[A picture of Pepe the frog frowning while holding a gun to its head]
I hit another level this weekend /r9k/
>be me
>like this coworker
>finally get the courage to talk to her
>holy shit things are going well
> invites me to hangout on friday
> says her friends are burning books that go against Christianity
>seriously wtf
>whatever she’s hot
>gets the address
>it’s friday
>don’t understand if I’m supposed to bring my own books
>buy $300 worth of anti-christian books
>put them in two big trash bags
>head over to book burning
>See coworker
>say hi
>“what are in the bags anon…?”
>“I…I brought books for the burning.”
>“Anon I was joking about the book burning”
>it’s a normal fucking party
>don’t know what to do
>pretend to get a call
>walk away and leave books
> start running home leaving my car
I snuck back on Saturday and got my car, but I think I have to fucking quit work now. Theres no way I can see her again.
What should I do? I have a shift on Wednesday.
Anon could have salvaged this if he didn’t run away. It could have made for a killer party story
The act of withdrawing when feeling embarrassed is 90% of the problem. Playing it off, owning up to the mistake, or laughing at yourself are all almost guaranteed to have a better outcome
In this situation what could have anon done? It seems like he fucked up so bad, it’s unsalvageable. What do you say? Like maybe continue with the bit?
I mean there’s no way to “salvage” it, because buying $300 worth of books for intolerant book burning you don’t really believe in does reveal you to actually have no principles and to want do a lot just to be liked.
The best thing to say is to explain exactly that and genuinely express that you understand it is a problem and you’re working on it, which of course anon couldn’t because there’s no indication of this level of self-awareness.
But if they would, they might still be shunned, but it is very unlikely imo. Good people understand trauma and appreciate trying to work through it.
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Man I guess, but like, I’d be pretty unimpressed if a friend was like “ok I’m in we’re burning books”. Really shouldn’t be that easy to convince a reasonable person to do it.
These are people at a party. People do wild things at a party all the time. Under normal circumstances, sure, I would say you’re right. But at a party, anything goes. Honestly, Anon found himself in the best of positions and screwed it up. It was perhaps the only circumstance where someone could say, “let’s do some stupid shit that makes zero sense and goes completely against our beliefs and values,” and other people would just say, “lol sure why not”
Party and burn the books anyway
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“Lmao I though you were serious.”
“Omg really?”
“Yeah, lol, you want a book on the evils of Christianity?”
“Absolutely, that’s hilarious.”
yeah i figured it was just a normal party, i got these books for a bonfire or something
could argue theyre antichristian as a joke because of the conversation they had ig
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You don’t even need to say that it’s a joke. You were told that it was going to be a Christian book burning party. I think most people would assume by default that you just went with it because you didn’t know what else to do. Peer pressure works, and nobody’s going to fault you for that. Especially if you make it clear that you don’t actually believe in burning books.
Honestly if people were going to give you shit, it would most likely be for getting bamboozled. And that’s significantly more salvageable than whatever Anon did
No, just say that you thought the other person was being serious and laugh it off. Maybe tell it to the other party-goers. Heck, give them a book so that you don’t need to lug so many books around. They get a laugh and a memorabilia for the story, you get to play it off. People go along with stupid shit all the time, they won’t judge you for a single “ok, that’s weird but I’ll do it” moment.
Honestly, most things are only awkward if you make it awkward.
The key is to start understanding that most laughter is not someone laughing at you or with you, it’s just laughter. They’re laughing. Laugh too! “I really wanted to make a good impression, I’m so embarrassed!” If you focus on talking about how you feel like you e made a mistake they’d probably even give you sympathy.
Hmm - well you’re looking cold… What do you say we have a bonfire - I came prepared!
Act like he went too far with the joke
In this situation the easiest would simply be like that
“what are in the bags anon…?”
“I…I brought books for the burning.”
“Anon I was joking about the book burning”
“Oops” proceed to discreetly put the bag of books back in the car or in a corner and continue the party. Maybe joke about it later in the night when everyone is feeling comfortable and ask if you really thought people would be burning books.Real life is not like movies, it’s full of fuck up like that. You can just let it go and people don’t care.
It can become a cute story later when people asked how you met.
He can still salvage it if he’s honest and can laugh at himself
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“On the bright side, I gave $300 to the cause against Christianity.” ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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Fuck it let’s burn stuff 🔥
People grossly underestimate how understanding people will be if you just explain your thought process in a calm and reasonable way. If she asks why he went along with it if he thought that’s what she was actually doing:
“Look I’m not about the burning books thing but I thought you were cool and I figured I’d just go with the flow and see how things went, worst that could happen is I don’t hang out with you again 🤷♂️. I’m glad it’s a regular party though, let’s go hang”
Almost no one can think that coherently in a panic situation, however.
You don’t need to think too hard about what you’re going to say if you just say the truth.
The problem is that the truth is pretty damning imo, like if they’re able to participate in actual book burning they don’t believe in and basically burn $300, I wonder what other dishonest thing they would do just to be liked. Not really something you want to be around.
I’d only be fine if they honestly explained that they knew it is a problem and they’re trying to fix it.
So it would be better for them to be dishonest again and lie about their issues? I don’t think that would lead to a very healthy relationship.
You can still be honest without telling someone your whole life story. And even if you can’t, it’s still better than lying (and I doubt you’d be a very good liar in that case anyway).
I mean, for them, lying would actually be better, if they don’t understand they have a problem and are trying to fix it. Obviously for literally everyone else it would be better if they were honest.
Because if they don’t understand that it’s a problem and they’re trying to fix it, then by being honest they would simply be advertising that they’re a shitty person. Shitty people advertising that they’re shitty don’t get very far, they have to be dishonest about their shittyness for anyone to associate with them.
And believe me, there are a lot of shitty people that are reaaaally good at lying, most often because they are able to successfully deceive themselves and thus actually believe what they’re lying about. I mean how often have you heard that someone “wants to change” but doesn’t actually do anything about it? That is lying.
The only real solution is to not be shitty anymore, which is why I said, when someone understands what they’re doing is a problem and tries to fix it, then it’s completely fine again.
You’re acting like everyone expects everyone else to be a paragon of virtue all the time. Peer pressure works so well that people gave it a name. People get peer pressured into drugs and crime all the time. Of all the things that Anon could have gotten peer pressured into, a book burning party is honestly one of the most harmless things that he could have gotten into.
The truth isn’t damning if the truth is literally just “yeah lol I felt like I had to fit in.” People would think you’re gullible, but people won’t think you’re malicious
Idk, maybe being ready to burn books that go against your ideology registers different for other people, but for me it’s pretty far on the “bad” scale.
I don’t really have a problem with the being pressured into something, but the exact topic talked about here seems pretty extreme. Of course I don’t expect anyone to be a paragon of virtue, but I just wanted to say that someone that burns books would not be something I’d like to associate with, and I expected that that sentiment was pretty universal
Idk man if I’m at that point I’m just gonna be honest, it’s not a panic for me anymore. I’ve learned that just being honest is usually the best thing
dont panic then
You gotta internalize it. Can’t expect to have “calmly explain why you are an idiot” be the reaction in an emergency situation.
$300 worth was way too much. Next time, buy like one book that mildly questions Christianity, and say something like “Oh shit, I thought you were serious & this is the best I could do…”
Bring a Joel Olstein or Joyce Meyers book you bought used.
If it is a legit book burning, throw out a Timothy 2:23-24 as you chuck it in the fire.
The autism is strong with this one
he could have returned the books too though…
Just laugh it off and nobody will care
Protocol in this situation is to go forward with the book burning in earnest.
