Forced Interaction?

[Nightspirit]

I really hate to consider myself cultured in any way (it just sounds bad in my head), but being into metal and especially the type of metal that ANUS endorses, it's nearly impossible to avoid interest in literature, film, art etc...

Have you ever been forced to interact with completely uncultured people?

There some situations that are clearly unavoidable. A wedding for example doesn't merit silently retracting from the fold so long as you don't want to shame your family or communicate disapproval to whoever is getting married. A situation like that doesn't call for rudeness... even the least disciplined of us can understand that I think.

There are other situations in regards to living a holistic life. A friend of yours meets a woman and they're going to a bar together, but she brings her friend and he wants you to tag along to not make it weird/ be his wing-man. Sure you suffer, but that's a good friend of yours that you would give your right arm for.

Obviously these situations are times in which we have no say in whether we want to partake in them or not... it's more of a charity if anything.

How does the ANUS community cope with situations like these?

[istaros]

There's an enormous difference between living by your ideals and stroking your ego.

[Time Curator 23]

Be brave, oh noble one!

Develop a bit of "people skills" and "communication skills" (two precious gems, unknown to most art fags like us).

This does not mean being a hip blabbermouth or witty conversationalist, nor does it mean reading some sort of How to Socialize, For Dummies.

It means developing self-awareness, self-control, confidence, forgiveness, assertion, timing, humor, body language, and most importantly a smile.

You can do it!

[reasonable]

I'm really disappointed. When I saw the thread title I thought this was going to be a discussion of anti-discrimination laws.

[Helmholtz]

I'm really disappointed. When I saw the thread title I thought this was going to be a discussion of anti-discrimination laws.

Same here actually!

As far as the OP goes, don't make too big a deal of it.  Politeness and gentlemanly behavior toward all should be the conduct of even the most ardent eugenicist here, so put up with people sometimes.  These are situations not worth sweating over.

[Christ Died of AIDS]

My rule is, if I'm dressed like a Hessian, I should do my best to positively represent the culture. Part of this includes conducting myself amongst other people with couth and self restraint. "Classiness" ranks pretty high in first impressions, and I use it for my own means of discrimination during encounters with strangers. If a female with a sleeveless Nickelback shirt approaches me to discuss her hatred for naygers and her love for cheap cigarettes and booze and tries to get my number, I will most likely give her the number for our friendly neighborhood planned parenthood.

The world has seen enough trashy losers with a metal shirt on. But come to think of itn at the age of 20, it's rare I wear metal t-shirts.

Forced encounters are agonizing at best, but the least you can do is take it with a little bit of grace. I work in the heart of downtown Cincinnati, and I deal with crackheads, lawyers, drunk yuppies, and everything in between. If you get good at it, after a while you can enjoy sending sarcastic remarks far above their heads. Ripping them a new one without them even realizing. Telling them "in so many words" that they're a worthless piece of shit. I try my hardest not to be rude to anyone, but I've damn sure made my opinion well known to people that deserved it.

[Cargést]

My rule is, if I'm dressed like a Hessian, I should do my best to positively represent the culture...

I try my hardest not to be rude to anyone, but I've damn sure made my opinion well known to people that deserved it.

These.

Aside from politeness having been instilled in me since birth, I find it incredibly amusing to consider the reaction of someone who's just had a door held open for them by a 6'4'', long haired, unshaven bloke wearing the kind of clothing which might suggest that he wants to obliterate his surroundings.  Occasionally, I am given the opportunity to raise this level of satisfaction by explaining, in my incredibly posh Queen's English, exactly why I should have been thanked for letting them go first, or picking up the <item> they just dropped for them, or holding a train's doors open so that their maniacal sprint was not in vain.

[Conservationist]

Politeness and gentlemanly behavior toward all should be the conduct of even the most ardent eugenicist here, so put up with people sometimes.  These are situations not worth sweating over.

"Classiness" ranks pretty high in first impressions, and I use it for my own means of discrimination during encounters with strangers.

I agree with these sentiments.

I'm really disappointed. When I saw the thread title I thought this was going to be a discussion of anti-discrimination laws.

They're an extension of the social quandary of our time: inequality in ability corresponding to not derived from social status.

[BaronVonBrauer]

Jail is the worst, having had much experience conversing with half-wits as to avoid physical altercations. I'm a 6'3" well built person, so naturally I need to sink to their level and entertain these baffoons to get out of any confrontations. Just don't ever try and play Scrabble with any of them, violence ensues shortly.

[cet30048]

My rule is, if I'm dressed like a Hessian, I should do my best to positively represent the culture. Part of this includes conducting myself amongst other people with couth and self restraint. "Classiness" ranks pretty high in first impressions, and I use it for my own means of discrimination during encounters with strangers. If a female with a sleeveless Nickelback shirt approaches me to discuss her hatred for naygers and her love for cheap cigarettes and booze and tries to get my number, I will most likely give her the number for our friendly neighborhood planned parenthood.

QFT.

Considering myself a follower of the Hessian culture.. There is always a feeling of noticeable uneasiness in new social situations/interactions, most tend to avoid conversation..in favor of idle small talk.. it's usually troubling to them to commit to any sort of communication beyond making a snide remark about someone else standing nearby, or elating a temporal personal matter...  It's not easy making contact with the below-average/average, as this is the usually the most you'll get out of them. Either way... I feel conducting yourself in an honorable, intelligent manner is key to breaking the stereotype of the headbanging alcoholic metal-head who works at McDonald's. Sometimes it gets people thinking when they hear someone who isn't entirely full of shit. Not everyone is a walking turd.

As for forced interaction, there is no true forced interaction. You can either chose to socialize with someone or not. I find the latter to be challenging, take some time to listen to what someone has to say first before making any decisions, then if they go on about smoking crack and lighting their farts on fire... judge away!

[TableauxParisiens]

Becoming refined in the art of attraction, social interaction is a step to an elite ideology. Sure, you can be artistic, and intellectual, but how about the huge gap missing from your being?

Besides, you must weed through shit until you find diamonds.

[Silas_Dement]

^^^ Agreed. It can indeed be a chore to socialize politely with people in Darwin's waiting room, but think of it this way: if you consider yourself unique (that is, 'refined', or however you want to put it), you might say at most 1 out of every 10 people you meet on a regular basis will understand you fully. Perhaps it's 1 in a hundred. No matter, the point is that the more you are able to socialize with 10 or 100 people in any given situation, the better your chances will be of finding that one person that makes the effort worthwhile.

[Conservationist]

Becoming refined in the art of attraction, social interaction is a step to an elite ideology. Sure, you can be artistic, and intellectual, but how about the huge gap missing from your being?

Besides, you must weed through shit until you find diamonds.

I think this is all true, except the "gap" -- don't think that stupidity has something to offer you, or you'll sidetrack yourself.

But that doesn't mean that those people are bad, just that they're normal people. You know the standard distribution and how the IQ curve works.

But the final point is what ANUS needs to do: weed through the masses, by getting more popular, and attract the good ones. We need to keep fresh blood coming in here so the faux elitists don't run roughshod over the smart but inexperienced.