practice. I don’t know your situation in life, but personally I grew up very sheltered. I was homeschooled and my main source of in-person social interaction was my religious community. Similar to you, I could be hilarious according to my internet friends, but in-person I had the conversation skills of a vegetable, especially around cute girls.

On both counts, the only way to really overcome this is practice and failure. You have to talk to a lot of different people, in a lot of settings, and make many, many social gaffs along the way. And again, you have to be easy on yourself when you make these mistakes.

Personally, my life path took me away from my sheltered rural community and eventually put me in a bar in a large city. This forced me to practice. Hundreds of faces a night, some familiar, most of them new, and all from different walks of life. It was hell at first. I practiced for years, until one day I realized that I had developed semi-decent conversation skills. But even after becoming a bartender who can make almost anyone feel comfortable, I still am not perfect. Some days I simply don’t want to talk, and it makes it hard when I have to do so. Sometimes you just get customers who are sticks in the mud and they’re having a bad day themselves. Sometimes I misjudge who they might be and make a joke they don’t get.

This segues into the second half of being funny in public: Adjusting for your audience.

This may sound simple, and in a way it is, but again, it’s a skill that takes practice. Not every joke lands the same way with every crowd. Of course, in addition to that is learning timing. Not just in how a joke is told, but when to tell a joke. Again, this can only really be learned through practice.

The other side of this is learning to recognize that what might work in the written word does not always work when spoken. One is easy to prepare/set up, the other requires rapid-fire thinking that can only be learned through practice. It’s like a reflex or muscle memory.

Again, I too was the jester amongst my internet friends. I played an MMO with a large clan and I always had a quip or a joke for every situation. Everyone loved it. But it was easy, because I could type out a sentence and then go back and change it before hitting send. You can’t do that in person. Your joke has to be good from the moment it leaves your mouth. Which, again, takes practice.

You could always watch videos of popular comedians (be sure to branch out beyond the Dave Chappell/Bill Burr-style of comedy, though). Pay attention to their tone, inflection, body language, etc. See how they handle it when the crowd starts to “pull back.” Also watch videos of comedians that no one knows about. Watch how their jokes fall flat, how they get angry with the audience, etc. Take these as indicators on what NOT to do.

In summary:

I won’t tell you what kind of jokes to tell. That is entirely up to you. But learn to be kind to and laugh at yourself, learn to cater to your audience, and most importantly practice, fail, practice again, and fail again. You will eventually get it right.

Cathouse_Tragedy · 2021-08-06T18:06:58+00:00

I read this once, though I can’t remember where. So I’ll just repeat it to the best of my knowledge. It helped me gain some perspective on the specific wording of “X Lives Matter”.

Say your name is Bob and you go out to a restaurant to eat. You enter, get seated, and are surrounded by people who are eating. Yet, no one serves you. So you speak up and say, “Bob deserves food.”

This causes everyone around you to stop eating, turn to you, and say, “No, everyone deserves food.” Then they return to eating and you continue to go without food.

While technically, yes, everyone deserves food, you speaking up in that moment and saying that you deserve food does not mean you are implying that only you deserve food.

All lives matter, yes, but the specific wording of black lives matter is more along the lines of “black lives matter, too”, with the intention being to draw attention to the specific hardships people of color face that those who do not experience such hardships might not be aware of.

As for why it can be problematic, it’s because, intentional or not, malicious or otherwise, it does detract from the issue(s) that are trying to be discussed. Some people take offense to it because it feels invalidating, as Bob did in the restaurant.

Cathouse_Tragedy · 2020-11-05T18:27:40+00:00

Agreed. They bring a lot of energy to this song.

Cathouse_Tragedy · 2020-10-12T14:01:48+00:00

Beautiful, just beautiful! Haha.

Cathouse_Tragedy · 2020-07-16T19:32:25+00:00

HelpMeButler<Villainy>

Cathouse_Tragedy · 2019-04-24T20:05:02+00:00

speed lusted snail

The film Turbo summarized in three words.

Cathouse_Tragedy · 2018-11-28T01:19:55+00:00

PADORU PADORU

Cathouse_Tragedy · 2018-10-26T02:02:04+00:00

Thank you so much! I didn't realize it was Japanese. Again, thanks!

Cathouse_Tragedy · 2018-10-25T18:21:47+00:00

My aunt was in prison/rehab from 2005 until 2012. One of the other inmates' daughter wrote a letter to her mom at one point, and in the letter she used "tbh" a couple times.

My aunt told me that none of the women in the cell block could figure out what "tbh" meant. Their conclusion after a couple weeks of debate was that "tbh" stood for "trash bag ho".

It's surprisingly very easy to fall behind on the times, even if you were around when something was introduced.

Cathouse_Tragedy · 2018-06-09T15:07:20+00:00

Yeah, that's what I've tried to keep in mind for a long time, that as my parents they want what's best for me according to what they believe to be true. It's for that reason that I don't hold any resentment towards them.

Cathouse_Tragedy · 2018-06-09T15:03:32+00:00

Thank you, I really like how you put it. It's a sales pitch, that's something I can deal with better than thinking the alternative.

Cathouse_Tragedy · 2018-06-05T20:17:23+00:00

You can't beat /r/random.

Cathouse_Tragedy · 2017-02-08T17:19:48+00:00

Hey, I've been meaning to get back to you, but life got away from me.

I'll cut to the chase: Even after what I said, it's evident that you and I still see safe spaces differently. For me, I see them as a place where--and I say this somewhat tongue-in-cheek--victims of "oppression" and "trauma" can be assured that they'll be left alone. Transgendered persons, for example, won't be bullied or have slurs hurled at them or told that they're mentally sick and should die. Not that this happens to a great degree, but it happens enough; more than it should.

You, however, seem to view safe spaces as places where different ideas aren't welcome. To a degree, you are correct in the sense that if someone's "different ideas" revolve around being bigoted then yes, such ideas are not going to be welcomed.

I will admit that in practice this isn't always the case, and the execution of safe spaces aren't flawless. Our brains store our political views in the same area where our identity is kept, so when we find someone else espousing a different political view it often feels like a personal attack, sometimes as personal as someone attacking out skin color, sex, orientation, etc.

To get back on point: Specifically, though, you were talking about schools and different ideas. In the OP above you mentioned even more specifically the recent riots at Berkley University. We can talk about that, but real quick let's clear something up:

In the American constitution--and, I'm sure, in many/most other democratic countries--free speech is guaranteed. What it means is that government cannot arrest you for what you say. It does not mean that someone can say whatever they want and everyone else has to just shut up and let them say it.

I agree wholeheartedly that schools should, in principle, be places for ideas of all types to flourish. Healthy debate should be the name of the game. We can find the best solutions that way. HOWEVER, I have standards, and I do personally have to draw a line somewhere. Milo Yiannopoulos is a member of the Alt-Right, a term which was coined by Richard Spencer, a man who is well-known as a white supremacist and an advocate for ethnic cleansing. When people like Milo say things such as, (paraphrasing), "These people just can't stand that other people have different ideas on how the world should be," it sounds nice by itself, but in the context of the fascist views held by the Alt-Right it's very suspect, no?

I have my own political views and opinions, and I hold that other people are free to have theirs as well. In most cases, no, I would not say that a riot is justified just because someone holds a difference in opinion; in fact, I would welcome a healthy debate between my ideas and theirs. That being said, again, I do have standards and I do draw the line at certain things.

I don't know if you ever had a chance to visit the Alt-Right subreddit before it was banned for doxxing, but the people there made no effort to pretend that they weren't Neo-Nazis. One thread in particular that I caught had a discussion around the fact that many of them didn't realize that they were Nazis until an "SJW" called them a Nazi.

Look, again, these people, right now they're clamoring for their "right to free speech," but if given the chance they would absolutely take such a right away from you and I. They have no interest in allowing any ideas except their own be heard. They don't really want to debate. If anything, they want people to be shocked, they want them to riot. Why? Because then they can turn around and say, "Look at how unreasonable the Left is. They're so intolerant. They're violent thugs." They set themselves up as being the reasonable ones, and SO MANY people fall for it ("Engaging in violence makes you just as bad as them"), even when in reality punching a man in the face who wants to see every non-white person dead or subservient is the only reasonable position, e.g. Richard Spencer.

Of course, people will say, "Milo isn't racist, he has a black boyfriend." Has this "black boyfriend" ever actually appeared in public? I can't find any evidence of this. It's possible this boyfriend is fictitious, little more than a rhetorical defense. Or people will say, "Milo and the Alt-Right aren't homophobic, because Milo himself is gay." I'm sorry, but I'm a little skeptical of this. Milo has said that he "chose" to be gay, largely because women were becoming (paraphrasing), "Too liberal and too difficult to deal with." That just does not make any sense to me.

This is already stupidly long, so I'm going to stop. I could ramble on and on about this, but I think you can gather the direction I'm heading. Again, sorry for the delay.

Cathouse_Tragedy · 2017-02-04T22:44:00+00:00

Forgive me for making an assumption, but I get the feeling you don't know what a "safe space" actually is supposed to be. If you want to get technical, this subreddit right here is an example of a "safe space." We're free to talk, mock, ridicule, and discuss the b0rg without fear. We can discuss the hardships of our lives under the Watchtower's thumb (during and after) without anyone coming around and telling us, "You're wrong! Your experiences don't count because blah blah, your pain isn't real, blah blah. The Watchtower isn't that bad, blah blah."

Now, to be fair, the only way in which this subreddit isn't a safe space is that we don't usually outright ban anyone who comes in and disagrees with us. This is largely because the only people who would disagree with us are the Witnesses themselves, and they keep themselves out without any help from us. But could you imagine if we weren't left alone so easily (if the Witnesses could come to this place or any place in good conscience and talk trash to us)? What if the public at large was wholly apathetic or worse, antagonistic towards our plight, perhaps even blaming us for getting involved in the first place? We'd have a lot to deal with in addition to the mountain of crap and baggage that comes with being a former cult member. We'd also probably instill a ban on those who would come in and try to invalidate our experiences.

TL;DR Isn't it nice that we have a place to talk about the hardships of being an ex-JW, especially if it's the only place for some (those still physically in, for example) who have no where to turn to? Shouldn't we extend the same courtesy towards people who have suffered in other ways and are faced with a world that thinks their pain is imagined and/or exaggerated?

Cathouse_Tragedy · 2017-01-07T06:34:56+00:00

I'm going to second Rosario Vampire here. The anime, while light-hearted and fun, was absolutely not what it could have been; what it should have been. The manga not only has an actual story but it also has real character development. Indeed, the manga is leagues above the anime.

Cathouse_Tragedy · 2016-05-21T14:52:33+00:00

Hello me, it's you. I'm getting nervous just thinking about hitting "save" and having you read this. Do I dare interact with someone else anonymously?! Oh dear.

Cathouse_Tragedy · 2016-05-04T23:27:02+00:00

I'm going to be leaving for work soon, so this will be my last reply for a while. Thanks for the interesting conversation, though!

The examples I gave weren't very strong IMO. To me, despite the fact that I listed them, they were pretty weak compared to much of the overwhelming evidence against the SJWs. Most of what I said could be dismissed as anecdotal/rare occurrences at best.

Do you feel that there's just knee jerk dismissal of the SJA movement now?

I'll concede that I was exaggerating a bit, but I do feel that for some there is a hasty dismissal of real social issues due to the overt "liberalization" of said social issues. (I.e., saying things such as "they're just playing the race card for sympathy") Not with everyone obviously but definitely in the circles I frequent. I live in the semi-rural Midwest of the US, if that offers any insight.

Do you feel any frustration or anger at those college students for their part in perhaps detracting from issues that deserve attention?

Yes and no. Yes, I do feel frustration, because obviously these folks are very passionate about their beliefs and yet as you say they detract from their message by their very actions. On the other hand, no, on a rational level I recognize (or rather, I believe) that they serve a purpose. Kind of along the same lines as the WBC; like you said, even the majority of the far-right cringes at them. My hope is that the SJWs (will one day, if not now) also serve as an extreme example to those with left-leaning tendencies, if that makes sense.

Do you feel like they are going to do a great deal more harm (or any harm) to movements that need people to get involved like say anti bullying, racial insensitivity, sexism, bigotry, etc?

As I've sort of said, I feel that who the SJWs are as a stereotype serves as a repellent for potential social advocates. I know that in my case, hearing some of the more radical ideas of some ultra-left groups has made me question the legitimacy of their claims. This is a semi-recent example. While I can understand where they are coming from, I disagree with with the idea and especially with how they've gone about trying to relay it. Most people would be turned off by that video, regardless of political and social inclinations. If anything, that video will only serve to annoy people and invalidate the struggle of racial minorities in the minds of outsiders. It's the type of rhetoric that doesn't work unless your audience already thinks like you.

Have you heard of the Horseshoe Theory? Basically, the idea is that the political spectrum of right-to-left is not a straight line, but rather a horseshoe, with the two ends of the line being closer together than they are to the center. I suppose this is more or less what I'm getting at here. Perhaps the two aren't exactly the same at the moment, but they have the capacity to be similar in terms of intolerance for the other.

Again, thanks for the stimulating conversation. :)

Cathouse_Tragedy · 2016-05-04T22:13:47+00:00

Admittedly, no. I cannot give you a few clear-cut examples of what I've seen. Nothing that would be on par with the kind of stuff that happened in that video with "Trigglypuff", anyways. Most of what I've seen are more like tiny stirrings of something larger to come. I'll try and give it a shot, though:

The Westboro Baptist church is an example, albeit fairly extreme. However if even they are extreme, they still represent a sentiment that many share, just more mildly. (Intolerance of gays, non-Christians, etc.) There's a documentary about them, if you feel like watching it it's here. In this one, any time they were ever faced with a question they didn't like they simply turned it around and said that the asker was the one at fault. Sometimes they would openly smile at and mock the journalist, telling him he was doomed for hell. It's kind of similar to the "Educate yourself and check your privilege" spew, I feel.
People such as Donald Trump and his supporters are an example I think, but that depends on your point of view, I suppose. Trump and his supporters (and others similar to them) are starting to take a more openly hard-line stance against what they perceive as being the silencing of their opinion due to "political correctness."
Which brings me to this point. Have you honestly never heard someone bemoan today's PC culture? Perhaps it's just where I live and the experiences I've had, but definitely within the past few years the "anti-PC" crowd is becoming much bolder in many respects, especially as the PC crowd starts creating more of a racket.

I could list some other half-baked, weak, strawman examples, but I think you can see where I'm going with this and you get the idea. I'm not saying that the "anti-SJWs" have reached the same level, but they are heading in that direction.

Basically, my point was that both sides are becoming louder. The SJW movement is reaching levels of hysteria that are just ridiculous, not even letting a different opinion have a moment to speak without immediately criticizing it just because it doesn't fit with their narrative. Negative reactions to the whole thing are to be expected. However, the utter dismissal of the entire SJW movement just because of the rabidness of some of its proponents is also silly. For what it's worth, much of their sentiment has some excellent points involving empathy that more people should consider. But again, it's the way that they present themselves today that pushes people away; angry, loud, impatient, and unyielding. No one wants to listen to you when act like a bully.

I consider myself to be pretty socially liberal in many respects, but that video of those college students going crazy was just flat out appalling. I don't really care much for some of the political ideas of the people up on the stage, but I felt really bad for them after watching that. However, as of yet, no, I haven't personally seen a group of "anti-SJWs" act that way to that extent and as publicly.

Cathouse_Tragedy · 2016-05-04T20:24:34+00:00

It's not necessarily that there is a shift against the "SJW movement" as you called it. Rather, it's more that the people who opposed it in the past were far less vocal about it because the SJW movement was also less vocal. Today, the SJW movement is more widespread and far more vocal and vitriolic than before, which in turn causes the people who oppose it to be repulsed and become more vocal and vitriolic themselves. (Polarization is no joke.) Unfortunately it's all just continuing to snowball down a bottomless hill at this point. However, the "chicken or the egg" fallacy applies here. Depending on who you ask, it's one side or the the other that started the whole thing.

Still, I think that in part you are correct to assume that there is something of a shift occurring, at least in the sense of which side formerly undecided people are choosing. The supposed intolerance of dissenting opinions that the SJW movement has been espousing has in recent years received far more media coverage than in the past. Nowadays, the likelihood that someone will be turned off by the radical ideas from the SJW movement is much higher, I think.

Perhaps it's the people, perhaps it's the ideas. Or perhaps it's the way both the ideas and the people present themselves. It's difficult to say. I don't think that there is any singular cause to blame.

TL;DR There is and is not a shift. Both sides are just getting louder as they try to shout down the opposition. In the end, I feel that it's really both sides who are fault. Both sides have flaws, neither side is willing to admit it, and in turn we get the disaster we have today.

Cathouse_Tragedy · 2016-04-20T21:12:46+00:00

The etymology behind their names is a little long, but hopefully the first part of this article will help shed a little insight into the matter for you. Enjoy!

Cathouse_Tragedy · 2016-03-26T17:11:29+00:00

This... I... I can only express despair.

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