Why Are The People From Bad Idea Theater So Unfriendly?

dav725 · Post by **dav725** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 11:40 am

They do this really cool thing...set up this really sweet place on the playa. But anytime my friends or I tried to talk to them we got the icy shoulder. I emailed them afterwards to thank them...never got a reply. I found out they were based not far from where I lived...tried to connect with them...no reply. Another friend did the same, no reply. What's their deal?

Biff the Paperboy · Post by **Biff the Paperboy** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 12:41 pm

Geez, I found welcome refuge at Bad Idea Theatre Bar on burn night.

I do agree that I've found that "cold-shoulder" more common in BRC that I had anticipated.
I've been coming since 1999, so it's not just a newbie notion.

Back in 2003, as a paperboy for the BR Gazette, about 45 minutes before sunset on Thursday, I rolled up on a young couple from the Bay Area who had just arrived.
Their "custom deluxe ll bean/eddiebauer camping tent" was still in the box on the ground at their feet. They were staring at the instruction sheet.
"Black Rock Gazette?" I said as I stopped before them.

"CAN'T YOU SEE WE'RE BUSY?????" was the response.

What a burning man moment.
Daddy obviously needed a long neck and a fattie.

The city-angst and road-weary frustration would wear off eventually.
At least they had made it to Burning Man.

I believe that attitude comes from the default world.
With only a week a year for most to practice living in the moment, we just fall back to the old familiar.

Our culture has taught us it is "easier and safer" to push strangers away rather than invite them in.

We can learn new ways.
Some of them might be better ways too.

I don't go to bars to drink.
I can drink anywhere.

I go to meet folks.
I've got a week to widen my horizons and I want it.

So I bring my drinks with me to bars.
I share with whomever I find.

The social lubricant does its job.
I find what I'm seeking and share with others, reinforcing the concepts of community and neighborhood.

Seems to me, all Burning Man is simply an opportunity.
What each of us does with that opportunity, well that makes all the difference, doesn't it?

But what do I know?
I think I read this in a book somewhere.

biff the paperboy

dav725 · Post by **dav725** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 12:43 pm

Awesome response and words to burn by...thanks!

geekster · Post by **geekster** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 12:47 pm

The way I break the ice at bars is to walk in, go up to the bartender, pull something decent out of my pack and offer THEM a drink. That generally does the trick. Having your own cup helps too.

dav725 · Post by **dav725** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 12:51 pm

I just went through my old posts and saw that someone from their group just replied to my note (although a year later). But I think the person who responded just b4 me was right...this year I'm going to walk in and bring them some special treats...I really love this place and am going to send all my newbie burner friends there. They do a great job. Sorry for being so snarly.

MrMullen · Post by **MrMullen** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 6:22 pm

I think BIT is from San Diego or LA and I have ran into them a couple of times at regional events. They are nice but they do interface with a lot of people at events and I imagine, BRC is no different.
What I think happens with people who interface with a lot of people is that they simply are jaded and one face just bleeds into another. They don't hate you or they wish you were not around but they just don't care that you are there. They just saw a guy just like you just a few seconds ago and before that, 10,000 other guys just like you. The only thing that raises a guy interest is that he sees a hot woman. Don't take it personally, just over years of evolution, we only care about one thing, hot chicks. So, if you want to stand out in a popular camp, be a hot chick.

dav725 · Post by **dav725** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 6:47 pm

You have just touched on my biggest dilemna at Burning Man. I am not a hot chick. And I really hate that it is hard to make an impression because of that. Last year I was strolling down the playa with a friend (who is a semi-hot chick). Some guy came over and gave us a beer that he had brewed back home. He then proceeded to direct 100% of the conversation to her, gave her some scarves and invited her, JUST HER, to a party that night.

Shouldn't Burning Man be devoid of this type of 'special' behavior? Is it really just another pickup bar, like the one down the street from where I live right now?

I write movies for a living. I am a huge fan and collector of weird/strange and bad movies, like the ones they show at Bad Idea Theater. Maybe I am a white male, just like the last one who walked in and the one right after me....but do I really have to get a sex change to be interesting? (And don't suggest drag because when I've done it I look like Eve Arden, hardly a sex bomb).

MrMullen · Post by **MrMullen** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 8:12 pm

dav725 wrote:You have just touched on my biggest dilemna at Burning Man. I am not a hot chick. And I really hate that it is hard to make an impression because of that. Last year I was strolling down the playa with a friend (who is a semi-hot chick). Some guy came over and gave us a beer that he had brewed back home. He then proceeded to direct 100% of the conversation to her, gave her some scarves and invited her, JUST HER, to a party that night.

Shouldn't Burning Man be devoid of this type of 'special' behavior? Is it really just another pickup bar, like the one down the street from where I live right now?

I write movies for a living. I am a huge fan and collector of weird/strange and bad movies, like the ones they show at Bad Idea Theater. Maybe I am a white male, just like the last one who walked in and the one right after me....but do I really have to get a sex change to be interesting? (And don't suggest drag because when I've done it I look like Eve Arden, hardly a sex bomb).

Well, first, welcome to my world. Two, move to dreamland if you don't like it.

Sorry, but it is the sad state of being a guy. No dude is going to pay attention to you unless they are gay and you are good looking or you are rich. Guys simply don't care about other guys because those guys are trying to have sex with what they want to have sex with, girls.
Let's face it, half the stuff we do at Burningman is on the off chance some women loves it and wants to have sex with us. Forget this "art" thing, it's all about getting the ladies! But seriously, nothing you can do about it. Just be nice and take lots of giftables and bribe yourself into the camps.

SED · Post by **SED** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 8:23 pm

MrMullen wrote:Forget this "art" thing, it's all about getting the ladies!

I have this feeling that mean who refer to women as "the ladies" are probably career masturbaters. Any thoughts?

Kinetic IV · Post by **Kinetic IV** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 8:30 pm

Yeah, I think you nailed it.

psylentlarry · Post by **psylentlarry** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 9:05 pm

Ouch!

Would you belive the "icy shoulder" is our most popular cool refreshing drink?

Uh, let's see..
dav725 I dunno who you tried to talk to but as for me, I've not got best social skills that's for sure. It's entirely possible that my lack of small-talk chops and bad habits related to eye contact were seemingly unfriendly. Oh yeah, I'm shit-for-brains when it comes to names and faces. Honestly I have no business being behind a bar, but I'm pretty much stuck there every night doing movies so I do what I can.

Again, I don't know the circumstances but all I can say is sometimes we get distracted and we are nearly always exhausted... well so is everyone else at burning man I guess. Pretty much what MrMullen was saying, except we have always taken pride that we serve everybody including old ugly males (as are most of our camp). All I can say is the treatment you describe comes as a shock, usually we get better feedback.

You absolutely do not need to bring goodies to get served at Bad Idea Theater. Gift if you must, but have a drink either way.

If you were mailing the address on the web site; hard for me to say what happened. Mike gets that mail, I don't see it directly. I do know that the addy gets a crapload of spam, so it could be that yours was missed. ? Aye dunno.

Right now we're busier than all f^@% but feel free to PM me on here. And please come to camp and talk bad movies with me. I'm in the bar at night, or ask around camp for silent larry.

Larry
http://www.badideatheater.com/

Post by **AntiM** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 7:58 am

I will have to make time (ya, ha) to drop by. I've hosted numerous Bad Movie Nights in my basement, your place sounds like a home away from home.

Hard Rock Zombies! Werewolves on Wheels! Doom Generation!

Although Werewolves was so bad, we had to get so drunk we passed out before the end of the movie.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 8:14 am

AntiM wrote:Although Werewolves was so bad, we had to get so drunk we passed out before the end of the movie.

Under the circumstances, isn't that a "good" movie?

psylentlarry · Post by **psylentlarry** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 11:36 am

dav725, This comes from bad idea Mike:

Please accept my apologies if your experience in Bad Idea Theater was anything less than pleasurable. Since I am neither young nor pretty nor female, I too have walked into places on the playa and been given that "turd in the punchbowl look". One of our first rules is "to not be that place". I try and answer all the email we get, Our website was innundated in spam and some might have gotten lost, But I do also apologize if I didn't get back to anyone. People writing us is actually a pretty cool ego boost and we do appreciate it. The biggest reward I get from doing a theme camp is putting smiles on peoples faces. We're open 18 hours a day and I guess its possible that you caught one of us in a bad moment, give us another chance and I'll try to make it up to you, just ask for Mike.
As for the gifts, Its great to get some swag, but you shouldn't have to bribe your way in. I understand if you feel the need to do it at other camps, but you don't need to do that with us. A gift is freely given and freely recieved. If someone asks me what they can give me I usually say "a smile". That's actually a pretty good gift along with the occasional hug. That being said, bringing your own cup is a big help to anyone gifting beverages, the cup stuff and resulting trash is a large thing for any bar.
Just as a general reply to another post, we see a lot of traffic. I talk to hundreds if not a thousand people during BM and I'm always embarrassed when someone remembers me from last year and I can't place them. Its a compliment that I made an impression, but I always feel like crap when I can't pull their name out of my head. It true that I've probably seen someone similar in the last five minutes, but that doesn't make you any less important to me. This is just the down side of running a theme camp that gets a lot of visitors. The time I get talking to the patrons is one of the reasons for doing the camp, but its like being at a party where you get introduced to 20 or 30 people in rapid succession and trying to remember who's who. If I don't remember you, introduce yourself again and let's talk and get reaquainted, Its not that you weren't memorable or a nice person, probably just my fault that I was doing a lot of "quality control" on the punch at the time.
We're not trying to be "cool camp" We just want to be a friendly neighborhood tavern, where everyone is welcome and feels comfortable and safe. If that doesn't happen for you, ask for Mike and tell me about it. We can always try and learn to be better. We probably can't make everyone happy, but we'll do our "damndest"

Mike

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 12:07 pm

We all know the problem. No father figure at home when they were growing up. So they've become cold and distant, just like daddy.

wait

Psyche was last year.

Up, what they said upthread!

redheadedstepchild · Post by **redheadedstepchild** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 12:44 pm

Yikes.

I'm from Bad Idea Theater too, and the fact that anyone had a bad experience there or thinks our whole camp is unfriendly makes me very sad. I for one am a little shy, but certainly not mean-spirited. And hell, I'm handing out booze - I can't be all bad! I can't think of a single person in our camp who isn't just lovely -- but then I've spent more time with them than you have, haven't I...? Please come by and give us another chance.

-K-

Ugly Dougly · Post by **Ugly Dougly** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 4:01 pm

Lots of people have vicious online presences but in person, on-playa, they’re perfectly charming.

blyslv · Post by **blyslv** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 9:36 am

I think it's also reasonable to ask, why did you expect any kind of reaction from them?

Yes it's nice when people are friendly,open and inviting. But it's not reasonable to expect that they will be that way all the time. Sometimes they are cranky because they haven't eaten or slept in too long.

Did you make an effort? Or did you walk in and expect to be showered by love?

dav725 · Post by **dav725** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 10:15 am

blyslv wrote:I think it's also reasonable to ask, why did you expect any kind of reaction from them?

Yes it's nice when people are friendly,open and inviting. But it's not reasonable to expect that they will be that way all the time. Sometimes they are cranky because they haven't eaten or slept in too long.

Did you make an effort? Or did you walk in and expect to be showered by love?

Hey there. Just to answer the above question, I didnt' expect to walk in and be showered by love. I came in on 3 different nights and tried to start a conversation with the person at the bar, and felt blown off. This happened to 2 other guys in our group as well. I tried to email them after burning man to thank them and to ask them a few questions...as I am a fan of what they do, and I never got a response. Someone else in the camp wrote them and never heard back either.

But I've now heard from several of them and they've all been very cool...so its not an issue anymore. They did care that people had some off experiences with them...but really, what they do is so great that it doesn't even matter. If you haven't been there I'd really recommend it!

badideatheater · Post by **badideatheater** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 1:20 pm

Let's not be beating up on Dav, He was being honest about how he felt and the experience he had. He doesn't need to justify it or feel guilty for speaking his mind. Honesty and expression are good things.

It's been a great reminder for the people in our camp of the importance to be attentive to people when ever you can. It has given us a reason to strive for an even higher level of service, and that's a great thing.

An extra added bonus is is a new camp slogan : "Welcome to Bad Idea Theater... Now piss off!!" (that's a joke). Plus we'll be introducing a new cocktail this year, The "Icy Shoulder". So you see, communication is a good thing for everyone.

Looking forward to seeing you all on the playa!!
Mike

blyslv · Post by **blyslv** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 2:51 pm

I didn't mean to beat up on Dav, who in any event seems perfectly capable of defending himself if if is getting beat up.

But he walked into your camp with certain expectations that weren't meant and decided to broadcast that to the world in a way that slandered your camp. I was wondering at the motivation of all that. That your camp accepted the criticism with grace and aplomb is comendable, but I still wonder why he had to slander somebody.

Kinetic IV · Post by **Kinetic IV** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 3:19 pm

Totally fucking hilarious. Oh the hypocrisy! I'm laughing so hard my sides hurt.

My, my, how quickly they forget.

badideatheater · Post by **badideatheater** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 4:47 pm

[quote="blyslv"]I didn't mean to beat up on Dav, who in any event seems perfectly capable of defending himself if if is getting beat up.

But he walked into your camp with certain expectations that weren't meant and decided to broadcast that to the world in a way that slandered your camp. I was wondering at the motivation of all that. That your camp accepted the criticism with grace and aplomb is comendable, but I still wonder why he had to slander somebody.[/quote]

Yeah, but that's cool, he was just telling it like he saw it and I respect that. That's why I apologized. Aside from the fact that the more this thread gets replied to, the more the "unfriendly people" subject floats to the top of the forum (and that by itself is kinda funny), we've turned it into a positive thing. We've got new jokes and a new cocktail (it's gonna be blue... tell me that's not gonna taste nice) and a reminder to make sure to go that extra mile to take care of our friends on the playa.
Remember, he withdrew some of that halfway thru, dude deserves some ups for that. I appreciate the defense and all, just don't wanna see no one dragged over the coals on my account (Dav seems like a cool enough cat to me). Besides, I may just be a big ole Jerk and you just don't know it.

Our other rule in the bar is "everyone has a good time and no one gets hurt". Anyone who introduces themselves to me in the bar and tells me to "piss off" gets a free drink. any publicity is good publicity

Remember why we do this and play nice.

Mike

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 9:23 am

badideatheater wrote: a new cocktail (it's gonna be blue... tell me that's not gonna taste nice)

Now this is a school of cocktail design worth watching!

blyslv · Post by **blyslv** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 10:06 am

I like the taste of blue.

I would like to apologize to Dav. My remarks on slander were out of place and unneccesary.

I think art can heal all. I've proposed a project to him that invovles spanking. We'll see.

Ron · Post by **Ron** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 11:26 am

Damn, how freakin' cool. Y'all at BIT just got yourself a fan. I'll have some cold beer for you, back home. Come loaf on our grass and enjoy it.

Ron

twothphry · Post by **twothphry** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 2:28 pm

As one of the bar tenders at BIT, I must admit it gets a little hectic at times and we try to be as accomodating as we can. Some times it gets a crazy especially if a wind storm comes up and people cram in to get some air to breathe.
As Mike, our leader said, we have a new slogan this year..."Piss Off!' When you enter the bar please greet one another with "Piss Off!" To correctly say the phrase, you must do it in your best Monty Python, Eric Idle accent. Without the accent the correct intent will be missing and people will just think you are an asshole.
As for me, I'm looking forward to meeting, greeting and pouring for the best theme camp on the Playa.

Papa Tweeze

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 2:30 pm

But I've been perfecting my Graham Chapman Python accent!

blyslv · Post by **blyslv** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 3:34 pm

It is also important to remember that people waiting for free booze shouldn't cop a 'tude.

"Where's my fucking drink!"

Kinetic IV · Post by **Kinetic IV** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 3:42 pm

blyslv wrote:It is also important to remember that people waiting for free booze shouldn't cop a 'tude.

I'd like to see that as a sign beside the bars. Some of the nastiest behavior I've seen at the event had to do with people wanting free drinks and they didn't bring a cup let alone anything to gift the bartender with. In some cases even after they got the drink they didn't have the decency to say Thank You either, it's like they think it's an entitlement or something.

Why Are The People From Bad Idea Theater So Unfriendly?

Why Are The People From Bad Idea Theater So Unfriendly?

I Retract My Original Question

"Whaaaaaa??" - Jon Stewart

Mike sez

Why are the people in Bad Idea Theater so super cool?

Bad Idea Theater not really as bad as they seem or are they

Re: Bad Idea Theater not really as bad as they seem or are

Joys of Being a Bar Tender