good times and bad times

[riot]

this was my second year, and i had i great time. but there was a few things that bothered me. whats with all the fights. i saw 4 fights while i was there. i heard people yelling f u to people because they did not agree with whatever they were doing. i just had a really bad vibe from some people. and the thing that pissed me off the most. was the brc info booth. they were so rude to me. i just wanted to let them know that my bike was missing. and if any one had turned it in, if they could let me know. i even told him what it looked like. and he told me that they did have some bikes turned in but he did not have time to look and that he did not care what happend to my bike. those were his words. i asked him if i could look and he told me that he did not belive me. like i was going to just take a bike and run off. i hope that next year is better. and i hope that next year all the river rats who are pervs don't come this time. thay are very rude to all the women . next year i want to see people who respect one another.

[ubu]

i've been around this whole things since the early nineties and kudos to the artists and the builders, the organizers, etc.

But, this thing gets bigger all the time, and it embraces so many contradictions that bad things are bound to happen.

I don't like the cops busting people for pissant things like smoking marijuana in their own tents.

I don't much like the yahoo energy that attends the build up to the weekend.
I don't like the now ubiquitous all night noise either.

I don't think I'll ever go again. oh well. time to work on the culture at large and burn every day instead of wait for one week a year!

[inkandesent]

"it embraces so many contradictions that bad things are bound to happen."

reading posts at random, i've been seeing a whole lot of positive, but quite a bit more negative than i had expected. i think the quote above captures the precise reasoning for this...people are more free than in every day society to be "themselves" and do as they will. somethimes "themselves" is not what benefits the whole.

so do those of us wishing for a harmonious good time actively attempt to make change, alienate the negative participants, peacefully ignore...or...what?

[VirginBurner]

This was my first year.... and I had a wonderful time and I will be back.
I'm not questioning your experince at the info booth but wanted to share my experience so not all of the volunteers at the info booth are catagorized.

My husband lost his bike on Saturday night and when we went to the info booth Sunday afternoon, we were greeted by a very pleasant and helpful man. Although our bike had not been recovered, he explained the process for finding lost bikes and sympathized with us....

On the other hand, I too heard "f u's" around BRC which seemed so out of place. But as a whole, I felt more love and acceptance than not.

[liebling]

the only 'bad times' i experienced were due to the asshole i was unfortunate enough to be camping with. i had the sense to stay away for the most part, and chilled elsewhere.

didnt see any fights, except the ones in my head, where i bashed in his skull with a bat or shoved him down to the ground. guess i should call myself lucky (?)

gael

[Zeejay]

This was only my second year but It did seem as if it's starting to get a little out of hand with more and more people showing up that totaly don't get what the whole spirit of burning man is about. Especialy around friday night onword, i ran into a couple of beligerent drunken a-holes. Overall though i met way more open friendly people then anything else.

[devilgrrl]

The only snags were a little attitude from some of the greeters - oh well. Other than that, nothing.

Sorry to hear that folks had to deal with yahoo's, I guess I did a decent job ignoring them this year. Also, having an obnoxious camp mate can almost kill the experience - that's happened to me before as well. Thankfully, this year went well but there seemed to be less art than past years.

[rabbit]

I had a first timer in our camp this year who might have been one of those drunken a-holes you mentioned. I made a big mistake inviting him and it will not happen again. As for the fights and negativity, I did not see any but heard many burners with negative stories to tell. UBU said he/she will not be going any more and I am saddened to hear that. The inevitable growth of the event is only a bad thing if we let it become one. I made more friends this year than ever before, and am confident that the bonds created between committed individuals will ensure the burn's survival. Maybe we should spend a little time talking with those who do not understand; maybe I should spend a little more time talking with my first timer.

[clandyone]

I gotta give big ups to our new people. We had several, and they all worked their little bee-hinds off, day and night. One was the very first person in our camp of 40-plus to arrive, and he did a marvelous job of getting us placed. Another wound up taking over breakdown almost singlehandedly when the rest of us were on the verge of collapse.

And one of my very best times was just before we left, when my brother -- a newbie who's been rolling his eyes at the mere mention of Burning Man for the last five years -- mixed up some playa mud in a water bottle and painted it in tribal stripes on both of us, and then didn't want to wash it off when we got to our hotel. Whatta guy.

[essenceofmeaning]

can someone tell me what the fuck is up with the people from ped-ex? this is the 2nd year in a row i've had bad experiences with them. why will they not even give you directions without some sort of bribe? say it with me, guys: GIFT ecocnomy, NOT barter! you're not even giving out expensive stuff like alcohol, or more emotional stuff like art. don't be assholes.

other than that, did it seem to eveyone else that there was less of an asshole quotient this year? i met so many wonderful people, and i'm so pleased that we were parts of each others experiences, that even the jackasses that i met couldn't even come close to spoiling it. thank you all for an amazing experience.

[Tinkerbell]

This is my second year at burningman, and I have to say I love the place. I hate to see that near the end of the week, before they close the doors down, we get a lot of drunken a-holes, and impolite people. That is the time i watch out the most, for being a small girl, they all want to take advantage. My overall experience this year was better then last, counting i actually left my tent and wasn't just silly puddy from setting up a dome with 2 other people in the afternoon sun. I met lots of great people, and the other kind too. I like the experience, but sad to say, i don't think i will ever go again. I love the experience, but yet i already experienced it, and now i think i am gonna move on, and try to travel outta the country to see other places and other people. But i will always be apart of this community.

[medfly3]

This Is A "REPLY" From The Person You Called An "ASSHOLE"!!!
I guess you can call me an asshole if you really want to. If it were not for myself and the other person you "camped" with you would not have been able to do anything! We loaded all of your camp stuff, I paid over $400.00 for food that half went to waste. I paid for all gas for the trip there and back. When we arrived I helped set up the camp, made sure YOUR shade-structure did not collapse and fly away! I spent many hours trying to make YOUR scooter run, so YOU could have fun and get around. WE cleaned up after YOU, the other person in our camp even DUMPED YOUR Potty full of smelly urine. WE also tore down camp packed it all up, drove YOU and YOUR Stuff home, and unloaded everything!! I NEVER ONCE WAS NEGATIVE TO YOU At all! It seems that you had all the fierce hatred and always shot me down whenever you could. I NEVER asked for anything in return, I paid for food/gas etc., so YOU wouldn't have to!! I'm Very Sorry that you think i'm an "ASSHOLE". and that you wish YOU could BASH MY SKULL IN WITH A BAT! This "ASSHOLE" bent over backwards to make YOUR trip comfortable, while YOU REALLY made It UN-comfortable For Myself and The other person! So Next Time You Post Something On A PUBLIC Message Board, Rethink What You Write! You Really Made a FOOL Of Yourself!

the only 'bad times' i experienced were due to the asshole i was unfortunate enough to be camping with. i had the sense to stay away for the most part, and chilled elsewhere.

didnt see any fights, except the ones in my head, where i bashed in his skull with a bat or shoved him down to the ground. guess i should call myself lucky (?)

gael

[liebling]

yeah you just go on with your grandiose thoughts. i see you didnt bother to post any of the things i've done for YOU for the past 3 1/2 years. i hope i've made it loud and clear that you are not welcome in my home or on my property ever again.

this is the 2nd burn you've tried to ruin for me, btw.

i'm very tempted to post some more details on what an ass you are, but since you lamely replied to this post (you had been anonymous, and now you've outed yourself) i dont want to feed the troll.

there are serious flaws in ALL your reasons you posted as to why *i'm* out of line. i suggest you rethink the entire situation, seeing how you invited yourself along, changed ALL our plans at the last minute, and tried to rule the camp. and btw, i forked out over $1000. i would like to add that you OFFERED to pay for the gas, and $500 for food, the shade structure was not 'mine', it covered the entire camp. you, who just got 27,000 bux from suing someone for anaccident. YOU said you'd pay for the whole trip. YOU said it, we took you up on it.

so, are we clear? keep the fuck away. comprende?

gael

btw, the other person involved has said NOTHING to me about ME being the one to make things uncomfortable.

you're a joke

[TestesInSac]

So, on top of this year's burn being a bit weird for me, which I chalked up to "sophomore jinx", I came home and 1) found my road bike had been stolen, 2) the woman I had been dating now wants me to get a STD checkup, 3) my truck won't start and 4) I seem to have lost my credit card. Of those, 3 is the worst as I've already replaced the starter motor, the solenoid and the clutch safety. I've tried getting hints from repair shops, but they don't like giving hints, for reasons I perfectly understand.

It's been a frustrating first week at home.

[liebling]

lol. just noticing that you say you cleaned up after me. considering i'm the only one who did dishes and cooked dinners for everyone every night, i find that amusing

[debkakes]

wow, it's really interesting how the spirit of burning man comes out all over these posts. he shoulda burned hotter and longer i think.

[Julie C]

I gotta say, everyone who used those rows of porta potties has got to be commended! Even when I used 'em at 4 in the morning they were still looking half way decent (usable)! Compared to last year when they were smeared with every kind of human (?) waste you could think of from floor to ceiling by 2 in the morning every night and stuffed with all kinds of junk, food, beer bottles, whatever! Thanks for acting with decency and maturity and keeping them usable for everyone camped around there through the weekend. Oh Yea, and for some of the best "outhouse wall jokes" ever...

[Sand_man]

Holy Shniky, Medfly3 and Liebling! This ain't Jerry Springer! I loved Burning man and everything about it, but just like the world around this dissapearing city of the desert, shit happens. I happen to be an optomist and I truly beleive that there will always be more friendly,happy, inspiring people at the burn, instead of yahoos and other people we tend to put in boxes. Some folks have trouble accumulating to the enviernment of BRC. Guys bring along there macho, "show me your tits" idiocy. Girls bring along there snobby "look how much cuter I am" bullshit. But people who have a diffrent reason for going can teach these people! I'm sorry to go all hippy on everyone, but it really is as simple as: kill them with kindness! :D . I really hope you two figure out your little problem. I'm sure it was some misunderstanding. But it's kinda freaky seeing that sort of stuff on here. Peace everyone.

[Apollonaris Zeus]

I gotta say, everyone who used those rows of porta potties has got to be commended! Even when I used 'em at 4 in the morning they were still looking half way decent (usable)! Compared to last year when they were smeared with every kind of human (?) waste you could think of from floor to ceiling by 2 in the morning every night and stuffed with all kinds of junk, food, beer bottles, whatever! Thanks for acting with decency and maturity and keeping them usable for everyone camped around there through the weekend. Oh Yea, and for some of the best "outhouse wall jokes" ever...

Tourons!

From the planet Touris. They're not like us. Just there so we can amuse them. Drink our libations, eat our meals and then complain for not putting on a better show!

I like Mondays. Monday always gets me up! Thurday, I start to come down. Friday, finally see the art completed. Saturday into Sunday, I get start to become alive again irregardless of the Tourons. I just ignore them. Then Its Monday, I like Mondays. They always get me up!

A II Z