No Place Like Home
by Dlyrius, HSM team writer
Home is more than just a place for trolls, pervs, geeks, gamers, or some isolated souls looking for a place to enjoy some social contact. It has become much, much more. So please allow me to beg your indulgence while I take a little personal side trip into a part of Home, and the online community in general, that most may not be aware of.
There are plenty of socially related events on Home if you check the Activity Board. You might also be surprised at the wide variety of interests, causes, and group activities around if you happen to do a search in the club database. Here is a story about one such event that shows that Home has grown to something much more than the game lobby it was originally intended to be.
Recently I was invited to a flashmob event at Hudson’s Gate to show my support in the fight against Breast Cancer. Everyone was dressed in pink, or a Save The Tata’s outfit. The event was coordinated by a user named Tubslug, with help from his friend tinktastic13. His mother and grandmother were both diagnosed with breast cancer. They both had double mastectomies and survived. While his grandmother didn’t really have many options for reconstructive surgery, and had to settle with a limited offering of padded bras, his mother is planning to undergo reconstruction and I wish her the best of luck. It really is amazing how far the medical community has come in the fight against this killer, as well as making sure the survivors have a good variety of options to help put their lives back together.
There were plenty of stories shared, as well as information given out. It’s scary how many lives this disease touches. I asked Tubslug a few questions during an interview I conducted with him recently. Here are his responses:
Me: What made you decide to use Home as a catalyst for your social causes?
Tubslug: Because that is where I was when the idea struck me. I was hanging with my friends at Hudson’s Gate and telling them about my mom. I felt like doing something for her but I don’t have much to give as far as things, so I thought, why not an event on Home? After talking to tinktastic13 about it, I realized that I haven’t seen anything like it on home, so I felt this was perfect. I got the idea of hosting with everyone in the same type outfits from the Homelings.
Me: Do you think Home is a good place for events like yours?
Tubslug: Yes. If it was just the slackers and kids with nothing better to do than play, I’d say no. But real people with real lives and experiences play on here. Home is very real and important to some people, so any worthwhile cause can be shared on Home.
Me: Do you think it reaches more people than, let’s say, Facebook?
Tubslug: Some of my friends would say that. I don’t think it’s more because most people use Facebook and other sites. While other sites might reach more people, Home is a better quality of media. I know I am speaking to a real person on the other side of the controller. Everyone you interact with on Home is someone actually playing on the PlayStation, while on Facebook it might be a program you are interacting with instead.
Me: Did it surprise you to find Save The Ta-tas products for sale in Home?
Tubslug: No, I had known about them for some time. When I first started Home I looked through the stores just to see what was in there. It was just awesome that they had Save The Ta-tas on Home.
Me: Do you think it helped your cause?
Tubslug: Yes I think it was good just to get people together to talk about it and share information. Most of those people don’t know men can get breast cancer too — then I told them them the statistics.
The one thing most folks don’t realize is that this isn’t just a female issue; breast cancer also affects men. Tubslug has three younger sisters, and of course is very concerned about their future health in this area. What you wouldn’t expect is that he is also highly concerned about his own. With a history of this disease in his family, his chances of contracting it might be a bit higher than average, so he pays extra attention to his own health.
Now the ignorant or immature might consider it amusing that a full grown man is proactive about his health and does self breast exams, but to me it makes perfect sense. After all, cancer doesn’t care about your age, gender, beliefs, orientations, or what color toilet paper you use. It will grab a hold of you and take you for a hellish ride that might actually end your life without a second glance. I know, because I am a cancer survivor myself.
Cancer invaded my life in 1995. It also invaded my youngest sister. We were both diagnosed the same week, and had surgery in two different hospitals on the same day. While she had to undergo chemotherapy and radiation treatments, I got off lucky and surgery was enough. During that time, I was pretty much alone, so I spent a lot of time online chatting with friends. Home is no different. It is a well rounded social medium full of millions of people living millions of different kinds of lives and we never really know what can happen when those folks are offline. It might be something as simple as going to the grocery store, or heading off to work. On the other hand it might be because they had an appointment at the clinic for radiation or chemotherapy treatments.
Thank you for your patience, and I encourage anyone reading this who hasn’t had cancer touch your life to take a look at the information provided on some of the following websites and educate yourselves before it does.
http://ww5.komen.org/
http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/BreastCancerinMen/index
May 3rd, 2012 by Dlyrius | 16 comments
Dlyrius, a native Oregonian, has been an internet chat addict since the days of the old BBS services.
Thank you for writing this, it is always so good to see the issue resurface and keep awareness live. I’ve lost people to cancer, I’ve lost pets to cancer and it doesn’t hurt any less because they are animals either. It is amazing how quickly it can happen too. I hope it continues to get attention as there are so many forms of cancer that can hit anyone, and you make an excellent point that it is not gender specific, not age specific, it can happen to anyone.
You are very welcome. I have also lost both people and animals to this disease and welcome the chance to keep it in the minds of people so it can be defeated once and for all.
Dlyrius, thank you for writing this. I have had a loved one taken by cancer. Thank you for raising awareness for men. There are many great groups for those fighting cancer such as dragon boat team racing. http://www.meetup.com/Warriors-on-Water/
Keep raising the awareness. Home is a fantastic place, where we can accomplish great things. All power to you, Tubslug. I would like to be a part of your next event.
The statistics for men’s breast cancer were surprising for me. Especially after watching a documentary on the Le Juene (sp) military base in North Carolina that knowingly subjected civilians and military personnel to contaminated water for over 30 years which created a fire storm of male breast cancer victims as well as way too many other health issues.
Geez I was just reading the article on Loot by Norse and posted something that expounded on the very idea that your articulate article exemplifies. HOME has the very real potential to become the “forum” of the future. When I say “forum” I mean it as in the classical sense. A place for trade of goods and ideas. I really wish I had been invited to that flash mob
I am a huge supporter of breast cancer awareness and research for the cure. Can’t wait to read your next article… you know that someone is a good writer when they have the ability to speak your mind as well as their own. 
Thank you for your kind review, it is greatly appreciated. I have always seen social mediums like IRC and Home as the perfect place for the exchanges of ideas, cultures, and information, and have used them for those exact purposes for decades.
As for future events, Tubslug informed me that he will be posting future events on the Activity board as they come up and I believe the next one scheduled pertains to “truth” on Sept. 29th. I know he would be more than happy to include you and any of your friend’s that wish to participate in any event he hosts
Sometimes a little effort or what seems like a little effort will do a lot of good. That may not sound right but I know what it means so it’s OK.
Besides monetary support there’s also moral support and efforts like this are helpful to some.
I have a couple of web pages with Cancer links and they get little in the way of visits which is fine because both of them I know could have a visitor or two who’s well heeled financially who might donate a substantial amount of money. Your efforts may well do the same.
I still wear my TaTa baseball cap on occasion if for nothing else for moral support.
Hang in there and keep on doing what you’re doing.
I will do my best, and even if it only helps one person, it was well worth the efforts!
Hey thanks Dylrius for the article. It was very well writen. It’s interesting how you start with an idea, thinking it’s not gunna be much, and end up changing lives. I’m glad that this article touched so many people. I really didn’t realize going in to this just how many people it would reach. I’m very thankful for all those who attended and help make it possible. Thanks Tink.
My mother is doing well….and man. lol:) she’s gunna be shocked to see this article. lol:) She’s old school….like Super Nintendo, Zelda old school. lol:) Anyway. Thank You Thank You Thank You Dlyrius for the opportunity and for sharing this story about hope. The next event is Truth Day. Please go to http://www.TruthArmour.us to learn more about Truth Day. See ya on Home. 
You are more than welcome Tubslug, it touches a lot of lives and I was more than happy to help the cause. I appreciate you taking the time to share your story so I could pass it along to others. Best wishes and positive energy to your Mom and I hope she enjoys reading the article and comments. If nothing else, she will know she isn’t alone in her battle
Beyond the tears of joy and excitement, this old school Zelda mom gets it. I never knew this Home thing existed. See we can learn from our children!LOL Thank you son for this gift. And thank you to everyone for your well wishes.
LOL, well now you know what you want for your next birthday.. a PS3!! We would love to have you on Home with the rest of us crazy people
I feel that Home is much like “real life” because behind every avatar is a real person, and with that all the things that make them who they are. In real life you wouldn’t think twice about helping a friend, so why not here. Great article, with a lot of heart!
Thanks Ted,
I feel the same way, Home is HOME, not a game. I might have tons of games sitting around in the closets of my actual house, but that doesn’t make the entire building a game now does it LOL
There are a lot of people in Home who have created user based events for the distribution of information and the support of breast cancer awareness in the past few years. I have a few friends who have done these and it is always good to hear about another one. The more that we support each other in Home for various causes, the more real this “virtual” reality becomes to us.
Cancer in its many forms has touched us all in our lives, I lost my father to it many years ago when he was a fairly young man of 48. The more we use every medium at our disposal to get the awareness out there the better. This place we call Home is another great tool and knowing that each avatar here is a real person makes it all the more important.
Nice article Dlyrius.
Thanks Burbie
Social mediums such as Home have given us the ability to touch so many more people than we ever could in our daily lives. Sharing information of any all sorts is bound to reach a much larger audience these days