(TikTok screencap)
There’s something really cathartic about placing shit in a firepit and just watching it burn away.
White guy detected
Of course I know him. He’s me!
I didn’t know it was a racial trait.
Or gendered. I do this in my friend group. I also grill, smoke, and bbq.
Yeah my sister and I are both the fire keeper type.
White people’s ancestors had to survive brutal winters. It’s the reason they’re white.
Ehhhh, even places like the Sahara can get below freezing temps at night. Of course we also shouldn’t forget that people native to the Asian steppe and American high plains would also need to deal with freezing temps. I just think that it’s a human trait in general to need to mess with fires. (That probably stems from a vast amount of people on earth being able to trace their heritage back to the Mongols)
Brown guy here, I like fire too
I went to an engineering school and I am here to tell you that pyromancy is practiced by every type of person.
The best pyromancy comes from the United States, we have such classics as The German Barbeque, Korean Barbeque, Vietnam Barbeque, and California.
Is that a jab about all the forest fires CA keeps experiencing? If so, well done. I chuckled.
I’m from the Inland Empire here in SoCal I have to make jokes or the sirens call of the inferno starts to eat away at ones mind.
Yeah, whats the deal with “white guy”? Guys like fucking with fire. Black, white, brown, blue. If theres an alien species on the other side of the galaxy, you can bet they have something very much like guys, and the love fucking with fire.
DONT HATE it’s all he’s got
That’s what I’m sayin’! I’m mildly autistic and not very good socially. Even if I want to be there it can be difficult. Tending to the fire is a way I get to participate.
Wait… I’m white!?
I too feel very seen right now.
In my experience, they’ve been Mexican or Puerto Rican. Though those are my two main travel destinations, so there might be some selection bias. Both for me and the meme
I kind of get that way but I’ve never really realized it was obsessive behavior until this meme pointed it out.
I know a set of brothers who all have this ingrained. They have each said at one point or another “You gotta fuck the fire.”
Hope the intent has/will always be basic firepit maintenance.
This is a white thing? I never knew that.
The OP’s observation is that there is at least one white guy that fucks with keeping the fire going. There can be as many others as you wish!
Right, but it mentions a white guy specifically.
It’s me, i’m that guy. I’m fun to camp with ladies ;)
I wonder if there is a genetic component to keeping fire for recreation or comfort.
I think all societies have a cooking on fire aspect.
The use of fire seems to play a much more active role in societies in cold climates. It seems to play a less prominent role in the tropics with warmer nighttime temperatures.
This reminded me of something my dad told me when I was younger. It was mostly to justify saying that no, I did not need a TV in my room, but still kinda interesting:
In many cultures (definitely the ones my family grew out of), the fire served as a gathering spot. People would talk about stuff, share food and jokes, and relax together. It was a shared experience and source of comfort that helped strengthen interpersonal bonds.
His argument was that the family TV served a similar function (without the whole ‘also it’s the means for cooked food’ aspect, which shouldn’t be overlooked). It’s a point that made some sense to me at that stage of late 20th century mainstream society.
Hmm…the 21st century, defined as billions of little fires, and many of us cold. There’s a really pretentious poem here somewhere.
Yeah I miss the days when my entire family would gather by the TV at night to watch something, anything really, I could be laying on the sofa reading a book but still enjoy the company and finding something interesting while channel surfing was it’s own joy, now I can stream or download anything I want to watch on all my devices and I can’t find anything interesting that makes me feel the sense of peace I had back then as a kid
Survivalists like to boast of their skills to start a fire from scratch with no modern tool. But that wasn’t the main skill in ancient times. Most societies found it easier to start a fire once and then keep the flame going through several mediums. It was a practical, mundane but vital activity that everyone participated in. The calories gains from eating cooked food was our cheat code for unlocking brain power.
This is the campfire equivalent of that one person who makes best friends with the family dog at every party. Some of us enjoy the group but our social skills are only on par with fires and dogs.
Evolved trait