Be careful, not everyone knows the F**K RYAN DAVIS meme.

I has the worst 30 seconds in recent memory earlier today. I was on a bus headed home, and just before my stop this guy with a Giantbomb t-shirt gets on. I *never* see that in public around here, so I figured I'd try to say hi, and maybe try to acknowledge how we're both probably feeling these days.

So, I go up to him right before my stop, pat him on the shoulder and say "fuck Ryan Davis, right?". Not a good opener in retrospect, because he comes back with a somewhat indignant, argumentative "I LOVE Ryan Davis". I instantly think:

a) aw crap, he doesn't know the meme, and

b) HOLY SHIT, he used the present tense there, maybe he doesn't even know about recent events!

Needless to say, he did know about the news, but man the last 15-20 seconds of rushed conversation after that point was a trainwreck on my end. It had the opposite of the intended effect for me, and I dunno what he thought of me, but may even be out there thinking "what an asshole".

Aw man...

So, if you're that guy taking public transit in Pitt Meadows, and you happen to read this, know that I was just trying to say that I love Ryan Davis too, and I hope you're doing alright.

I can't hold a candle to this but man, can't say I haven't had my share of micro-awkward moments with GB shirt wearing people at PAX. Still though, this was cute. Thanks for sharing :D

*Today in Giant Bomb Theater, a dramatic reenactment of the event*

umdesch4: "Fuck Ryan Davis, amirite? haha ♥"

The Pitbull of Pitt Meadows: "Fuck Ryan Davis?! No, FUCK YOU BUDDY!!"

It's because you forgot the comma, it's all about the comma.

Goddamnit, Claude... He always has been a bit overly sensitive when it came to Ryan.

When I first started reading, I thought someone called Ryan Davis was going to come up to you and go ballistic at you. Glad it was only something awkward.

"Fuck Ryan Davis" is the video game equivalent of "Primus Sucks." It's bound to cause some misunderstandings.

Fuck being careful.

what in the world would make you open a conversation with a meme

haha

Hey you asshole I love Primus!

I really hope they were referring to a completely different Ryan Davis.

And then told him afterwards causing him to experience extreme confusion.

That would amuse me, somewhat.

Surprise, surprise. Seems like some of the GB userbase are socially awkward. *coughs, leaves thread*

Can't say I'm surprised. Its only a matter of time before someone gets knockout.

Just be glad he knew what you were talking about. Every time I initiate conversation based on a shirt implying shared fandom of a site/band/game, the other person never seems to be aware that their shirt refers to a thing. I'd love to know where they find their shirts in the first place...

You should have whispered Batmanbatmanbatman into his ear. Then it would have been less awkward........

The internet. Honestly I would never try to speak someone for the first time with a pat on the shoulder and a Fuck, Ryan Davis but maybe that is just me.

Or walked straight up to him and pressed your face into his shirt.

@jimbo: Or calling him a human piece of shit.

I'M TRYING TO BE COOLER, OKAY!? JEEZ.

@cloudenvy said:

The same reason you'd greet a member of the tribe with a secret handshake. It's an "in" thing. Outsiders don't get it, but the two of you do.

Seriously folks, human interaction is not that hard to understand.

You can't just assume everyone who's familiar with the site knows about that meme. And that is probably the absolute worst meme to assume someone knows. Maybe try introducing yourself like a normal human being first before going all 'internet in-crowd' on them?

The person I quoted wondered aloud why anyone would greet another person with an obscure meme. I answered the question. I made no judgment on whether or not it was a good idea, or even in good taste.

But what are we supposed to do if they don't know the secret handshake? I expect a hatchet to the back of the head is the appropriate response? See OP, this is what you were supposed to do. God damn it!...

Two days after Ryan passed, I noticed a dude wearing a Whiskey Media shirt at the grocery store. I went by him and said, "Hey man, cool shirt." He seemed bothered and confused by the idea of anyone acknowledging his presence, muttered something, and quickly walked away.

I was kind of bummed out because I was still reeling from the news and had no one in real life to talk to about it. I wasn't looking for a long conversation, just a couple of seconds. I wouldn't be surprised if he got that shirt from Goodwill.

I need to stop giving compliments altogether because apparently no one knows what the fuck they are wearing anymore. People wear sports team apparel because it "matches their shoes" more than actually liking the team. Some guy was wearing a Please to Meet Me shirt and had no fucking clue who the Replacements were.

I've had some of these awkward interactions wearing my Whiskey/Giant Bomb shirts out. It's cool though, always happy to say hi.

Yeah, you know, it was one of those things where I had a tiny amount of time to think of what to say, and a super-short moment in which to say anything at all. I had just been thinking about wearing the "fuck, ryan davis" shirt I ordered a few seconds before this guy showed up (while listening to a recent bombcast, actually), and thought to myself "yeah, anyone in this remote neck of the woods wearing a GB t-shirt, especially right around now, will get it".

It was a split-second decision, and it was a pretty dumb one with bad assumptions on my part, but yeah. Secret handshake was kind of what I was thinking subconsiously, I guess. How to get a message across in under 30 seconds, in public, to a complete stranger.

I thought you were implying that this is how human's should interact. I'm pretty sure the first guy was asking a rhetorical question, implying that it was a bad idea.

It's just some people, fuck, Ryan Davis is not going to mean anything to anyone outside of the site, if they made the t-shirt say "Ryan Davis Giantbomb 1979 - 2013. His face on it then that would be more fitting than fuck, Ryan Davis.

This is why I don't interact with people on the bus. I understand the urge to talk to someone else who is also familiar with the site, oh well, hindsight is 20/20. I'm sure the guy will get over it/doesn't care anymore.

Since when did jokes become "memes".

Why god why.

I've gotten the "Nice shirt" for my Whiskey Media related shirts a couple of times in passing and it resulted in an awkward "Huh? Oh thanks!" and then me looking down to see what I was wearing. Sometimes I just forget what I have on.

Oh my god I had a conversation just like this with myself last night (sad, I know). I was watching an interview on CNN and was wondering what would be the most appropriate Giant Bomb shirt to wear during it. Then I went into a whole thing about what would it mean to wear a shirt like that without mentioning what it's about. Then I came to the conclusion it's like a secret handshake or ring. If somebody recognizes and acknowledges it then you're both in the know and caught up right away on a mutual thing you both like.

Primus does suck.

"Don't interact with people on the bus" is very underrated advice and should be followed more often.

It's okay @umdesch4. I see a Giant Bomb/Whiskey Media shirt once every 6 months or more, and I used to want to say something, but after two separate moments, I stopped. Either they do not know what they were wearing or they were so bone-crushingly awkward that even interacting with a fellow Bomber was torture. Like, I was extremely shy in grade school, but if someone came up to me and initiated a conversation about something I really liked, I would have been eternally grateful to be able to finally relate to someone even if it were only for a minute. Unless they were making fun of me... ~cries~

Oh well. You'd assume "Fuck Ryan Davis" would be a universal thing; it's not like it's forum-exclusive, but whatever. I would've taken it like a toast: raise a glass and say "Fuck Ryan Davis." Probably "China Don't Care" would've been better?

The only way to save face would have been to scream "I said FUCK RYAN DAVIS" at the guy and then get off the bus. Let him figure it out on his own.

I wish I would've met you

Now it's a little late

If I had approached more thoughtfully

I could've saved some face

You thought my hasty intro was all wrong

(I found this thread amusing

So I'm putting it to song)

Just tried to say "Hey man, nice shirt"

"What a good shirt, man"

Just tried to say "Hey man, nice shirt!"

"What a good shirt, man!"

A MAN

HAS ON

A BAD

ASS SHIRT

NICE SHIRT

Now that my shot's gone

And I can think clear

That guy, in hindsight

Likely thought I was weird

That shirt was tight but you were right

I came on too strong

I stuck that joke in your face

And it came off insulting and wrong

I should have said "Hey man, nice shirt"

"That's a great shirt, man"

I should have said "Hey man, nice shirt"

And not just "Fuck Ryan"

HEY MAN

WITH SHIRT

DON'T BE

SO CURT

NICE SHIRT

Any GiantBomber who doesn't know "Fuck Ryan Davis" isn't worth associating with anyway.

YOU SHOULD ALWAYS KNOW WHAT YOU ARE WEARING AT ALL TIMES! OMG! ARE YOU THAT GUY?! WHY DIDN'T YOU TALK TO ME?!

I actually would've accepted an awkward "Oh thanks!" This guy kind of blew me off (there's got to be a better way of saying that...). Oh well. It happens.

@umdesch4: Holy shit Pitt Meadows.. I lived there for four years.. just moved to Coquitlam. SMALL WORLD!

I feel like when we all wear this shirt to PAX there are gonna be a lot of people out of the loop and think we're the biggest assholes ever.

Thanks to everyone commenting in this thread (and the song and everything). I'm feeling a bit better about things this morning, and actually wearing my "Hey everyone it's TUESDAY!" shirt today, for probably the only time that I'll have it on on an actual Tuesday. If you see me (probably around Burnaby today), please come up to me, slap me in the face, and call me a human piece of shit. I'll thank you for it.

This is all precipitated by the rough time I'm having with attempting to grieve over this loss without a single person in my real-world life who has any idea how much GB, Ryan, and the rest of the crew has impacted my life over the last few years. Even when my cat died recently, I had family members around who weren't indifferent to my grieving. This has been different, and really weird.

As a person who had to learn a secret handshake at one point in his life, it's not something you open with. Ever.

why would you introduce yourself to anyone by saying fuck a person, What the fuck is wrong with you. Have some common sense and don't blame a stranger for not knowing or understanding your meme. Act like a normal human being.

Its not exactly a inside joke like "brad's leaving" they talked about it on a podcast on videos ECT....if you are a giantbomb fan you should know about this.

Yeah, these two opposing viewpoints were both going through my head in the moment, and I unfortunately chose the wrong one. I made the bad assumption that someone wearing a GB t-shirt would be far enough from "a normal human being" that it'd work out. I'm in a different country, and shipping for a custom shirt like that here is prohibitive, so having one should mean you're a pretty big fan, I thought. It's only the second time in 5 years that I've seen anyone besides me wearing one anywhere in this city. It was just a bad/hasty judgement call made in a split second.

Edit: and to be clear, I'm totally not blaming him, and I feel like an ass for totally screwing up.

Shit you have to be careful with a "giantbomb" t-shirt period, probably think your a terrorist.

You're one of the guys who asks those awkward questions at the PAX-panels, right?

Silly thing to worry about. This is like meeting someone with a Star Wars shirt on, saying "may the force be with you" and them having no clue what the fuck you are talking about.

Also, I only wear plain shirts, because my body isn't for fucking advertising shit on, so . . .