I wonder why this was downvoted? It's presented as a factual anecdote about a real experience. I can only imagine 2 reasons to downvote this:

1.) You have evidence that burntsushi is lying and that the story is untrue.

2.) You don't want what burntsushi is saying to be true (you disagree with the lifestyle choices of burntsushi's friends).

Do we really downvote people for #2 on Hacker News? Or is their proof for #1?