Know a guy.
No matter where you come from , once you can say “I know a guy” you’re an American.
How to move a sofa
Submitted 2 weeks ago by chicken@sh.itjust.works to [deleted]
https://sh.itjust.works/pictrs/image/899c9782-90b5-4c8f-8a65-901ae4e44f92.jpeg
Comments
TomMasz@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
ashenone@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
I may not know a gut, but I know a guy who knows a guy
bravesirrbn@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
You got a guy guy? Nice
Warl0k3@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
It’s amazing how many different species of Knowaguy there are. I recently was introduced to a friend’s “Bridge Guy” - a dealer in surplus bridges who will cut you a suspiciously good deal if you seem cool. Not the most immediately useful, but like… Could be damned handy to have in my back pocket should the right circumstances arise.
Iamaquantummechanic@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I am that guy
TomMasz@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
It still counts!
87Six@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
I say “I know a guy” and if said guy were american he’d be in prison lmao
Malyca@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Societies that run on favors are corrupt societies.
thebestaquaman@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Societies that run on neighbours, friends, acquaintances, and that guy over there helping each other out in exchange for sharing pizza and beer afterwards are wholesome societies.
FerretyFever0@fedia.io 2 weeks ago
Depends on the favors. Moving furniture for others in exchange for a portion of a pizza isn't a problem.
Warl0k3@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
A society that operates on an assumption of mutual support is generally called anarchy.
Space_Cowboy92@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
And societies ran on capital with different tiers of classes based solely on the situation a person is BORN into is certainly the more just and appropriate way to organize a society? It definitely couldn’t be one based on mutualism and equity, no sir.
Broadfern@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
The American lower-working class economy is predominantly favor and goodwill-based, yes. Pain in the ass sometimes but also more fun imo. Community is important to keep alive.
hayvan@piefed.world 2 weeks ago
Not just American. It’s poor people’s economy everywhere. American working class has more in common with working class in every other nation than American wealth class. The real division in the world is class division, everything else is distraction.
mirshafie@europe.pub 2 weeks ago
This exactly. There’s an inversion when having money is more convenient than having contacts and doing small favors, and that inversion turns people into lonely cunts.
Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Incredibly wealthy people also run their society based on favors and unspoken fees. The difference is, one of them could, under unusual but not impossible circumstances, help a friend and a guy move a fridge and share a beer. But nobody who’s not part of the incredible-wealth society can participate in its favors. And we all pay the fees.
thebestaquaman@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I don’t see what about this that makes it a “working-class” thing? I thought it was common practice to help each other out in exchange for pizzas and beer in any part of society where people have friends? I see it primarily as an excuse to hang out while doing something together.
UnfortunateShort@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
This is a wild concept for other cultures. Like, in Germany people will help you move. Your friends that is. Maybe a coworker or neighbour - if you even know any neighbour at all. That is all but a given here as well. But some random guy? Nah…
Oh and you absolutely have to rent a truck. I don’t know a single truck person. There is no such thing as having a truck, unless you nees it for business. Long story short: I just paid a company over >2k to move just one town over
bonesawmcl@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
This can absolutely also happen in a place like Germany. Yes, no one really has a truck for personal use (or rather a box truck), but you know a guy who knows a guy that has a truck for his business and doesn’t need it on the weekend, et voila. Maybe it’s not that extreme, but especially for ‘poorer’ working class people, helping out is still essential even in Germany.
wiocook@peachpie.theatl.social 2 weeks ago
When I was in Europe I saw a bunch of houses with trailers they could tow bulk items with their cars. Are those not common in Germany?
wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz 2 weeks ago
Also strongly depends on the community and your perceived level of acceptance within the community.
Anyone who’s ever been viewed as an outsider knows that it is not this simple unless you happen to fit in.
zikzak025@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Yeah, small town community always sounds warm and fuzzy until you end up on the outside.
A while back, I knew of a family that moved into a house in the center of a town near where I grew up. A couple and two kids. The town had a big clock with a bell that rang hourly. Even in the dead of night. Right across the street from their house.
The family asked the town if they could silence the chimes between sunset and sunrise so that they and their kids could sleep. The town said no, the chimes are a local tradition.
The family then brought up state noise ordinances that the town was violating. The town still refused. So they petitioned the state, the state got involved, and made the town silence the clock at night. The locals threw a fit.
The family didn’t last long in their new house after that. But they were at least lucky enough to have the means to pack up and move somewhere else.
The less lucky are stuck. They get to spend the rest of their lives as “the problem”. I’ve known people where any utterance of their name is met with a cautionary “you shouldn’t associate with them”, even when it’s been so long that no one can tell you why.
Flower@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
That was the ancient economy, before money even existed. You gave stuff to people. Bread, pots, meat, build a cabin. They gave stuff back that you needed, roughtly about the same value, but never exactly the value. Everybody has to be a little in debt to anyone else. If you gave back exactly what it’s worth, it means you don’t want to deal with that person anymore.
Grail@multiverse.soulism.net 2 weeks ago
Yeah, this is the gift economy. And when the only economy is the gift economy, that’s called communism.
hOrni@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
This was surprisingly funny and surprisingly positive for something to do with Americans.
TheLegendaryAssholeOfJushinLiger@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Americans are a very friendly people, all things considered. The whole smiling at everyone you see, helping out strangers for fun thing is not universal. Thus, this post.
Grail@multiverse.soulism.net 2 weeks ago
My partner is from America, and visited Australia for two weeks to see Me. We spent two weeks going on dates together, visiting cool places like the museum, the zoo, a local pirate bar, an escape room. My partner says Australians are much friendlier than Americans and we smile more.
Caesium@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
it’s hard to remember that the average person is a human just like yourself
TJDetweiler@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
As a Canadian who owns a truck, I think this may just be a North American thing. I am the guy that is referred to when one says “I know a guy”.
wieson@feddit.org 2 weeks ago
In central Europe it’s just like “I know a guy with a trailer” or a hitch and you rent a trailer. Or as a last resort or maybe an urban thing, you hire a moving truck and still call upon your friends to load and unload and pay in beer and pizza/döner.
BlackVenom@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Ignore religion, politics, and hard drugs and this is just normal.
wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz 2 weeks ago
As an american, I think it’s toxic positivity because it ignores all the invisible social rejects who live on the margins of society and don’t have the type of community support that makes this possible.
The OOP happened to luck out and knew some nice people and also happened to be accepted by those people as someone who’s worth helping.
The same Kevin might be a completely different person when he drives through a city and sees a homeless person struggling to move a tent with all his possessions…
snooggums@piefed.world 2 weeks ago
Absolute poetry.
Eq0@literature.cafe 2 weeks ago
It has a deep seeded rhythm indeed
Toto@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Reads like Burkowski
duckshuffgoose@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
I thought like a modern day Andre dubus
capt_wolf@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I miss work for trade…
You just took care of a guy and when the time came, he took care of you.
“Today you… Tomorrow me…”
Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Padit@feddit.org 2 weeks ago
I mean, thats just how it still is in my village. It does not seem to be a particularly endangered way of living and rather the norm in rural areas.
thisisbutaname@discuss.tchncs.de 2 weeks ago
This is the way
HCSOThrowaway@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Non-toxic Masculinity
uriel238@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
Except women also have those connections.
The price may be different, like a baby blanket for their neice.
gnu@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Men doing something negative is readily called toxic masculinity. Men doing something positive however can’t be non-toxic masculinity because women do something similar but different…
Is it really that hard for you to admit that masculinity can be associated with positive things?
GalacticGrapefruit@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
If you don’t know a Kevin, you definitely know an Ashley. And Ashley knows everyone who has a grandma with a group of retired friends who are itching for something to do.
HCSOThrowaway@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Men can also do feminine things. What’s your point?
VitoRobles@lemmy.today 2 weeks ago
Absolutely
bss03@infosec.pub 2 weeks ago
If the guys that frequently move furniture describe you are “strong for your size”, that is a powerful compliment.
VitoRobles@lemmy.today 2 weeks ago
I love positive masculinity.
kadotux@sopuli.xyz 2 weeks ago
It’s so refreshing to see goodvibe things from the US :D
MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
This is the way.
You engage in the economy of helping people to move stuff. One person has a dolly, another has a truck, they come, they move the thing, you pay in pizza and at least one IOU of “I’ll be there for you next time”.
When the time comes you are enlisted, you go, you help, you recieve pizza.
The cycle continues.
This is the way.
This is the only way.
Angryhumanoid@fedinsfw.app 2 weeks ago
clay_pidgin@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
I am “the guy” at my kids’ schools. I love it. When they need a last minute volunteer for something, they know how to reach me.
Blurntout@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
Clay pigeon signal hits the night sky
HerbalGamer@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
PULL!
peteypete420@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Fyi, if you are moving one piece of furniture, sure get the truck guy and a couple buddies. If you are moving ALL your stuff, hire movers. (Unless you and your buddies are in their 20s)
NABDad@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
If you are moving ALL your stuff, hire movers.
In my experience, that’s what Dad is for.
It starts with Dad moving you to and from dorm rooms. Then apartments.
When my wife and I moved to our house I hired movers. It was a lot easier and not terribly expensive.
When my wife moved her business to a new building, my mom told me my dad insisted on helping us move, so I didn’t hire movers as I had planned. When we were moving the tons of furniture, cabinets, and massive boxes stuffed full of files, my dad mentioned that my mom told him I had asked him to help me move. I have never been able to determine why my mom manipulated us into nearly killing ourselves.
Now I’m the dad. I’ve moved kids to and from dorm rooms and apartments. I’ve rented trucks for huge moves. My daughter and I are moving a couch, a dresser, an end table and all her cooking utensils on Saturday.
Not only do I have a truck, I also have straps, furniture dollies, moving blankets, mattress bags, etc.
My most recent purchase was a shoulder dolly. If you haven’t seen one, picture two harnesses with a wide strap running between them. Two people squat on either end of the item being moved with the wide strap running under it. You take up the slack in the strap, and just stand up to lift it off the ground. It’s a game changer.
I’ve become my own moving company.
peteypete420@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
You are the exception, and bless you. Yea shoulder dollies are cool as hell, I only know cause I hired movers a time or two.
Youd get along with my older brother. He is also a one man moving company, even having worked for moving companies and having his own side hustle as a mover/guy with truck/guy with plastic wrap and dollies etc. Id use him when moving, but when it comes to chores he is a fuckin nazi ill never ask him unless its important.
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
There’s a point in your life where “all your stuff” is maybe two non-IKEA pieces of furniture that your parents forced on you when you moved out. And then there’s the point at which “all your stuff” fills a 1600 sqft ranch house and half of it is made out of granite for some reason.
FudgyMcTubbs@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Moving a fridge down a flight of stairs is easy enough – who’s your dolly guy?
BurnedDonutHole@ani.social 2 weeks ago
This reminded of the time my family used me as the mover in my teens. We moved to an old apartment and I had to move almost all the furniture 5 stories without an elevator. If I try that today I’ll most likely give my last breath on the first stairs.
dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I fucking love these.
My favorite is the Waffle House: wandering-nobunaga.com/…/a-waffle-house-at-three-…
OryxAndCake@slrpnk.net 2 weeks ago
There is more?! Thank you ^_^!
0ops@piefed.zip 2 weeks ago
Yeah, I was Tony last week. But instead of pizza I was paid in beer. Good deal, would do again
Agent641@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I fix people’s computers in exchange for food.
Printers, I execute for free.
popekingjoe@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
GalacticGrapefruit@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Me too! I trade repairs for food all the time If it’s a big job, I do it for the price of parts and a trip for ice cream. It’s a good deal.
otacon239@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
My friend is a ring leader for these types of guys. He knows like 15 guys with a truck and at least another 30 with arms. He’s able to get a lot of projects done around d the neighborhood.
Tyrq@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
I was always the guy with the truck. For a couple years I was the guy with the minivan with no back seats in lieu of a truck, but now I’m back to being the guy with the truck amongst my circles. I didn’t know how much I liked being that guy until I wasn’t.
Dozzi92@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
My neighbor is the guy with the truck. He feels the same way you do, says he just can’t imagine not being available to help folks out. He’s helped me out. I help him out (not with a truck, of course). He has a truck because he is big, it’s comfortable, and because he can help people move shit or get mulch or whatever. He lives for it.
hansolo@lemmy.today 2 weeks ago
Having been the guy with the truck for a while, that is 100% how it works. However, the currency can also be a beer (or two).
plyth@feddit.org 2 weeks ago
Until now, trucks seemed to be linked to toxic masculinity. Turns out, the guys just want to be part of the community.
TipRing@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
IIRC, Japan_Nobunga is a slop account.
zr0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
This is 0% shitpost and 100% wholesome.
LillyPip@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
This is the most American thing I have read in my life. I shve lived for more than half a century, some of it in US states.
Seriously, if anyone asks what the US is like, show them this post. It’s perfect.
yuurei@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
As a Japanese person, my first reaction was, “That sounds exhausting.” I’m genuinely curious, though. Is this something most Americans enjoy, or is it one of those social expectations that not everyone is actually comfortable with?
ChanchoManco@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Today would be my brother’s birthday, he was my truck guy.
dismay3915@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Dude this gold :))
Laughed quite a bit. This guy should be a writer he has a great way with words and stories.
Stonewyvvern@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Been aware of this unwritten rule for a number of years. The people who ask me for help do not. They insult the tradition by trying to give me money…stunch refusal gets me strange looks but invites to weekend bbqs.
Kongar@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
I own a truck. I live in the states. In a state more urban than rural - so less trucks comparatively speaking.
BY FAR - the best part about owning a truck, is being asked to help someone move something big. This couldn’t be more true. Except sometimes the payment can be, or include a single cold beer.
I do this ALL THE TIME-and I love it.
agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
I have a truck. I know at least two other people with trucks. Once the pizza is offered, and maybe some beers if it’s a big job, we’re there. It’s the truck code.
Seasm0ke@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
This is anarchy in the usa
Agent641@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Someone just invented the concept of community
dharmacurious@slrpnk.net 2 weeks ago
I am the guy with the truck.
The truck is proof that Americans can and will accept socialism.
It’s brocialism.
surewhynotlem@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
A.k.a. community
SkyezOpen@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
"What if we had a system where people could get the assistance they need. We could call it… Communityism.
Dozzi92@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
The crazy part is it doesn’t matter who you voted for, everyone on both sides would generally love to help their neighbor and would offer a hand. It’s just when people get involved in the macro sense that they get filled with hate and anger. Makes me sad. Let’s just all move couches.
wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz 2 weeks ago
Can we do that without the latent ableism that comes along with it, like the idea that if you can’t help people move couches then you don’t deserve anyone else’s help either?
This especially effects people with invisible disabilities, who are already viewed as lazy, but who also might be the most helpless when it comes to moving their own furniture.
VitoRobles@lemmy.today 2 weeks ago
We do socialism all the time.
Neighbors bring each other gifts. Friends feed one another. Someone is struggling and we give them what they need, no questions asked.
AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space 2 weeks ago
That’s not really socialism, given that it is not universally distributed but depends on one’s social connections. A socialist system would have impersonal mechanisms for catching those who fall through the cracks due to not knowing enough people to ask for and repay favours. (And those people do exist: “everyone knows a guy with a truck” except perhaps for a socially isolated shut-in or someone who does not speak the language, or someone who does not fit in with the community in their truck catchment radius.)
infinitesunrise@slrpnk.net 2 weeks ago
I am also the guy with the truck. But I do not drive 5-speed manual very well. So the truck lives at the house of my friend who is good at driving manual. He’s kind of my Tony, I guess. The truck is indeed a community resource of anyone we are decent friends with.
rainwall@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
Ease the clutch out at the same rate you put on the gas. Just a nice smooth up and down with both feet, like you are pedaling a bike, but with 2 tons hammering around you.