I live and work on the Westside of L.A., birthplace and epicenter of the dockless electric scooter. I understand the arguments both for-and-against them: Convenient in a lot of circumstances, environmentally friendly, but also a fucking blight, and riding one does make you look like a goober.
While I’m decidedly undecided regarding their existence, it would appear that most people fall into the “against” category. I use the word “appear,” because while the reality might actually be closer to 50/50, it’s the “against” crowd that have so spectacularly made their opinion known—mainly by burning, dumping, burying and otherwise destroying the damned things.
Miles Klee gets into all the ways the anti contingent is sabotaging their electric-scooter overlords, and it’s great fun. Check out that and everything else on MEL today, below.
Must Read
“Inside the Lawless New World of Electric-Scooter Hacking”
Birds: You either love ’em or hate ’em. For the folks in the latter camp, they really fucking hate ’em. And that hate has led to a cottage industry, if you can call it that, of breaking and/or hacking the electric scooters. Cutting brake lines, scamming unlimited free rides and documenting the carnage on social media has revealed one unshakeable truth: These scooters were made to be broken — and broken into. READ MORE
Take My Virginity, Please!
Reddit: It’s not just for Red Pillers and shitposters. Take r/VirginityExchange—here’s a community who’s entire raison d’etre is to bring people unlucky in the fuckability department together. And guess what? It’s working. We chatted with two recently deflowered British gents who told us about their experience losing their V-cards thanks to relationships they formed on the site.
Hold the Dark
Critic-at-large Tim Grierson spoke with Jeremy Saulnier, director of the new Netflix thriller Hold the Dark, about why he loves making genre films and how he feels about his previous effort, Green Room, in the wake of the alt-right movement.
‘Disruptive Faggotry’
That’s how Cakeboy founder Sean Santiago describes the ethos of his gay men’s magazine that he doesn’t consider “gay” or “male.” And that’s just one of the ways Cakeboy bucks any attempt to put it in a box. Santiago’s philosophy seems to be, “Oh, you want us to be this? Well, fuck you—we’re something else.” C. Brian Smith interviewed Santiago about eschewing digital media for print, photographing your own asshole and the magazine-as-alternative to the American hetero archetype. Honestly, the whole conversation is a hoot.
Eating While Poor
Another week, another politician inserting his foot squarely in his mouth. This time it’s Canadian politician Philippe Couillard, who stated it was entirely possible to feed a family of three on $75 Canadian a week (that’s $58 U.S.). As someone who spent a year feeding a family of three for around the same amount, Tracy Moore can attest that it is possible. It just really, really sucks.
Young‘un
No one likes to be bossed around. Unless the person bossing you around is your boss—and you’re being paid. But then, what if the person bossing you around who is your boss is younger than you?
A Public Service Announcement: Moldy Food
If your collective moms were anything like mine, they never let a little mold get in the way of eating old cheese. Take a knife, excise the affected area like a Civil War-era surgeon lopping off a gangrenous limb and the brick of cheddar was as good as new.
So I’m sure it chaps my mom’s ass to learn that no, simply cutting off the moldy bits is not a means to saving expired food—because what you can’t see, can still hurt you.
Dick Shot
Self-inflicted gunshot wounds in the dick happen way more often than one might suspect. While it might be uncouth to kid about getting shot, I mean c’mon, jokes about dudes shooting themselves in the junk kind of write themselves. Andrew Fiouzi collected some of the most ridiculous instances of dudes accidentally shooting themselves in their units—don’t feel bad if you laugh.
Jeff Gross
Jeff Gross is MEL’s senior editor for social media and content marketing. His daily ICYMI column, which chronicles all things meta on the site, is the quickest way to catch up on MEL, and the funniest thing you’ll read all day. Follow him on Twitter.
