That's just making sure you did it right the first time

By acknowledging your privilege you don’t have to do anything to change it.

@andrewrgross@slrpnk.net It's definitely an American thing. Whites in America are called whites because we've disgustingly erased our previous cultural heritages throughout the generations. Colonial governments prefer homogeneity so they tell everyone "you're not who you were before. You're American." Non-whites in the US have noticed this about us as well and in a shitty way they get punished for retaining their cultural heritages.

So in the internet age we joke about this lack of defined cultural tradition and make observational humor about filling that missing part of ourselves with odd things. Like being averse to spicy food (we're not) or owning dogs with human names instead of having children (a thing poor couples of any race do).

This one was obviously a stretch, anyone can get fixated on the fire. I couldn't tell you factually but I think camping is a more stereotypically white thing in the US so when you see a white guy take a particular interest in something unremarkable you can make a joke like "that's his culture. Man is in touch with his history"

Nothing in the modern context, but 10000 years ago. If you were a black African and your fire went out, your food might not het cooked or that predator might take a chance to grab one of the kids.

If you were a white person in northern europe, your fire going out meant that everyone froze solid overnight.

Fire was just more essential in climates that developed white skins. Socially and genetically, that has an impact on behaviour.

I think that's fine and normal.

No. Hearth fire tenders are needed where they are needed.

Damn, I was about to comment the same, didn't know doing so would turn my skin white.

Not a guy. Fire, good. Burn everything.

I once hiked to a secluded area for a nice scenic overlook and the best spot was taken by two people who were playing on their phones for the entire hour that I was there.

I know they're just as entitled to sit there as I am and I have no right to tell them how to spend their time, but it still infuriated me. Then again, if they were reading a book or drawing a sketch I probably would have been OK with that. I think I just hate everyone.

Look in to my eyes. I am the baby captain now.

No, I mean... Captain of the baby. Not a tiny captain the poops in a diaper.

Why would anyone make a fire, and then make food that can't be eaten at the fire?

Not me. I'm the guy trying to convince everyone camping is more fun without a fire

Alright. Now I'm curious. Sell me on it. Cold food?

Man I fuck wit fire. Well, used to; my old, crippled ass can't fuck wit much any more.

Point is that being the fire tender isn't exactly a no skill job, and it comes with some serious benefits.

You gotta have at least a basic understanding of how fire works if you want to keep it going, and learn how to keep it controlled. That's why fucks-wit-fire is such a coveted, but demanding, position. See, you gotta keep an eyeball on it. Stacking in fresh fuel in the right way. Keeping adequate air flow. Moving unburned fuel into the center. It's a dance.

And for that effort, you not only get the delightful scent of wood smoke in your beard, and the glow of warmth across your flesh, you get to see the ever shifting beauty of the fire and the embers. A constant flux of colors and lights that seems alive. I'd hypnotic, meditative, and can be a spiritual experience if one leans that way.

Ash, drifting on breeze settles into your hair as sleep looms and you bank the fire, setting things up for the chilly morning to come, you look down at your friend glowing beneath ashes that only reluctantly settle in for the night.

You go to your rest warm, fulfilled, and at peace.

Americans...

Do you write?

Your privilege to poke a fire with a stick?

Its our fire now

What if you put it out using all the left over hot water you made over the fire? Its going to be hot even though it is currently underwater!

Couldn't you light a fire in a garden, park or beach? Even those shitty disposable BBQs are a form of fire, though I would recommend using almost anything else if possible.

Here and there, yeah.

I think the Americans who know most about campfires should be Native Americans. It's not fair that white people are getting to spend more time with the land they stole.

Use of campfires should be solely informed by personal interest and cultural ties to use of fire. If there were no systemic barriers, it would be down to cultural factors.

It should be like with tacos. Tacos are cheap and easy to make, so nearly everyone can enjoy tacos. With the barriers removed, tacos are most eaten by Mexican people, because tacos are Mexican culture. That's fair.

I wonder if we're primed to be less likely to interpret statements about people of colour to be personal experiences, because most of the voices we hear are white.

That's a good idea for a psychology experiment...

That shit is way too niche to have evolved at a stronger pressure than random genetic drift. If you could isolate cultural factors and analyse the genetic correlation, I bet your R^2 would be miniscule

Sometimes I don’t even vaguely get the drive-by downvoters. Like… what? Did I upset the Lemmy white supremacists this time?

To be fair, I didn't down vote.

Genetic behavioural changes is a fascinating topic and the more studies that come out on it, the faster it seems to be able to act to have an effect

Just look at how quickly agriculture changes human societies living in the right conditions to practice it.

We are talking thousands of years, not even tens of thousands of years, or hundreds of thousands.

Given any factor that is core to survival, there seems to be a genetic impact much more quickly than previously thought. It does have its limits of course, we are not talking something with a measurable effect over 3 or 4 generations, but 30-40 generations seems to be possible in some cases.

Maybe the village fire keeper was a lot more reproductively popular that we previously thought.

Mate i like your romantic narration and all but I have to break it to you, that delightful scent of wood smoke in your beard is actually a stink. That campfire smell gets everywhere and sometimes you have to wash your clothes twice just to get that stank out. Its still fun though.

Checkmate atheists

I dunno, back in my younger days camping with my family I was always up in the smoke and my clothes were fine. Had long hair, and it was never a bad smell. As I got older and did have a beard, I can't recall it ever smelling unpleasant the next day, and I'm known for catching even faint smells after years of taking care of patients where faint smells can be a sign of something important.

Maybe it depends on the wood? I know a pure deadfall fire can be stronger smelling, and you can get some strange odors indeed if you buy firewood that's been sitting, though I can't think of any that stank.

Okay her me out, yes a vegetarian diet, but also an earlier bed time. That way, in the morning you wake up feeling more rested. Then, because you never mastered fire, no big brain. No big brain, no jobs. No jobs, no climate change. Checkmate atheists?/s

I had a BBQ going one time and one of my friends was going through a rough patch and didn't really feel very sociable but would disappear into the woods, come back with a log, chop it into firewood and then poke the fire a bit while adding fuel.

He didn't say much that day and spent at least 12 hours just tending the fire and one of my friends who didn't know him said "Man theres always gotta be the fire guy"

It's like yea... Before we had much technology we had the fire and if we were fortunate enough we had a guy who really liked doing that. People have probably been saying something like this for a million years.

That's because burning shit is more interesting than talking to you idiots.

Fire is a fickle little thing that if not attended, will die immediately or get wildly out of control. It moves, breathes and eats. Every piece of fuel must be assessed for moisture, shape, size, and the potential to create smoke or embers. Fuel placement is critical, depending on the purpose of the fire, you can make it burn faster, stronger, longer, or create a good bed of coals for cooking. Fire gives warmth, and light while also containing desolation and death. It is a balancing act with dire consequences for falling off either side of a thin line of control.

Occasionally a log will pop or snap, and throw out a little spark show, and that is cool.

Traditionally, yes, but it's not obligatory. Fire does not consider the color of flesh, nor the gender of it's attendant.

Wait what? Please explain.

Fuel stove, MSR Jetboil something of the sort. I use white gas and refillable canisters. Food’s faster, I’m lower impact. I love a good fire but it’s not what mother earth needs every night right now.

I think you're vastly overstating how delicate of a balance a campfire is in, but i wholeheartedly agree that the intellectual challenge of perfecting air flow, choosing the correct placement, and all that is a wonderful way to spend time

Proto-tv

You could say the same thing about friendship but something tells me you don't know about that one

The real trial is being this guy when other people decide they're going to start a fire and by the time you get there they've done it all wrong and the thing is smouldering and coughing up smoke and barely staying lit at all as they cram handfuls of pine needles and barely dry leaves into places while there's a full-ass log precariously balanced on top of it all and they're saying things like "Maybe we should pour a little lamp oil on top of it?"

And then you have to be the adult and take over the whole operation.

The meme says "one white guy who really fucks with keeping the fire going." He's clearly not fucking with the fire. He's keeping it going.

There’s also the grill master or chef character that gets to stay to the side of party cooking delicious things for people. That’s me, and my dad, and maybe it’s you.

What that does not include is the other guests being idiots or uninteresting people by default. Social anxiety is what is, but automatically thinking negatively of other people is a hole that is very hard to climb out of.

we'd drag discarded railroad ties down by a creek and drink beer and smoke weed. age 14-15. got beer by asking someone in line at the drive-up liqueur store to buy it. or go inside and shoplift something. was something to do i guess. not recommended firewood because they are soaked in creosote, but burn good. drinking not recommended. i managed to quit. friend never quit and died of liver damage 30 years later. cautionary note for anyone considering same habits.

I was at a hotel up in the Alps in France that had a fire going and the staff put absolutely no effort into it so it sat there smoldering on life support. So I took a log and rearranged things boyscout style and kept that sucker going till it was too hot to get near. Everyone gave me the weirdest looks like I was some crazy American. Like nah dude, gotta keep the fire going, it's the best part.

One fire guy is ok. Two fire guys is a disaster.

If you have two fire guys, one fire and one girl, you better bring the guitar before you join them. You don't even need to play it, it just has to be there to pacify the fire guys.

*gently sizzles in butter*

Cook on a stove. Way easier and quicker. Without a fire you'll see/hear more wildlife. You won't wake up with smokeface, puffy eyes, everything smelling like smoke. In my experience most camping injuries involve fire/firewood gathering. If backpacking, without a fire you'll save a lot of energy. No holes in expensive nylon gear.
I know going without a fire is sacrilege to a lot of people, give it a try sometime

Without a fire you have a better chance of seeing/hearing wildlife. For the record, most of my camping experiences are wilderness backpacking. I typed out more reasons in another response in this thread.

ah yes, one fire and one girl

That's actually a great question. Here I was thinking I made a mistake not announcing myself as a brown man, but why do we assume all speakers are white unless otherwise specified?

I'm the fire wingman. I will not touch the fire if someone else wants to manage it.