Good question, he's just not around anymore. That guy could argue forever. Him and Horse would get at it and there go 2 weeks and 200 posts. Wordy posts at that. Old Kudzu could sling the words around a bit.

Join the Army IMO.

No Kudzu spottings in a long time. I think I am a social misfit, along with Kioshk, of course. :-) Unfortunately, I have to act like I can handle social situations far too often. People who know me well know I'm the type to stand in a corner at parties, that is if I have to go to one.

Sounds too familiar. I would be in the other corner, John. Perhaps we could met in the middle and discuss which version of Madonna on Rocks by Leonardo is the best.

Sounds like y'all have cornered the misfit market.

Well I read this whole thing and I think most people are missing Dom's main point, which was the feeling of belonging to a group THAT COMES FIRST i.e. SAMCRO.

There are dozens of varieties of friendship and socialization... but to be inside a group that works so well together and is so tight-knit that the group's success becomes a priority over your own... that's not so common.

Sports teams are probably the classic example, but it's not so easy to find a serious one as an adult. Softball beer leagues and bowling teams don't count.

I've been part of such groups a few times in the past... at work or at play... of course they tend to fall apart... but I enjoy the feeling as long as they keep going. You look forward to every get-together and you are always ready to go the extra mile for the group.

Las Vegas strikes me as maybe the worst city in the U.S. to get such an organization going. But who knows. There used to be glimmers of this feeling in the STTF/Irieguy days when we'd all get together at the WSOP, so never say never.

Now we just need to make money on it, like Robert Service:

The Men That Don't Fit In by Robert William Service

There's a race of men that don't fit in,
A race that can't stay still;
So they break the hearts of kith and kin,
And they roam the world at will.
They range the field and they rove the flood,
And they climb the mountain's crest;
Theirs is the curse of the gypsy blood,
And they don't know how to rest.

If they just went straight they might go far;
They are strong and brave and true;
But they're always tired of the things that are,
And they want the strange and new.
They say: "Could I find my proper groove,
What a deep mark I would make!"
So they chop and change, and each fresh move
Is only a fresh mistake.

And each forgets, as he strips and runs
With a brilliant, fitful pace,
It's the steady, quiet, plodding ones
Who win in the lifelong race.
And each forgets that his youth has fled,
Forgets that his prime is past,
Till he stands one day, with a hope that's dead,
In the glare of the truth at last.

He has failed, he has failed; he has missed his chance;
He has just done things by half.
Life's been a jolly good joke on him,
And now is the time to laugh.
Ha, ha! He is one of the Legion Lost;
He was never meant to win;
He's a rolling stone, and it's bred in the bone;
He's a man who won't fit in.

:sho cked:

Thank you for your Service, Zeno.

Some of you guys might be under-appreciating your good fortune. Sports, the Army, bands, family, college, work and business associations, poker regulars, social cliques - all groups I am or have been a part of. Great in some ways but any of it can get tiring and some people just like having more time to themselves.

Had an ex that just lived to entertain and be super-social nonstop. The house always had to be to some absurd standard and people were always over, we were always having to go somewhere for somebody's wedding or other events. Then you've got all these other commitments for your other groups that take up time too.

That's fine for a lot of people, but there's something to be said for just chilling with the dogs with headphones and posting in threads.

I have my cats, so I belong to them now.

The guys I served in Nam with, we still get together once a year to swap war stories.

I have 20 or so people that I can call and we'll go fishing on very short notice. Our clubs have names and logos, we call each other brothers and sisters, and there have been a couple instances of confrontations escalating. There is no formal hierarchy. The larger group consists of several hundred and we get together several times a year. There are also fundraising drives for members suffering illnesses or collections to get plane tickets home to go to funerals and the like.

It's fun to be a part of something like that.

Nice 1 mate.