1st Gen Lunchtable Thread - General Discussion

U2.

 

A group of somewhat talented Irish guys whi dubbed themselves U2 wrote an album titled "joshua tree" or something. Other than that, Im pretty sure they are nearly extinct as far as trees go.

 

I'm 110% behind the "tread lightly" mentality and would not have done what they did myself, but I do agree that it's not that bad. I find the whole Tacomabeast trend really annoying myself but saying that the guy should have his business destroyed and be banished from the community is way too extreme for this particular case. But that's the internet/social media for you, one little spark can set off a fucking wildfire of epic proportion.
Herd mentality kicks in and everyone wants to think they're the beacon of light and best example of good behavior as well as judge, jury and executioner.

 

Joshua trees grow like weeds in the desert out here, definitely not confined to the Joshua Tree national park area. It's a cool area for sure but I get what you mean lol.

 

I will admit I am guilty of this, but people just want an excuse to hate those that are more creative/successfull than them. If you could make money off of custom tacoma decals and apparel, wouldnt you? The dude obviously has a following and is raking in the cash, I wont fault him for using the internet and his truck to make money. He appologized, thats all I needed to hear. A lot of people like to act like theyve never screwed up in life.

 

Zane says it rivals warn or something like that. Maybe he didn’t but he talks highly of it

 

I was gonna 'rebuild' them but I also kinda wanted to see how long they would go for before they needed em. Once we get moved into a house I will likely end up rebuilding them though.

 

Agreed. I don't follow or care for the Tacomabeast crap but I respect what the guy did, people talk shit but building a business solely around social media/IG isn't easy. You have to live and breathe it 24/7 or you become yesterday's news.

 

they're definitely not extinct or endangered, the high desert in CA is full of hundreds of thousands of them...but they are unique (I think) to the Mojave desert and they take decades to reach maturity

 

I follow saabkyle04 on youtube. That kid is involved in like 8 projects at once right now. Engines out of multiple cars at the same time, all the while learning how to do the work himself from friends, and updating his social media accounts, as well as reviewing new cars for local dealers. Mad props to him. He lives like 20 mims from me, or atleast his families car dealership is. I hope to meet him one day.

 

Oh then why is it sich a sin to cut one down?

 

I don't do social media in any form. Never have, never will. If you use that media though and do something as foolish as post a picture of defacing rocks with your companies name you absolutely deserve to have your business suffer from it. The act itself probably would have gone unnoticed if it was never made public. The fact is it was. Now that it is that brings land managers and activist groups into it. They could easily use it too brand all wheelers as self-serving uncaring assholes. One of the best ways to show that is not the case is for the community to create a wildfire and burn that fucker down. That's being done.

 

Just make @Crow_of_judgement get one first lol

 

I mean i knew a little about them but never actually looked at them other then the question whats gx vs lx.

 

Media circus. Sort of like this TacomaBeast story in my opinion...it was a stupid thing to do but it got used online as a means to stir up a big commotion in general and give people with loud opinions an opportunity to be loud. There are some that think the park actually staged that whole thing as a way to protest the government shutdown, but I don't want to get into politics lol. I don't know the real story and if someone did cut one down for no reason, especially on national park property, they're an idiot.

 

I agree that you reap what you sow, if your business relies solely on social media and the opinions of your followers then you have to be aware of what you do and especially what you post. So yeah, he made more than one dumb decision and his business will no doubt suffer from it. I'm not saying it shouldn't. I live where we have access to a countless abundance of offroad trails and 4x4 areas and every year there are petitions and sometimes even legislation being pushed to have them shut down. I 100% stand behind tread lightly. What bothers me about this particular story and some like it, is the extreme herd mentality of it all. He could easily use this and his influence within the community as an opportunity to do good for the cause that far exceeds the level of damage this did. But so many people are calling for his head and intent on seeing him ruined rather than genuinely asking him to make up for it and that's what grinds my gears.

The story a few months back where those guys were pushing giant rocks off a cliff onto a trail below is something that I would say warrants this kind of reaction...not only does that make our community look bad but they could have killed somebody. That's something we're taught NOT to do at a very young age and as an adult, there is no excuse. But this situation is different.

 

I can understand your view and it's valid. My view is I don't want this kind of person in the wheeling community at all. Other then some rebranded gear what has TB ever actually done for the community? Has the company made donations to any wheeling organizations that help keep areas open? Have they adhered to tread lightly standards? Have they in any way made any attempt at anything other then profit? If they have I'd rethink my position.

The whole "do it for the Gram" mentality sucks. I do cool shit with my rig all the time. I do it for myself not for a few likes on social media. Just some food for thought.

 

I'm just withholding my final judgement until the initial shitstorm subsides and then the real accountability takes place. He may or may not do the right thing but we'll see.
But on the subject of social media and 'for the gram' I completely agree, but that's another topic entirely lol. The one good thing about "overlanding" being the hip and cool thing at the moment on social media, is that like everything else on social media trends come and go and when they go, they go quickly. I look forward to that day. Some of my favorite trails out here have gone to hell because of it, can't hardly keep anything a secret anymore when one hashtag will ruin it.

 

So aslong as its not a so cal gx im fine lol, I’ll definitely give them a look

 

So what your saying is, is that by the time Im ready to move into a 3rd gen, I can find one used and fully kitted out for cheap cause its time on the 'gram has expired.