You made my day with this one. My Mom used to say this..."kill them with kindness". She said it a lot. I was too young to get it. I think we're about the same age (I'm a bit older) and I believe it's the age/life experience factor that now makes "killing them with kindness" a reasonable, attractive approach. Yes, no one wants to get their face shot off. I live in Tennessee. Go Vols.
I worked in a record store once (yes vinyl and CDs, early 90s. Sold cassettes, too. The glory days.) People would come in to return something and we had a policy of no returns if opened product. Folks would lose their shit trying to return something and I would just stand there and smile pleasantly and explain..."You can't do that....rules, sorry". The internal satisfaction of not biting on their bait of insults was priceless. A really good friend of mine 20+ yrs later reminded me, he was one of those pissed off folks. I didn't know him then. We still laugh about that.
Reminded me of an old Jimmy Stewarrt movie-Harvey.
My daughter worked in the White House during Trump I. She said that Trump and his family were the nicest people. Always said hello, good morning, learned people's names, etc. Tells me he is a good father.
Anyone who doesn't think farts are funny has much bigger problems than newsletter subscriptions. I think nearly everything is funny. I was joking before my dad's body was cold when he died and my mom thanked me later. She was Irish and it is part of the culture to joke about the most serious things. It is how we cope. Going through life without a sense of humor would be too hard for me and the humor is one of the best parts of Dirtnap. Maybe that is how you screen out the idiots to have such nice people show up to Dirtcon.
I just got done reading the article you referenced a year ago about the khat trade in Djibouti. Holy shit. Whoever the author of that piece was belongs on Substack.
Hello Janet. I’m a 74 year old woman who when visiting with my Trumper son-in-law found your book We’re Gonna Get Those Bastards in his collection and LOVED it. Have been reading your email writings and find wisdom and smiles. Thanks!
Killing them with kindness saved my life. I had a gun pulled on me because he thought I spit on his trampoline we were sitting on in his back yard… I was at a place I should not have been as this guy was a very bad guy. I was calm and talked my way out of the situation with kindness. Even mentioned how I was doing things out of respect earlier (it was that explanation that convinced him where afterwards he treated me like we were best friends… I was calm the whole time and couldn’t get out of there fast enough)…
I actually met Donald Trump with my wife at the time at Mara Lago during The Apprentice days in 2005. There was an aura about him (we were a bit star struck actually), but we approached him and had a conversation for a couple minutes… very nice guy...I never voted for him though (first time I didn’t vote Republican for president… as a former Republican I even helped George Bush get elected as I was one of 50 volunteers that drove Republicans from nursing homes to the polls… All the volunteers combined brought over a thousand people to the polls and he won Florida by 537 votes…
Finally, when I was at your conference last year, Tony G was talking about politics that I differed 180 from his thoughts. What did I interject? I talked about how I liked how he talked about his kids with such proudness in your podcast you do together (which was truly sincere). I’d rather be kind rather than interject some political fodder where I’m not going to change anyone with opposing views mind. That kindness has gotten me a new friend instead of “what an ass!”
Yesterday I woke up, rolled over, and checked my phone. First thing I read was "FARTMAXXING" (in caps). I knew it was going to be a good day.
A soft answer turneth away wrath. Proverbs 15:1
Clearly this was an issue long before social media.
Exceptional piece, thank you Jared. (By design or default, you did get the last word on the anti-fartmaxxing woman.)
Jared,
You made my day with this one. My Mom used to say this..."kill them with kindness". She said it a lot. I was too young to get it. I think we're about the same age (I'm a bit older) and I believe it's the age/life experience factor that now makes "killing them with kindness" a reasonable, attractive approach. Yes, no one wants to get their face shot off. I live in Tennessee. Go Vols.
I worked in a record store once (yes vinyl and CDs, early 90s. Sold cassettes, too. The glory days.) People would come in to return something and we had a policy of no returns if opened product. Folks would lose their shit trying to return something and I would just stand there and smile pleasantly and explain..."You can't do that....rules, sorry". The internal satisfaction of not biting on their bait of insults was priceless. A really good friend of mine 20+ yrs later reminded me, he was one of those pissed off folks. I didn't know him then. We still laugh about that.
Thanks for the writing.
Cheers,
Jim
Reminded me of an old Jimmy Stewarrt movie-Harvey.
My daughter worked in the White House during Trump I. She said that Trump and his family were the nicest people. Always said hello, good morning, learned people's names, etc. Tells me he is a good father.
Never wrestle with a pig and Fartmaxxing...... this day couldn't have started any better!!! ❤️😂
Easier said than done Jared, but you really laid it out - in spades.
Having spend a couple decades in the film business, I can attest to what being on both sides of that equation is like. You are absolutely right.
Carry on.
I heard that second hand about Trump as well.
Anyone who doesn't think farts are funny has much bigger problems than newsletter subscriptions. I think nearly everything is funny. I was joking before my dad's body was cold when he died and my mom thanked me later. She was Irish and it is part of the culture to joke about the most serious things. It is how we cope. Going through life without a sense of humor would be too hard for me and the humor is one of the best parts of Dirtnap. Maybe that is how you screen out the idiots to have such nice people show up to Dirtcon.
“A really dumb way to die would be to get shot in a Publix Parking lot because you didn’t put the shopping cart away.”
There is a lot of wisdom in that sentence.
Cheers.
Standing Ovation! Laughed out loud more than once and still learned something. Good day!
Love the concept, and continue to be a happy subscriber!
I just got done reading the article you referenced a year ago about the khat trade in Djibouti. Holy shit. Whoever the author of that piece was belongs on Substack.
No bullshit, "fartmaxxing" on it's own is a wonderful word and concept in the modern era. Good job Jared. Keep it up!
Also, the way I look at these things is basically: You inadvertently flicked someone off of your orbit that probably didn't belong there anyway.
Hello Janet. I’m a 74 year old woman who when visiting with my Trumper son-in-law found your book We’re Gonna Get Those Bastards in his collection and LOVED it. Have been reading your email writings and find wisdom and smiles. Thanks!
Beautiful Bubba….Just Beautiful…..
👌 Thanks!
Killing them with kindness saved my life. I had a gun pulled on me because he thought I spit on his trampoline we were sitting on in his back yard… I was at a place I should not have been as this guy was a very bad guy. I was calm and talked my way out of the situation with kindness. Even mentioned how I was doing things out of respect earlier (it was that explanation that convinced him where afterwards he treated me like we were best friends… I was calm the whole time and couldn’t get out of there fast enough)…
I actually met Donald Trump with my wife at the time at Mara Lago during The Apprentice days in 2005. There was an aura about him (we were a bit star struck actually), but we approached him and had a conversation for a couple minutes… very nice guy...I never voted for him though (first time I didn’t vote Republican for president… as a former Republican I even helped George Bush get elected as I was one of 50 volunteers that drove Republicans from nursing homes to the polls… All the volunteers combined brought over a thousand people to the polls and he won Florida by 537 votes…
Finally, when I was at your conference last year, Tony G was talking about politics that I differed 180 from his thoughts. What did I interject? I talked about how I liked how he talked about his kids with such proudness in your podcast you do together (which was truly sincere). I’d rather be kind rather than interject some political fodder where I’m not going to change anyone with opposing views mind. That kindness has gotten me a new friend instead of “what an ass!”