DPW HAS GONE MAD!!!!!!

[alaska burners]

Is it just me or does the DPW get trashier and trashier every year. They are scared of people who do not wear pants. Mind you I do not mean shirt cockers I mean shorts, skirts, underwear, bikinis etc. They get more and more mean spirited and in the future I see a clash between burners and DPW that could result in hatred and evilness. I was watching the parade go by this year and they were picking fights with burners, throwing trash everywhere, and even full beers. MY GOD do not waste full beers throwing them at people. what is wrong with you. Is there a way to hire people to do this job that are not smelly rednecks who like to pick fights??

To hopefully curb all the crazy spam that could be posted here by miscommunication. I love the dpw as a whole. There were a great number of dedicated individuals who work at the DPW and without them we would not be able to exist. This is my point exactly if this trend of adding 5% douchebags a year continues then the system will destroy itself eventually and all the good people who want to work dpw will go away.

[Isotopia]

Dear Alaska,

Come back with your whinging, post-event cririque once you've figured out the elementary calculus on which DPW operates.

[Isotopia]

...or did I mean to say 'upon which' in my nasty retort related to your whining...

[Eric]

This is my point exactly if this trend of adding 5% douchebags a year continues then the system will destroy itself eventually and all the good people who want to work dpw will go away.

Not so much "adding"- DPW is actually getting a little better over time (emphasis on "little" and "over time"). The obnoxious ones & their history colors everything they do, but they actually are a little calmer than in the past. However, it takes a certain kind of person to sweat in the sun for weeks before (and after) the event getting it ready & tearing it down, and I don't think your average raver is going to do it.

One big BTW:
DPW ARE BURNERS
It's not "us vs. them", it's two different types of in-house burner cultures clashing.


That said, I still hate the damn parade
(sorry Robbidobbs- come by Fandango when you can and I will serve you anything I have at anytime, no damn parade needed)

[MOOP_Czar]

I have worked DPW in the past and I will say that it is a rough and tumble type of group, but a more dedicated group is hard to find. I will also say that many of them love the black rock and what it represents. Freedom, anonymity, living on the edge and to bust ass as volunteers for months before and months after picking up other peoples shit and building everything from the lampposts, tp outposts to the man... Laying out the grid of the city, putting up the trash fence and then to see someone imply that DPW arent Burners?
I give a fuck that u condescend to acknoledge that they all arent bad but they are getting worse!?!?
I feel it is safe to say that my regular post histpry is not riddled with foul language or sever ass chewings, but you need to pull your head out of your ass and go out there from fucking April to October you fucking whiner and walk in the shoes for a while. If it wasnt for the DPW the playa woildnt get clean and there wouldnt be a burning man. It takes a special breed to do what they do for free. So OP if the parade pisses u off, tough shit - they are out there for 6 months picking up shit and building shit and if that doesnt warrant a 45 minute parade then every fucking ounce of contempt u feel is warranted. They dont hate burners, they are Burners. Give then their parade ans suck it up - DPW aint the PC crowd... I am off my soapbox.

[The CO]

One big BTW:
DPW ARE BURNERS
It's not "us vs. them", it's two different types of in-house burner cultures clashing.

YOU'RE DOING IT RIGHT.
read my sig

[Simon of the Playa]

Sit down, shut up, and drink the Jameson's, bitch.

[Bob]

I am DPW. Hear me <murffle>.

[Lord Of Ruin]

Actually...I beg to differ with a couple points.


In many cases, DPW is NOT Burning Man. For many of them DPW is simply a job. They get paid to come out and do a task as a professional. Many of those folkls leave when their job is done, or return for strike.

Second, DPW is definately getting better each year with regards to their attitude and behavior. Their leadership has committed to this and has been slowly but firmly doing a good job weeding them out.

The fact that you're complaining about their language and the fact that they mooped a little bit of beer/cans during the parade is telling. In earlier years the whining would have been about them heckling camps for all their whiskey, fist fights, and structural elements stolen or torn down.

Some of the rougher departments have a culture that walks a fine line between the antisocial and the hug-it-out-bitch rest of the burn. Truth be told, those jobs just wouldn't be possible without some sort of cohesive culture that attracts the required skillset. I.e. you don't see many Rainbow Gathering types working DPW. The trick is to find the line between jackassery and outright illegal behavior and tap dance along it.

LoR

[Bob]

You mean geeking a live rooster isn't part of the hazing ritual anymore?

[Dr. Pyro]

You know LoR, you don't see many Rainbow Gathering types working at all.

[trilobyte]

Our camp had a bad experience with the DPW parade this year, but nothing as bad as you describe. And overall, my experience with DPW staffers & volunteers has been excellent both on and off the playa.

[theCryptofishist]

Is it just me or does the DPW get trashier and trashier every year. They are scared of people who do not wear pants. Mind you I do not mean shirt cockers I mean shorts, skirts, underwear, bikinis etc. They get more and more mean spirited and in the future I see a clash between burners and DPW that could result in hatred and evilness. I was watching the parade go by this year and they were picking fights with burners, throwing trash everywhere, and even full beers. MY GOD do not waste full beers throwing them at people. what is wrong with you. Is there a way to hire people to do this job that are not smelly rednecks who like to pick fights??

To hopefully curb all the crazy spam that could be posted here by miscommunication. I love the dpw as a whole. There were a great number of dedicated individuals who work at the DPW and without them we would not be able to exist. This is my point exactly if this trend of adding 5% douchebags a year continues then the system will destroy itself eventually and all the good people who want to work dpw will go away.

[lucky420]

There was a parade??

[A Jester]

From what I can tell, the DPW is getting better but more non-DPW types are recognizing and complaining about their behavior.

I don't think anyone joins the DPW just for a job. It pays crap, and has very little in the way of benefits if you're not into Burning Man.

I think the Parade might be them at their worst, overall.

[Savannah]

Alaska, you should email dpw-volunteers(at)burningman(dot)com with your concerns. They're unlikely to receive your feedback if you don't.

If you write, highlight the behavior you saw--the mooping, & the aggression. (I understand that you're frustrated, & so you vented a bit, but "smelly rednecks" has a way of closing ears that might otherwise listen to you.)

[Dr. Pyro]

I didn't see any DPW parade either. But this is my 13th year on the playa and I have yet seen a single Lamplighter light a single lamp. I don't think those people really exist. And if they do exist, I don't see where they contribute anything valuable to the experience. As much as I think many of the DPW are drunken asshole thugs, I can at least respect the work they put in. And they are right: The city could not function without them.

[Nipple]

The city could not function without them.

It's a symbiotic relationship.

[oneeyeddick]

I didn't see any DPW parade either. But this is my 13th year on the playa .

well then , you have seen at least 3 of the parades, or you just missed the Man Burn from 99 to 2001.

[Timezone LaFontaine]

But this is my 13th year on the playa and I have yet seen a single Lamplighter light a single lamp. I don't think those people really exist. And if they do exist, I don't see where they contribute anything valuable to the experience.

Thanks for your opinion, drinky. Now don't you have some dolls that need decapitating?

[lemur]

...this is my 13th year on the playa and I have yet seen a single Lamplighter light a single lamp.. I don't see where they contribute anything valuable to the experience. As much as I think many of the DPW are drunken asshole thugs, I can at least respect the work they put in.

firstly, fuck yer day, old man.

secondly.. the lamplighters have provided plenty to the community, and have done a lot to shape the experience of burning man in the last 18 years. (4 years before the DPW existed)... I would gladly expound upon the things the lamplighters have been doing the past 18 years...

but alas...youre probably a bit busy playing with your dolls..

[Simon of the Playa]

and dont call those things they're wearing "Mumus" either....Hmmmmph.

[pinemom]

Oh bother.....The 5% of the bad DPW is better/nicer/softer then the 10% of fucktwad yahoo's that come out every year( thieves,rapers,drug dealers ect..)!


....and I have friends in DPW I call family! !

[MyDearFriend]

Piney, I am so with you on that 5% thing. And Jonsi, I missed the parade too!!!

BUT I went by their camp on Esplanade with some gifts I had brought for them and had a nice conversation. Though no one invited me to sit down, that was true at most camps I visited in BRC so I can't pick on DPW for lack of courtesy.

And, I never saw a lamplighter either, but that is on my list for next year, if Mr. Lemur thinks I will be offered a hug at least.

[A Jester]

...this is my 13th year on the playa and I have yet seen a single Lamplighter light a single lamp.. I don't see where they contribute anything valuable to the experience. As much as I think many of the DPW are drunken asshole thugs, I can at least respect the work they put in.

firstly, fuck yer day, old man.

secondly.. the lamplighters have provided plenty to the community, and have done a lot to shape the experience of burning man in the last 18 years. (4 years before the DPW existed)... I would gladly expound upon the things the lamplighters have been doing the past 18 years...

but alas...youre probably a bit busy playing with your dolls..

I don't know that much about the lamplighters, I'm interested (and I even put my dolls away today).

I mean, I know they light the lamps - I've even seen them doing so on multiple occasions. But what are the other things I might not know about?

[Bob]

....what are the other things I might not know about?

DPW builds, repairs, installs, transports and stores their lamp spires.

[lemur]

DPW does lots of stuff to help the lamplighters aside from building and taking care of all of the spires that larry designed..

they shlep around storage containers.. they install all the electrical grid stuff... give heavy machinery help..help teardown/setup of heavy structures.. deal with various potable water / gray water tank issues.. they really sure do help out a lot... thats why they are there after all.

my experience with them has been that they are professionals there to get the job done.. which they do well.


as for lamplighters...

they kickass.. but they do so with a lower profile. if you want to hang out with the group that was the genesis of the two most popular phrases in our culture, "YER DOIN' IT WRONG" and "FUCK YER DAY", (no it wasnt DPW!) you'll want to hang out with the lamplighters.

[Timezone LaFontaine]

....what are the other things I might not know about?

DPW builds, repairs, installs, transports and stores their lamp spires.

It isn't really a matter of comparing the list of DPW tasks with the list of Lamplighters tasks, as if they are competing or even comparable crews. Lamplighters are the longest-running performance art project in BRC. And probably one of the largest-scale performance art projects, too. Aside from making the streets really beautiful at night, they coordinate hundreds of walk-up volunteers during the week... including a lot of first-time burners who, in many cases, urgently want to find some way to feel like they're contributing to the city, and participate in a procession that is in some ways both whimsical and solemn, and can be fairly challenging and laborious. By doing that kind of work, people get an inkling of how much work everyone has put into making BRC. Lots of them continue with the Lamplighters, and/or move on to other ways of working and creating and contributing to the culture of BRC... I believe the founding Lamplighter went on to be part of the Neverwas Haul crew.

As for what you might not already know about, the Lamplighters are extraordinary lovers, lightly scented in kerosene. The sign-up time is 5pm, by the way.

I was just giving Doc Pyro some shit right back, since I've seen he has a little hyperbole problem. Like a while ago when he was miffed about his necktie-covered pickup truck not getting approved by the DMV, and while venting about it he started to claim that it was a cooler project than anything the Flaming Lotus Girls do. But just because the Doc is face down in his camp every evening at dusk doesn't mean the Lamplighters aren't out there kicking ass doing their own thing and contributing something valuable to the city.

[Sail Man]

There was a parade??

Yes, and I finally got to see it. And, one of the DPW chick's gave my son a very cool DPW sticker that I am safe-keeping for him on the back of my truck.

Personally, I don't give a rat's ass about the antics that they get into. They hearken back to the Roustabouts era, do a hard ass job in a less then hospitable area for far longer then most of us are out there so in my book earn the right to fuck off as they please.

Mind you, I dont condone illegal activity by the rare member, IF it occurs, but the rest of their antics just add color to who and what they are.

Keep kicking ass and taking names, DPW.

[Bob]

Having been there with the setup crew there before some management types decided it was a good idea to invent "DPW", I can understand some people's confusion.