this post was submitted on 09 Oct 2026
725 points (98.9% liked)
196
6991 readers
2986 users here now
Community Rules
You must post before you leave
Be nice. Assume others have good intent (within reason).
Block or ignore posts, comments, and users that irritate you in some way rather than engaging. Report if they are actually breaking community rules.
Use content warnings and/or mark as NSFW when appropriate. Most posts with content warnings likely need to be marked NSFW.
Most 196 posts are memes, shitposts, cute images, or even just recent things that happened, etc. There is no real theme, but try to avoid posts that are very inflammatory, offensive, very low quality, or very "off topic".
Bigotry is not allowed, this includes (but is not limited to): Homophobia, Transphobia, Racism, Sexism, Abelism, Classism, or discrimination based on things like Ethnicity, Nationality, Language, or Religion.
Avoid shilling for corporations, posting advertisements, or promoting exploitation of workers.
Proselytization, support, or defense of authoritarianism is not welcome. This includes but is not limited to: imperialism, nationalism, genocide denial, ethnic or racial supremacy, fascism, Nazism, Marxism-Leninism, Maoism, etc.
Avoid AI generated content.
Avoid misinformation.
Avoid incomprehensible posts.
No threats or personal attacks.
No spam.
Moderator Guidelines
Moderator Guidelines
- Don’t be mean to users. Be gentle or neutral.
- Most moderator actions which have a modlog message should include your username.
- When in doubt about whether or not a user is problematic, send them a DM.
- Don’t waste time debating/arguing with problematic users.
- Assume the best, but don’t tolerate sealioning/just asking questions/concern trolling.
- Ask another mod to take over cases you struggle with, if you get tired, or when things get personal.
- Ask the other mods for advice when things get complicated.
- Share everything you do in the mod matrix, both so several mods aren't unknowingly handling the same issues, but also so you can receive feedback on what you intend to do.
- Don't rush mod actions. If a case doesn't need to be handled right away, consider taking a short break before getting to it. This is to say, cool down and make room for feedback.
- Don’t perform too much moderation in the comments, except if you want a verdict to be public or to ask people to dial a convo down/stop. Single comment warnings are okay.
- Send users concise DMs about verdicts about them, such as bans etc, except in cases where it is clear we don’t want them at all, such as obvious transphobes. No need to notify someone they haven’t been banned of course.
- Explain to a user why their behavior is problematic and how it is distressing others rather than engage with whatever they are saying. Ask them to avoid this in the future and send them packing if they do not comply.
- First warn users, then temp ban them, then finally perma ban them when they break the rules or act inappropriately. Skip steps if necessary.
- Use neutral statements like “this statement can be considered transphobic” rather than “you are being transphobic”.
- No large decisions or actions without community input (polls or meta posts f.ex.).
- Large internal decisions (such as ousting a mod) might require a vote, needing more than 50% of the votes to pass. Also consider asking the community for feedback.
- Remember you are a voluntary moderator. You don’t get paid. Take a break when you need one. Perhaps ask another moderator to step in if necessary.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
They missed one.
Back when I was younger and stupider and in my urban exploration days, I broke into a condemned library slated for demolition via a steam tunnel and sprayed a fire extinguisher all around on the roof. It’s kinda fun, but like, not fun enough that anyone should have significant regrets they didn’t get to try it.
Spoken from a place of pure privilege.
I warmly advise everyone to register for free half-day firefighting training anywhere. Any fire security representative anywhere will tell you that we need way more people that know what to do in case of fire, and how to spray an extinguisher, obvi.
Absolutely true and if that's cool and you enjoy it join your local volunteer firefighter organization! As a volunteer you aren't allowed inside a burning building without extra training but are allowed to help outside where it's much safer and still pretty epic. The US is short roughly 700k volunteer firefighters, and many areas simply cannot afford paid staff. There are areas that have only 2-3 volunteers every 50 sq miles.
There's tons of fun stuff to do outside like breaking down doors, breaking windows, cutting through the roof with a chainsaw, and connecting to some kind of water supply. There's also vehicle rescue with cutters and spreaders, search and rescue, vehicle maintenance, and a ton of community relations stuff like fundraising and teaching folks how to use fire extinguishers. My station has volunteers who only do equipment maintenance, some who only do community relations, and some who only respond to calls with rope rescue like cliffs and trees and stuff. Some of our volunteers only drive the engine or tower, and operate the pumps. Since you're a volunteer you get to pick what you want to do and can say no to anything. There's an extremely low fitness bar to volunteer. This isn't FDNY. Half our volunteers are 65+. We've got members who are >350lb. Some can't move a charged hoseline but are great at going to schools to teach fire prevention week classes. Some just show up to cook meals and write fundraising letters. I cannot express enough how much effort it is to keep a station going, there's something for everyone and there would still be hundreds of jobs left undone.
It takes a bit of time, but the community at my station is filled with folks who are extremely tight knit. I've never felt anything like it and have enjoyed my years as a volunteer immensely. I can't recommend it enough. Folks were weird and standoffish for a year but once they realized I wasn't going anywhere they opened up and now we're constantly hanging out together. My TTRPG group is from the firehouse. A bunch of us go to Renfaires together, or Rough and Tumble, and vacation together. It's pretty wild how tight knit you get after a few years of actually trusting each other in dangerous situations.
Also if you get into it long enough, usually your station will get a grant for you to get interior firefighter cert so you can wear an SCBA and go inside a burning building. That's when it starts to get even more exciting and fun because now you're going into a dangerous atmosphere and having to really think on your feet.
I've sprayed a bunch of fire extinguishers, and it's always fucking awesome.
The best are powder, because you get the thrill of not being entirely sure what the powder is and how much it fuck up your lungs. But co2 are also good because they're LOUD.
The powder ones are almost certainly filled with baking soda unless it's some crazy class K then who the hell knows