Greeters ?? Blowing dust in cars & engine with shopvac!

supermira · Post by **supermira** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 12:14 pm

Did anyone have dust blown into their car windows & engine by person(s) at the greeters station this year??
I wanted to get some feedback on this because its seriously one of the few negative experiences I have ever had at B.Man!!

This guy ?greeter? was sucking up dust from the ground, filling a shopvac and blowing it in our all our rolled down windows, not stopping when we asked him to!! Then he sucked up more dust and blew it into the front of our RV engine for a while. Just as I was getting out to confront him, we were flagged to drive through and he moved on to another vehicle.

I understand that things are meant to be crazy and set the tone at the greeting station, (this was around 12:30 on monday morning), so they were just getting started & everyone had tons of pent up energy to dissipate........HOWEVER, to me this is a complete violation of my property!! Everyone knows going onto the playa will result in copious amounts of dust getting on, around, in, almost everything...but to have it blown DIRECTLY into your car through a shop vac is a completely different matter. I don't have a problem with you wanting to be extreme, crazy, spread the dust, whatever, .....DOES IT HAVE TO BE FORCEFUULY SPRAYED INTO MY ENGINE WHILE ITS STILL RUNNING ???

How can destruction of property be condoned, when taking a photo of a nude person is not??? To me its way worse than mooping or any other of the countless principles we all abide by..... If this was an individual just being a loon thats one thing, but he was plugged into the power at the greeters station, that makes him a greeting respresentative. I for one think the behavior is unacceptable and should not be allowed to be repeated in future years.

Thoughts?

Artemis · Post by **Artemis** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 1:16 pm

supermira wrote:but he was plugged into the power at the greeters station, that makes him a greeting respresentative.

I don't think that's necessarily true.

That really is a lame thing to do. Sorry that it happened to you. I would have been majorly upset had someone done this to my rental car.

mojo · Post by **mojo** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 1:30 pm

I am so sorry this happened to you! My one worst experience in all my years on the playa was the exchange between myself and the miscreant that thought it was funny to walk by my camp with a running lawn mower, throwing a 15 foot plume of dust all over my camp.

I was at greeters that night and I did not see the person you are talking about (but it was VERY busy). Just to be sure, was this definately at Greeters and not at the gate? I have never seen anybody do this at Greeters, and I don't think it would have been or ever should be tolerated there.

supermira · Post by **supermira** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 1:52 pm

Artemis wrote:
supermira wrote:but he was plugged into the power at the greeters station, that makes him a greeting respresentative.
I don't think that's necessarily true.

fair enough. but from the perspective of the 2 newbies I was toting in . . . he was a representative.

mojo wrote:was this definately at Greeters and not at the gate? I have never seen anybody do this at Greeters, and I don't think it would have been or ever should be tolerated there.

It was def. at the Greeters, there were 1 or 2 cars in front of us ......so its entirely possible he was acting on his own.
My objective is to expose the event so it doesn't have to happen to anyone else - its just sooooo NOT what BM is about...

I'm over it. No actual damages were incurred. It really just left a bad taste in my mouth and frankly I'm embarassed this was the first thing my 2 guests experienced at BM

Ugly Dougly · Post by **Ugly Dougly** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 2:23 pm

That ain't right.

It's wrong, too!

Token · Post by **Token** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 2:37 pm

'Tis why I don't like the concept of greeters. A station with little value other than the handing out of schwag.

Yet another speed bump between the road and a cold PBR.

SpacemanSpliff · Post by **SpacemanSpliff** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 3:14 pm

From the burning blog:

"One of the greeters had plugged in a vacuum and reversed the flow, and he was dousing all the arriving cars and trucks and buses and RVs with an early taste of the playa."

Looks like it was an actual greeter after all.

mojo · Post by **mojo** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 3:23 pm

I will gladly take this up with Greeters - who try very hard to put the first face on the festival for everyone - and to make it a good one.

bittermac · Post by **bittermac** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 4:27 pm

Burning Blog even has a pic of the guy. Definitely not Greeters. And for the record, I think the Greeters are kind of the first step into BRC and out of the default world. If all Burning Man is to you is a place to "Grab a PBR" Then go to the river for the weekend.

Take a look at the pic
http://blog.burningman.com/?p=5254

Isotopia · Post by **Isotopia** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 4:28 pm

How can destruction of property be condoned, when taking a photo of a nude person is not??? To me its way worse than mooping or any other of the countless principles we all abide by..... I for one think the behavior is unacceptable and should not be allowed to be repeated in future years.

Oh honey, here's a quarter.

Go call a fucking wambulance.

supermira · Post by **supermira** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 4:48 pm

Isotopia wrote: Oh honey, here's a quarter.

Go call a fucking wambulance.

Oh whatever....I was trying to make a point of how his behavior does not represent the principles of the whole shebang.....

It sounds like he may have been acting on his own accord.

bittermac · Post by **bittermac** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 4:57 pm

Did you even go to the burn? There is a big difference between Gate and Greeters.

I feel bad that the Newbies in your car didn't have someone to explain it to them without wildly over-reacting. You had dust blown on you and your car.

Spank your inner toddler and move on.

mojo · Post by **mojo** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 4:59 pm

It WAS GATE, NOT GREETERS. Here is a link to photographic evidence.

Scroll down, there was a picture taken

http://blog.burningman.com/?p=5254

It just did not make sense that this would happen at greeters at the time indicated....there were many, many seasoned Greeters there who would not have tolerated it.

Captain Goddammit · Post by **Captain Goddammit** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 5:13 pm

It's simple. Someone does that, you pull out your pocket knife and cut the fucking hose off it. Hey, it was funny when he was fucking up your stuff.

oneeyeddick · Post by **oneeyeddick** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 5:15 pm

It was not dust, it was cocaine....look how high he is !!

Elorrum · Post by **Elorrum** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 5:16 pm

I like Capn's answer. Much less difficult than what I was thinking... how to get the hose into the appropriate orifice without cooperation ?

supermira · Post by **supermira** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 5:34 pm

bittermac wrote:Did you even go to the burn? There is a big difference between Gate and Greeters.
I feel bad that the Newbies in your car didn't have someone to explain it to them without wildly over-reacting. You had dust blown on you and your car.

Posting one's experience on a forum is hardly 'wildly over-reacting'. and btw, wasn't blown ON our car, it was blown in our car windows - covering everything more than if you left your windows down all week.

The 2 veterans have 13 collective years, and remembered it being almost to the Greeters as we were about to get out with our newbies.
That being said he IS AT THE GATE in the photo.....

Believe me, I hoped that is wasn't a Greeter. And I'm glad that it turned out not to be.

side note : when you have an older, tempermental RV and a 700 mile drive ahead of you, having dust blown in your engine for no reason would upset any reasonable person. The people commenting in the blog that thought the reverse vacuum was great probably weren't the ones driving 3 other peeps across the country....

retropsycho · Post by **retropsycho** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 6:09 pm

The guy with the shop vac wrote this:

http://www.esquire.com/features/what-it ... WIFL_100_2

Perhaps he doesn't see life the same way anymore?

Perhaps he was always this way?

Perhaps getting dust in your car is inevitable at Burning Man?

Post by **AntiM** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 8:59 pm

MyLarry would have flattened the guy and that shopvac would have taken on an entirely new existence as a colostomy bag. I think.

We actually keep a pretty dust-free vehicle, our choice. A gift is not always a gift.

Kinetik V · Post by **Kinetik V** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 9:08 pm

I would have nicely told the guy to knock it off. If he had continued he would have been told to knock it the fuck off. If he continued after that I would have reached behind the seat of my truck and grabbed my trusty 30 pound sledgehammer, get out of my truck and proceed to pulverize that shop vac. Then I would have handed the guy a trash bag and tell him to go pick up his moop.

After the Gate staff destroyed hundreds of dollars in electronic gear a couple of years back I've learned how to pack my vehicles for their surly attitudes and bull in a china closet searches to make it a hassle free experience. Gate...I can tolerate and I respect the job they do. But this fucker....sorry, I'm open minded to pranks and I know what BM is about but I would have zero tolerance for this guy.

supermira · Post by **supermira** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 9:30 pm

retropsycho wrote:
Perhaps getting dust in your car is inevitable at Burning Man?

True..... upon entrance, I agree to and accept all naturally occurring dust.

If it rains on the playa, does that mean its ok for someone to spray you down with a water hose? If it hails on the playa, does that mean its ok for someone to pelt you with an ice chunk? Is it ok that they continue to spray you with water or pelt ice cubes after you ask them not to?

In the grand scheme of things this is all watery ice chunks under the bridge. My desire to exist 10 days in a chosen world, where one considers their intention and consequence before imposing - a stark difference than the default world - has been reduced by 1. Oh well.

I'll be ok. We all will.

I will continue to do under others in a way i wish to be treated.

This topic should go to bed, along with I.

Thank you for everyone's input.

Post by **Elderberry** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 11:31 pm

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 4:03 am

I had to stop everything at my camp several times as some asshole spent hours using a leafblower on every single scrap of their gear, blowing dust on every other camp in the wind direction.

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 5:31 am

I'll be sending a letter of complaint to Njord about all the wind and dust.......

bittermac · Post by **bittermac** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 9:15 am

True, it was a dick move by the guy. I am just poking at the deeply hurt wording of your post. It struck me as a hysterical over reaction. Easy thing to mistake in online posts.

I agree that it needs to go to bed.

When I first read your post, my first thought was "BULLSHIT!". THen I saw the pics.

I know a lot of Greeters and their whole take on greeting is to welcome you to the world that could be, not that kind of obnoxiousness. As far as I know, that guy is linked to gate, not greeters.

Take care.

oneeyeddick · Post by **oneeyeddick** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 9:42 am

A real brainy one, that bittermac is.

to those who are STILL confused at this point, that dude was at the MAIN GATE, not the GREETER"S GATE.

The picture shows that.

My friends were the first to be let through the main gate on Sunday at midnight, and they thought what the dude was doing with the shop-vac was hilarious, and i thought it funny too as one of them was sprayed directly and he was already playafied when he made it through the greeter gate(great showing,great party).

To each thier own...it would have made me laugh, had he done it to my old-ass RV.
If I were to witness someone pissed off cutting his cord, it would have been even funnier.

I wonder how long he got away with doing it ?

Post by **Elderberry** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 10:10 am

Frankly, I am not fond of many of the people that work gate. I think the guy with the shop vac could have been funny...but not spraying dust inside people's vehicles. The inside of our car or truck is a place we like to keep as dust free as possible--to do such things as maybe change contact lenses, keep clothes for leaving the playa and the ride home, etc. Not to mention that if it is a rental, it's hard enough to clean the cab so as not to pay a hefty cleaning fee without some jerk spraying it with dust intentionally.

Funny or not, it was pretty inconsiderate (and not very burning man like IMHO) if he was spraying dust directly and intentionally into peoples vehicles. Not any more burning man like than the gate people that were confiscating people's bling and blinkies a year or so ago.

JK

oneeyeddick · Post by **oneeyeddick** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 10:27 am

jkisha wrote:
Funny or not, it was pretty inconsiderate (and not very burning man like IMHO)
JK

Yeah, maybe not very "Burningman like", whatever that is supposed to mean ?....but very Gate like and/or DPW like, and still very funny to some.
They are not infamous for niceness......

MozyBonz · Post by **MozyBonz** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 10:41 am

Ugly Dougly · Post by **Ugly Dougly** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 11:14 am

oneeyeddick wrote:
jkisha wrote:
Funny or not, it was pretty inconsiderate (and not very burning man like IMHO)
JK
Yeah, maybe not very "Burningman like", whatever that is supposed to mean ?....but very Gate like and/or DPW like, and still very funny to some.
They are not infamous for niceness......

There's a limit. How about, "you're going to get laid at Burning Man, I may as well rape you right here!"?
I didn't think you'd be OK with that.

Greeters ?? Blowing dust in cars & engine with shopvac!

Greeters ?? Blowing dust in cars & engine with shopvac!

Re: Greeters ?? Blowing dust in cars & engine with shop

Re: Greeters ?? Blowing dust in cars & engine with shop

This was at Gate, not Greeters.

Really?

Re: Really?

re: GATE!! Blowing dust in cars & engine with shopvac!

Re: re: GATE!! Blowing dust in cars & engine with shopva