Everyone Should Know About this

February 19, 2025 2:53 PM

Doug had a party, and it was AWESOME. This really made me feel warm and fuzzy. I hope all of you get the same feeling.
posted by ivanthenotsoterrible (6 comments total)

Party Invitations, Saying “4 PM Until the Cops Arrive”
...
fortunately, the “cops never showed up.”

🥳
posted by HearHere at 3:01 PM on February 19 [5 favorites]

I did get the same feeling. ☺️
posted by Glinn at 3:32 PM on February 19 [2 favorites]

I was on TikTok the day Michelle (his neighbor) posted him getting the invitation, and friends and I were marveling each day at how it spread so quickly, even internationally. Two of my always-on-TikTok friends and I had a brief Zoom and lengthy TikTok-in-chat party from our respective parts of the country, as we were all too lazy to throw/attend one. But we "attended" so many of the TT Lives that we felt like we'd been well-fêted (if not well fed).

As it grew, Doug's daughter made some appearances on TikTok (not her usual venue, she said) and seemed worried that strangers might show up at the house until TikTok universally assured her that we'd all been having our own separate parties in Doug's honor. Then she had to be really stern and tell people that NO, her did (and she) did not want or need any money, because people wanted to send funds to help make it a blowout.

In addition to the brands sending stuff (once one of Doug's neighbors made his company's address available for deliveries/shipments), a charity Go Fund Me was set up because people wanted to donate in Doug's name to some cause, but then scammy ones popped up and they were ALL shut down (with Doug's daughter's involvement), including the official one. So then people who'd created merch for the party celebrants worldwide wanted to donate their profits, so his daughter suggested that since Doug had been a forester, people could donate to CALFire.

Watching the various Lives of the extended party more than made up for the technical difficulties of live-streaming from Doug's house. Oh, and his daughter had a follow-up. Everything has been so dark, especially for so many of us in the US, and it was so heartwarmingly random how everyone just embraced this, and Doug.

ivanthenotsoterrible, I'm so glad you posted this!
posted by The Wrong Kind of Cheese at 4:10 PM on February 19 [11 favorites]

It’s a brave thing to have a party, for me anyway. I had a small one this past Christmas and spent 3 days getting ready for it. I had finally decided to stop waiting for the day when my anxiety would be gone and I could go back to the days of being really social and have fun like that. You see, I had become quite an alcoholic during midlife, and it nearly destroyed me. Like a lot of people who become sober, I couldn’t be around drinking for a long time, and I also avoided doing things that would trigger my drinking, like cooking. The fear of relapsing put me into an isolated funk for many years. Over the past year and a half I’ve done a lot of work in getting back out into the world and making choices that feel authentic, albeit scary because it’s still new territory. I’m putting into practice “It's easier to act your way into right thinking than to think your way into right acting", or at least doing so when I can. So kudos to this guy for reaching out to neighbors he apparently didn’t know too well if at all. I can’t imagine losing a spouse of many years, and it’s good to know that it’s possible to not be isolated later in life, at least not once in a while. I’m so glad people responded to him.
posted by waving at 4:46 PM on February 19 [16 favorites]

Thanks for the story! Glad it went so well!
posted by brainwane at 7:32 PM on February 19 [1 favorite]

It might sound quaint, but this kind of thing puts real brakes on the wheel of misfortune that is spinning so quickly these days.

Get to know your neighbors! Throw parties, talk, gossip, help each other, build community, its a really really really valuable and needed thing!
posted by stilgar at 7:00 AM on February 20 [3 favorites]