When I was in [[brunnen, switzerland|Brunnen]], specifically at the top of Stoos, I thought (as is sometimes custom for me) "what's the most uncomfortable thing I could do right now". My conclusion was to take a picture without a shirt, which would cause physical discomfort (it was -10℃) and social discomfort (we were not, precisely, alone on the mountain). After a quick discussion with Dane, I took off the two jackets, two sweaters, and t-shirt I was wearing. There were strong winds that day, and I spent nearly twice the amount of time I had planned to be shirtless chasing down clothing. But I did get the picture, and some Instagram story likes, which in this modern age renders the resulting sickness and half-frozen skin completely worth it. About a month later, I ascended[^1] Gornergrat, a mountain famous for allowing people to view the Matterhorn.[^2] Upon seeing the white and blue view, my parents — who previously held staunch, truculent, revanchist stances on my photographic creativity — showed the capriciousness of parental political preference to an almost obsequious degree ("here, you stand there Randy, let me hold your jacket so you're ready to put it on, are you sure you don't want to pose or flex or anything?"). A man, just finishing his Instagram shots, witnessed these preparations in rapid-fire Mandarin with a grin on his face. The grin faded when he saw me take my shirt off, only to slyly return a second later with unprecedented strength. As I finished freezing myself, he gave me a fist bump, saying "hell yeah dude", followed by "let's take a few more" to his girlfriend/photographer. I started smiling at his continuation of the trend, until he took his shirt off and revealed a *ridiculously* aesthetic body. I watched — now in absolute awe — as he cycled through each Mr. Olympia classic pose. This was the guy we were told not to worry about. I had only possessed the confidence — and the gains, realistically — to hit a tried-and-tested thumbs up pose. My newfound friend, evidently, had enough of both to lat spread. Suddenly, I couldn't stop laughing as I thought about all these Swiss skiers, confused, watching two Asian guys taking their shirts off for pictures — one David, one Goliath; one guy Gornergrat, the other the [[matterhorn.jpg|Matterhorn]].[^3] [^1]: I'm not certain what the precise verb is, but "ascended" implies I did some work to reach the top, and unless you believe "buying a ticket, sitting still, and making 'ahhh so pretty' sounds" equate to herculean effort, that connotation does not apply here. [^2]: Dear Gornergrat, I promise people like you for other reasons than just your proximity to another mountain. [^3]: Dear myself, I hope people thought the photo was cool for other reasons than just inspiring the other guy. Here are the [[matterhorn&gornergrat|visuals]], if you want.