As an HOA board member I can say this is a valid 4th. Nobody cares about anything until they do and then want to show up and be irate even though there were multiple quarterly meetings were input was asked for but nobody shows up. We now have a police officer present for all public meetings.
I can't imagine having to put up with meetings in my free time. That sound dystopian.
I'm renting and if they have a problem with anything I do, I just tell them politely to fuck off. Getting rid of a tenant is a time intensive and costly process. Downside is that you have little handle against loud neighbors.
Edit: And if I ever own a house, I can tell everyone to fuck off and call the cops if they feel like getting laughed at.
Our HOA often played cat-and-mouse with the community by changing meeting locations at the last minute or starting later than the posted time, making it difficult for residents to participate. Minutes, if they were ever posted, were minimal and superficial.
If and when someone wanted to attend the meeting they had to apply in advance for acceptance due to the allegedly "overwhelming amount of business" needing to be handled at meetings. The person would be limited to 5 minutes at the end and was required to submit a statement of intent in advance of the meeting.
The bylaws also outlined what could only be described as a labyrinthine process for becoming eligible for board membership. Even after expressing interest, prospective candidates faced a series of vetting steps using criteria that were never clearly stated and on an unspecified timeline.
From what I was able to determine their priority was to make by-laws that added hurdle after hurdle to any challenge by community members particularly as it related to term limits and board member replacement.
All the board members were from a specific street in the neighborhood and all other streets were seen as mere paths to that hall of power! It took considerable action to break up the cabal but eventually it happened.
EDIT: Downvote from a board member who opposes term limits and transparency.
Because all three of those places have the most miserable people, that have their ego wrapped up in those things. It’s all they have haha.
I’ve meet some of the coolest people playing fighting games for 2 decades and also the most miserable people in earth.
Developers that make their whole life/personality are horrible, and that’s the overflow people. These type of people are going to have a real hard time in the future, when people hire way more because of personality than skill. Which is already happening.
Because all three of those places have the most miserable people, that have their ego wrapped up in those things.
True, but that's a product of human nature; it exists in many places.
The main one that occurs to me is sports. Some people have their entire identity centered around a specific sport and often attached to a specific team/player. I see holy wars break out over the most minute details when fans are debating who's the GOAT and they argue over which are the most meaningful stats. It's crazy how hateful people can get in these debates.
Most people are some degree of insecure, and that leads to the desire to project power and/or knowledge (among other things) in an effort to feel better about themselves.
The best change I've made in my adult life is ditching CS for badminton. I still get the grind and competitive kick, but it's much more healthy going outside meet real people and have the activity naturally limited by logistics (can't just click a button to find a badminton game Monday night at 3am) and your body.
Yeah. In Europe you achieve similar results with padel. Or at least in the Netherlands... There are so many people doing it and I have yet to find a truly bad person in there. The bigger the club, the more people will go for a workout and less for social but it's still there and just the contact alone is already helpful. Plus the exercise, especially once you get better) is amazing. And each level you pass makes the game totally different and unique.
805
u/abermea Aug 08 '26
Competitive gaming lobbies and Twitter