Anecdotes

June 27, 2009 12:54 AM

I love reading personal anecdotes on MeFi and AskMeFi. Could you link me to your favorite anecdotal comments and threads? Thank you!

This thread is good, but not quite what I'm looking for.

posted by archagon to MetaFilter-related at 12:54 AM (56 comments total)

Well, it's a long story...
posted by wendell at 1:24 AM on June 27

cough drops really do stop the coffin.
posted by edgeways at 1:24 AM on June 27 [1 favorite]

I'll bite, or rather the spider bit me in this lengthy comment.
posted by Item at 2:29 AM on June 27

Here are the ones currently in my favorites:

the first kiss thread
FUCKYFUCK
how to buy a car
eating pie 'til sunrise
riding motorcycles
the famous Pixar story

And of course, pretty much anything from AskMeFi in Popular Favorites.
posted by archagon at 2:59 AM on June 27 [1 favorite]

Dear Penthouse

I never thought this would happen to me, but this one time? At band camp?
posted by DU at 3:07 AM on June 27

Standing in Line, and how to deal with queuejumpers.
posted by bjrn at 3:10 AM on June 27 [3 favorites]

oh, fun, here's a few of mine:

+ Dee Extrovert's thoughts on the 2008 election
+ a fantastic story about a chess match
+ "My depressed son weathered the storm"
+ tactics for dealing with a frenemy
+ how a poster fell for her husband
+ In which a post on how to thank neighbor kids leads to this awesome update which leads to this even
more awesome update.
posted by lalex at 3:49 AM on June 27 [8 favorites]

Jesus Christ, people. If you can't be bothered to sort through my MeFi history, why should I?
posted by Eideteker at 4:46 AM on June 27 [1 favorite]

Most of the responses from wcitymike's post a couple days ago are personal anecdotes. That, and long list posts with a bunch of garbage to wade through are typically what resonate with mefites, I guess.
posted by orville sash at 6:37 AM on June 27 [1 favorite]

FWIW, here's mine
posted by orville sash at 6:38 AM on June 27 [1 favorite]

It is time now to talk about the wheel.
TIME FOR SOME STORIES*

*Technically not on MeFi, but from it.
posted by The White Hat at 6:42 AM on June 27 [1 favorite]

You will find many an awesome tale here.
posted by nudar at 7:10 AM on June 27

The pixar and queuejumper stories have already been mentioned, but I'll add this one: With great booze comes great responsibility.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 7:17 AM on June 27

The comment fables are usually pretty cool.
posted by netbros at 8:08 AM on June 27 [1 favorite]

Some good ones in the "apprenticeship" AskMe.
posted by mattdidthat at 10:00 AM on June 27

Recently in my favorites:
Girl gets revenge on overbearing father
Meeting Alan Dean Foster
What's taters, precious?
The Do-Re-Mi fountain story
The Sears Wishbook and Cut-out War
felix betachat's dad survives a heart attack
anthropomorphizing the vacuum
posted by gemmy at 10:13 AM on June 27 [1 favorite]

Removing the skeleton from an elephant seal picked up quite a few favorites.
More generally, some members often share rich first-person experiences and looking at their popular favorites might be worthwhile. Some which come to mind are The Straightener on community work in Philly, allkindsoftime (aid work in Africa); and Dee Xtrovert (living in Sarajevo); grumblebee on working in the theatre.

Also, TryTheTilapia's encounter with Paul Newman and reading Elizabeth Wurtzel; Metroid Baby on anorexia ; nickyskye on Joseph Cornell.
posted by Rumple at 11:11 AM on June 27

Quite possibly Ask Mefi's best anecdotal thread: porn in the woods.
posted by AV at 11:11 AM on June 27

These are wonderful so far, thank you!

If anyone else is interested in this stuff, there's a lot of good anecdotes in the sidebar archives.
posted by archagon at 11:20 AM on June 27

tkchrist's dad vs. the soda machine

backseatpilot and the icy plane
posted by marxchivist at 12:47 PM on June 27 [1 favorite]

Others from my favorites list:
ColdChef's Hug Club
smedleyman's near-death (rebirth?) experience
I Foody vs. rope ladder
cashman on political cavassing
scblackman's interactions with Click and Clack
A thread about the risks of childhood playground equipment
posted by sarahnade at 1:52 PM on June 27 [1 favorite]

tkchrist's dad vs. the soda machine

that was outstanding; i'd be hard pressed to think of a more bittersweet & poignant story...it was like a modern-day Gogol, sympathetic & tragicomic all in one.
posted by UbuRoivas at 2:46 PM on June 27 [1 favorite]

I thought this Everest-related story was very good, but it wasn't in my favorites for some reason.
posted by archagon at 3:50 PM on June 27

nudar: "You will find many an awesome tale here."

Man, that tkchrist is kickass!
posted by Gravitus at 6:55 PM on June 27

Just get it over with already.
posted by felix betachat at 7:36 PM on June 27

I don't believe The Wheel story. That's just way too crazy. I don't want to believe it.
posted by Ms. Saint at 7:53 PM on June 27

Ms. Saint-- seriously...?
posted by jschu at 8:43 PM on June 27

Totally trying to resist the urge to favorite this thread.
posted by jabberjaw at 10:28 PM on June 27

I'm w/ Ms. Saint - I read that a while ago and don't believe it either. There was an odd combination of exacting detail (not just any school, Princeton) and pathos for me to buy into it. And then I met the poster at a meetup, although I never asked. Still, at some level I'm not convinced.
posted by allen.spaulding at 10:38 PM on June 27

I'm pretty sure that story's fiction. Didn't the self-aware tone and ending give it away?
posted by archagon at 10:50 PM on June 27

(not to mention the progressively escalating absurdity of the story)
posted by archagon at 10:52 PM on June 27

The Wheel was one of the first things I read on MeFi and every once in a while I think about it and it nearly drives me mad. I vacillate so quickly between thinking I'm a gullible idiot for thinking for a moment it's true and thinking that, well, what real evidence do I have that it's fake? And the start of it makes it sound as if it is describing real events, but then it does turn into pure madness towards the end, and I think surely no parents could be this crazy!, but then I think but people really are crazy sometimes! Back and forth, back and forth, until I have to just stop thinking about it.

It's been maddening me for years now.
posted by Ms. Saint at 11:38 PM on June 27

Wait, somebody thinks The Wheel is a true story? You have got to be kidding me.

(Man it rules though, like a bastard child of Kafka and Dick)
posted by Joseph Gurl at 12:08 AM on June 28 [2 favorites]

You know, robocop is bleeding has responded to questions about the story. It's all there for the searching. But if you prefer madness...
posted by team lowkey at 12:14 AM on June 28

It's been maddening me for years now.

If that's really the case, you should just email robocop is bleeding and ask him about it.

Personally, I've never thought it was a true story, but rather a phenomenally awesome fiction.
posted by allkindsoftime at 12:17 AM on June 28

No need to be condescending. It really does read like a true story until the last few paragraphs.
posted by archagon at 12:21 AM on June 28

Yeah, I suppose I could have, but it never actually occurred to me.

Like I said, it was one of the first real encounters I had with Mefi, reading that story, and I didn't know the community back then or how it operated. But as I grew more accustomed to the place, it never really occurred to me to really research The Wheel. It was kind of just stuck as some sort of mythic memory for me.

...

Well! That's settled now.
posted by Ms. Saint at 12:26 AM on June 28

The last link on lalex's list is wonderful.
posted by JHarris at 7:44 AM on June 28

There are some fabulous stories in You'll Put Your Eye Out, or what I think of as The Dangerous MeFi for Kids.
posted by Miko at 7:48 AM on June 28

I don't believe The Wheel story. That's just way too crazy.

I'm w/ Ms. Saint - I read that a while ago and don't believe it either. - (not to mention the progressively escalating absurdity of the story)

Wait, somebody thinks The Wheel is a true story? You have got to be kidding me.

It really does read like a true story until the last few paragraphs.


There is a difference between an interesting story and a truthful one, at least on a semi-anonymous site on the internet. It's pretty goddamn obvious that tkchrist has figured out how to tell an interesting tale to a bunch of interested folks on Metafilter - and more power to him for that. It's impossible, however, to know if & when he's telling the truth. Based on his past comments & admissions, I have to personally believe that he usually isn't. This doesn't mean that he isn't talented or that he is definitely a liar, but rather that there are *major* holes in his tales that shouldn't be taken as gospel. It really is too bad - and not because of any personal feelings towards tkchrist - that over six hundred Mefi members felt that he deserved to recieve a favorite for that comment.
posted by Item at 8:03 AM on June 28

Item, is this irony? 'Cause The Wheel was art. And art in an unexpected place is grace.
posted by timeo danaos at 8:54 AM on June 28 [2 favorites]

The Wheel was a great short story that had extra impact because of where it was published - in the middle of that thread, it had much more of an impact on its audience than if it had been self contained or posted on a blog, or whatever.

But I'm surprised that people still wonder if it was true. Robocop is bleeding actually posted another comment later on explaining that it wasn't.
posted by gemmy at 9:47 AM on June 28

In which a post on how to thank neighbor kids leads to this awesome update which leads to this even more awesome update.
posted by lalex at 6:49 AM on June 27

What an incredibly story, in so few words. That made me tear up instantly. Made my day.
posted by lazaruslong at 10:30 AM on June 28

Come on, of course The Wheel isn't a true story--it's absurdism, used to make a point. When I read it the first time I was like "What?...WHAT? Oh! LOL." It just surprised me that people might take something so over the top so literally.

The followup comment in the same thread is equally hilariously absurd in its details--he named a rabbit Beef Wellington?!
posted by jschu at 12:14 PM on June 28

I've seen some pretty crazy stories on MeFi, and The Wheel was totally believable in the same vein until the last paragraph or so.

Anyway, could we please get back to the original topic? I thought this BB gun story was very touching.
posted by archagon at 12:33 PM on June 28

er, sorry guys, i have to come clean-- i actually wrote that Wheel story and posted it under my Smedleyman puppet account.

also, i was never really on Pakistani Idol, that video doesn't exist.
Everyone can have their favorites back :(
posted by Potomac Avenue at 2:11 PM on June 28

The followup comment in the same thread is equally hilariously absurd in its details--he named a rabbit Beef Wellington?!

Yeah, that was a dead giveaway. Everyone knows you wrap rabbits in pancakes, not pastry.
posted by maudlin at 2:52 PM on June 28

Why you shouldn't pee on a fire remains my favorite. I belly laugh until my stomach hurts every time I read it.
posted by FunkyHelix at 4:20 PM on June 28

Have I ever told you about the time my ego got too huge to fit through doors?

Thanks, all.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 5:01 AM on June 29 [1 favorite]

Why you shouldn't pee on a fire remains my favorite. I belly laugh until my stomach hurts every time I read it.

Argh, not that story again. I was wondering why that one was suddenly picking up favorites.
posted by loquacious at 9:47 AM on June 29

Sorry, loquacious, but it's too funny not to share. It really is my favorite story, and I've gleefully read it aloud to most of my family by now.
posted by FunkyHelix at 10:13 AM on June 29

You've what!? Shit! I've turned into Garrison Keillor on dope!
posted by loquacious at 11:48 AM on June 29

Comment Fables. via robocop is bleeding's profile.

The Wheel is the best thing I've read in a while. Also, Metatalk is my new favorite subsection.
posted by papayaninja at 7:06 PM on June 29

Do you guys have any from before favorites? I'd like to catalog the ones that are hard to find.
posted by archagon at 9:50 PM on June 29

Metafilter: Shit! I've turned into Garrison Keillor on dope!
posted by Rumple at 12:01 AM on June 30

here's a recent entry into the list of nice anecdotes.
posted by UbuRoivas at 1:24 AM on July 2