Burning Man tickets and McDonald's

[Shambala]

This ticket frenzy reminds me of the "Employment Day" that took place a while back at McDonald's. They have help wanted signs up in every location virtually all the time. At anytime, nearly any person breathing and with a pulse could get a job there. Then McDonald's advertises this "Employment Day" thing and millions of people line up at sunrise, and wrap around the buildings to fill out a job application with everyone else. The chances of getting a job at that time is probably less than ZERO.
I could not understand why these nitwits didn't show up a few days before the scheduled date and just get the job instead of waiting to get in line with everyone else.

Tickets to Burning Man have been on sale since mid January and there have been a steady stream of resales up for grabs. They wait to buy AFTER the announcement that they're sold out.

My simple question is this: What the fuck is everyone here thinking?

Have a nice Day!

[Shpilkus]

Can I order some fries with my ticket?

[joyfulc]

Well, in my case, we didn't know if we could afford it until last month, then our experienced burner friends said we should have no problem getting tickets now, since it has never sold out. We are newbies and are learning as we go. So, it will be what it will be. I am not going to pay more than face value and I am not freaking out. It's all good.

[Savannah]

Good on ya, joyfulc. One reason not to completely flip the @#$% out: with every week that passes, more and more people come face-to-face with the fact they're not prepared enough or flush enough or _____ enough to make it out to the Burn this year. This first group of people selling are 1) the ones that already needed to sell, & 2) the scalpers. Most of them did not wake up this morning with the realization they couldn't go. They already knew, and were waiting and--in the case of category #1--worrying.

So my advice to anyone is: keep a cool head, tell everyone you know that you're looking for a ticket (in case they hear something), be proactive, read the anti-scam advice on the 2011 Tickets page and on the main site, and don't give up. Every day that passes is a day someone will suddenly wanna get rid of a ticket. There will be lots of people trying to make each other happy.

[tiffanyjean]

That was well said, Savannah..I'm getting way too caught up in the frenzy...if I get a ticket then it's meant to be,lol...time to relax and pretend that I'm a Rastafarian;)

[stargirl]

Good advice, Savannah. I knew I was taking a chance by waiting to buy tickets, but I had other financial priorities to fulfill first. Not everyone who's looking for a ticket right now is flaky or disorganized. Some people just needed take a wait-and-see approach because of work/family/other financial or time commitments. I'm thrilled I managed to find tickets after all, but I knew it was my responsibility if I missed out and I was at peace with that.

[Shambala]

On ebay today, BM tickets for $10,099.00 for a pair. There are 29 bids already, with 3 hours left to go.
Has this world gone truly insane?
http://cgi.ebay.com/Burning-Man-Tickets ... 19c74748ac

[gaminwench]

on that one, Sham, it looks like the last two bidders are driving it up intentionally...

[AntiM]

on that one, Sham, it looks like the last two bidders are driving it up intentionally...

Yeah, they posted their ticks at $540.

This guy is the douchey-est yet.

$4,500 for one.

http://tinyurl.com/3kotkne

[junglesmacks]

on that one, Sham, it looks like the last two bidders are driving it up intentionally...

..and now we have the second pair of tickets being driven up too. This should be interesting to watch the revolt on Ebay unfold..

[C.f.M.]

I'm tempted to make a fake account to drive them up and then not pay.

[junglesmacks]

I'm tempted to make a fake account to drive them up and then not pay.

This little trick will only work for a little while.. once scalpers/sellers see what is going on and get vigilant about cancelling any bidders with zero feedback.

[trilobyte]

Actually, McDonalds hired slightly more than 50,000 people on their 'Employment Day'

[Shambala]

Actually, McDonalds hired slightly more than 50,000 people on their 'Employment Day'

....and it appears that every single one of them is taking the week off to go to the Burning Man Festival this year!

I'm sure it was a great success for McDonald's. I'm just confused as to why the job seekers would want to get in line with 200 other people wanting the same job, when they could have walked in a few days earlier and filled out an application all by themselves and had the undivided attention of the interviewer.

[junglesmacks]

You know.. as I took a little break just now from working and Eplaya/FB stalking to clean the kitchen.. something hit me just about the time when the Comet hit the sink.

I'm kinda glad this happened. No, for real. Yeah.. it sucks.. but.. at the same time, we've managed to weed a fuckload of lazy, un-prepared, last minute people both noobs and non from the herds of those of us that would give our pinkies to be there and have been preparing for each of the next years since before we left the playa the previous year.

Sure there are exceptions to this and individual cases.. but.. personally.. there's nothing like a little thinning of the herd to bring out the radical self reliance and dedication in us all.

It's gonna be one hell of a year. Hope all of your seatbacks and tray tables are in their full and upright, locked positions.

[trilobyte]

You're the one who brought up McD's, Shambhala, not me.

As for why people would suddenly clamor and start going crazy? Because as bad as the situation may seem right now, ticket availability and pricing is not going to get better between now and the day the gates open. All "ohdamntheysoldout" freakouts aside, the chances of getting a ticket (and getting one at a less painful price) are better now than they will be in a few days or a few weeks.

Good luck to those still looking. Hopefully you find something, and hopefully this is the last year you put off what should be your first step in preparing to go to Burning Man

[FIGJAM]

You know.. as I took a little break just now from working and Eplaya/FB stalking to clean the kitchen.. something hit me just about the time when the Comet hit the sink.

I'm kinda glad this happened. No, for real. Yeah.. it sucks.. but.. at the same time, we've managed to weed a fuckload of lazy, un-prepared, last minute people both noobs and non from the herds of those of us that would give our pinkies to be there and have been preparing for each of the next years since before we left the playa the previous year.

Sure there are exceptions to this and individual cases.. but.. personally.. there's nothing like a little thinning of the herd to bring out the radical self reliance and dedication in us all.

It's gonna be one hell of a year. Hope all of your seatbacks and tray tables are in their full and upright, locked positions.//////////////////

It was the first thing I thought of.

General attention spans dictate that this will blow over in a couple of weeks, but hopfully weed out some of the yahoos.

I hope the intensivide searches don't double the waiting time too gate!

[jkisha]

I find some of the post here about creating fake eBay accounts despicable and frankly I am surprised at some of the people thinking about doing this. I thought much more of their character before reading those revealing posts. Seems they don't really practice what they preach when it comes to something they don't agree with. Shame on you.

[DustHand]

I find some of the post here about creating fake eBay accounts despicable and frankly I am surprised at some of the people thinking about doing this. I thought much more of their character before reading those revealing posts. Seems they don't really practice what they preach when it comes to something they don't agree with. Shame on you.

+1

Fake ebay accounts? Probably illegal but it's just plain smarmy.

[capjbadger]

I find some of the post here about creating fake eBay accounts despicable and frankly I am surprised at some of the people thinking about doing this. I thought much more of their character before reading those revealing posts. Seems they don't really practice what they preach when it comes to something they don't agree with. Shame on you.

My thoughts exactly.
Were you people never told "Two wrongs don't make a right"? Where are your morals now?

Fucking hypocrites.

-Badger

[Dr. Pyro]

If two wrongs don't make a right, then precisely how many do?

[DustHand]

If two wrongs don't make a right, then precisely how many do?

Not sure, but three lefts make a right.

[kelizabeth]

Tickets to Burning Man have been on sale since mid January and there have been a steady stream of resales up for grabs. They wait to buy AFTER the announcement that they're sold out.

My simple question is this: What the fuck is everyone here thinking?

Have a nice Day!

I totally agree. Every year I get my ticket a week and a half to two weeks before the gates open, because hell, they were sold at the gate last year. This year, planned to get my ticket a whopping moth ahead of time due to all the buzz I was hearing, but was waiting on a credit card to show up so my hubby and I could buy ours at the same time (he became unemployed a few months back so we couldn't afford them earlier). A solidarity thing, you know? And the morning of the day the card was meant to arrive (yesterday, Monday) I get a text from my friend telling me its been sold out!

Should have put both of the damn things on my credit card on Friday when we were talking about this selling out soon, and just sort the finances out later! Rargh! I was really optimistic that it wouldn't sell out until a few days AFTER we bought ours. Ah well.

I'm done going on and on with the same sob story that about 1,000 others are putting out there. I'm being patient and waiting for two tickets to appear at a reasonable price. Barring that, there's always next year (or is there?). :\

[kelizabeth]

As an aside, I think the BMorg should close the gates on Tuesday at midnight (as opposed to Thursday at midnight, I believe), to keep all the assholes who drive up from L.A. for their weekend of binge drinking, drugs and puking all over the playa from buying up all the tickets. This may cause a few side casualties of people who on a given year can only make it at the end of the week but are still dedicated participants, but I think this that would cut out about 5-10 thousand morons. *nod*

[Malachi Constant]

As an aside, I think the BMorg should close the gates on Tuesday at midnight (as opposed to Thursday at midnight, I believe), to keep all the assholes who drive up from L.A. for their weekend of binge drinking, drugs and puking all over the playa from buying up all the tickets. This may cause a few side casualties of people who on a given year can only make it at the end of the week but are still dedicated participants, but I think this that would cut out about 5-10 thousand morons. *nod*

I'll be sure to let my girlfriend currently getting her masters in Social Work from UCLA and thereby needing to arrive later in the week know that her absence will be worth it so that you don't have to share space with anyone from my city.

[DustHand]

As an aside, I think the BMorg should close the gates on Tuesday at midnight (as opposed to Thursday at midnight, I believe), to keep all the assholes who drive up from L.A. for their weekend of binge drinking, drugs and puking all over the playa from buying up all the tickets. This may cause a few side casualties of people who on a given year can only make it at the end of the week but are still dedicated participants, but I think this that would cut out about 5-10 thousand morons. *nod*

I arrived on Wednesday last year because there were some in our group that simply could not get any additional time away from work, including myself.
I am not from LA.
I am not an asshole.
I did not puke on the playa or anywhere else.
I bought ONE ticket for myself.
I did not binge drink.
I am generally a mild natured person and get along with everybody.

Making me a "Casualty" because YOU think people who can't get there when YOU get there are less of a "dedicated participant" is not very Radically Inclusive of you...IMHO.

[capjbadger]

If two wrongs don't make a right, then precisely how many do?

7.6 billion. Then it's just the norm.

-Badger

[kelizabeth]

As an aside, I think the BMorg should close the gates on Tuesday at midnight (as opposed to Thursday at midnight, I believe), to keep all the assholes who drive up from L.A. for their weekend of binge drinking, drugs and puking all over the playa from buying up all the tickets. This may cause a few side casualties of people who on a given year can only make it at the end of the week but are still dedicated participants, but I think this that would cut out about 5-10 thousand morons. *nod*

I arrived on Wednesday last year because there were some in our group that simply could not get any additional time away from work, including myself.
I am not from LA.
I am not an asshole.
I did not puke on the playa or anywhere else.
I bought ONE ticket for myself.
I did not binge drink.
I am generally a mild natured person and get along with everybody.

Making me a "Casualty" because YOU think people who can't get there when YOU get there are less of a "dedicated participant" is not very Radically Inclusive of you...IMHO.

I figured the response would sound about like this when I posted it. I'm in grad school too, and I work full time, so getting the time off isn't exactly the easiest task for me either. But I hear your point, now that I think about it, I move to change my original proposal to Wednesday at midnight. Seems more fair.

And no need to get so angry, its not like I actually have any influence at ALL on any matters at BM outside of my camp. Its was just an honest suggestion. Sheesh.

I just remember a couple on Friday last year who showed up powder fresh from L.A. while I was bartending in my camp and the absurd (but of course friendly) interaction with them. That sort watered the seed that had germinated in my mind for the past few years.

[Shambala]

My big fear is that next year, the ticket will sell out immediately---just like Justin Bieber and Jimmy Buffet concerts do. If people are sure they can profit from having them, there is really no downside to hording them until August. The suggestion to buy early might just be the way this thing goes in the future and the world for us may never be the same!

[DustHand]

I figured the response would sound about like this when I posted it. I'm in grad school too, and I work full time, so getting the time off isn't exactly the easiest task for me either. But I hear your point, now that I think about it, I move to change my original proposal to Wednesday at midnight. Seems more fair.

And no need to get so angry, its not like I actually have any influence at ALL on any matters at BM outside of my camp. Its was just an honest suggestion. Sheesh.

I just remember a couple on Friday last year who showed up powder fresh from L.A. while I was bartending in my camp and the absurd (but of course friendly) interaction with them. That sort watered the seed that had germinated in my mind for the past few years.

Didn't intend to come off angry. It's just that the eplaya has dramatically changed over the last 2 days...from cool ideas and stories and helping each other out (with the occasional bitch and moan) to this absurd flood of diatribes about how so-in-so is greedy, and this person should not be able to go, you aren't a "real burner," and those people should have to blah, blah, blah. I was a lurker last year, and decided to get off my ass and participate here this year. I have enjoyed the forum VERY MUCH...until the last 36 hours or so. It's just awful.

Last year was my first burn, and it profoundly changed me, I like to think for the better.

I still step back and re-read the 10 principles every so often, and then try and self examine if I am following those tenants.

Perhaps we should ALL do this from time to time, because from where I sit, it looks like a lot are forgetting.

http://www.burningman.com/whatisburningman/about_burningman/principles.html