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A comment on Talking to 35 Strangers at the Gym. Parent comment

Re:Talking to 35 Strangers at the Gym by outime on Monday May 04, 2026 @09:55AM (#48008843)
That sends a different signal, because you're asking someone to do something you could do yourself but simply choose not to, which is essentially what you described above as "taking advantage of others". However this is quite different from what I described in my comment.

If you see every request for help as someone taking advantage of others, I'd encourage you to reconsider why you view everyone that way. It might also be preventing you from seeking help yourself, out of fear of being seen as a leech.

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Re:Talking to 35 Strangers at the Gym by Tade0 on Monday May 04, 2026 @10:05AM (#48008968)
> If you see every request for help as someone taking advantage of others

Let me rephrase, because there seems to be some kind of misunderstanding here:

To me this advice applied broadly would take the appearance of such a signal, even if weak. The framing of "do it because people like to help" is something which wouldn't even occur to me as motivation to ask for help.

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