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In the spring of 2017, I was at a Reddit meetup in Seattle and had an opportunity to meet The Guy Who Does the Hydraulic Press Videos on Youtube. He was extremely charming and confident, freely passing around his phone so that we could all watch previews of his upcoming (and premium) web series. As the night went on, we eventually found ourselves alone at a corner booth in a skeevy bar we had all gone out to drink at. I had told him about my own personal passion for using large devices to crush random, everyday objects and had also told him I was working to save towards buying my own hydraulic press. I mentioned that I had been trying to find someone to guide and instruct me in the operation of one but to no avail. I was new to the community and had not yet met many people who could or would help me. To be honest, I was a little buzzed. I had been served one and a half Sex on the Beaches (both of which The Guy Who Does the Hydraulic Press Videos on Youtube had ordered for me - a red flag, I know) and in that state, I think he was able to pick up on just how lonely and vulnerable I truly was. He offered to take me over to his hotel room and let me try out his portable hydraulic press prototype. I was initially hesitant but relented as he assured me that his safety procedures were impeccable and that it would be a relaxing, chill experience. I remember very specifically, he kept saying "Crushing makes you feel good" over and over. It was very persuasive. When we arrived at his hotel room, he immediately began plying me with CBD gummies and green tea. It was nauseating and disorienting, but I accepted them so as not to seem rude. His "portable hydraulic press" was nothing more than a hammer with silver duct tape around the handle and a couple of caution stickers. This is when I began to realize something wasn't right. I remember him calibrating the "hydraulic press" using several large, wooden cubes. He kept calling them his "cubies". It makes me sick to even think about it. He then set up a camera and retrieved several VHS copies of The Sweet Hereafter, which is a good enough film not necessarily worthy of crushing. I told him this. Several times. I also told him that I was currently into watching another YouTube channel's VHS obliteration videos and that this felt weird. He didn't care. He crushed them while I watched. Half drunk. Half delirious with a cocktail of CBD oil and caffeine. I felt like I couldn't breathe, couldn't move. I have never been more afraid or disgusted in my life. If a hotel employee hadn't arrived to investigate the noise, I don't know what else he may have crushed or what else may have happened between us. I took an uber, something I really didn't have the money for, back to my own hotel and wept. Seeing a video of him crushing a Furby and a block of Lego bricks a couple of weeks later, I decided I could no longer stay silent. I posted about our encounter and was banned from one subreddit after another. r/seattle, r/videos, r/letsnotmeet... all toxic environments looking to quiet the violated. Reddit is a garbage place full of garbage people.
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Apr 19, 2018 20:45
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| # ¿ May 22, 2024 17:30 |
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