A point of clarification to you hippies and newbies

[wh..sh]

Asking to borrow stuff, while technically interacting with other members of the community, is NOT participating

You mean, I can't tell you how awesome your costume looks and sit down for dinner? That's bull!

Hey that's better than the dirty hippie who just sat down for dinner without a single word except "I lost my voice" (with a mouth full of burger) after being asked what the hell he was doing and that he should leave. He did leave us with a lovely hand gesture when we chased his hippie ass out.

hey, but we were lucky to have uninvited guys who just joined us for dinner, but they were nice enough to stare at naked women at the camp and bring on some creepiness to the game.

[Nipple]

hey, but we were lucky to have uninvited guys who just joined us for dinner, but they were nice enough to stare at naked women at the camp and bring on some creepiness to the game.

Wait... that's welcome? Why have I been trying to hide my creepy glances (i.e. my face.) ?!

[wh..sh]

hey, but we were lucky to have uninvited guys who just joined us for dinner, but they were nice enough to stare at naked women at the camp and bring on some creepiness to the game.

Wait... that's welcome? Why have I been trying to hide my creepy glances (i.e. my face.) ?!

I can't promise much, Nipple. They were French and it sort of looks normal and acceptable when they do stuff like that.

[Simon of the Playa]

THE SOLUTION FOR PROBLEM HIPPIES IS JUST A CLICK AWAY

[theCryptofishist]

it's just that i hate that newbs seem to have such a bad reputation preceeding us before we even get there.
I just have this sense that of all the newbs on playa this year, it's gonna be the 5% of us who mooch food, clog potties, and photograph people's tits without asking that will be remembered and noticed as "newbs".

i am just expecting all kinds of judgement and labeling everytime i tell someone "hi, this is my first burn"

Oh please! you are over-reacting with the whole newbie thing. I was a newbie last year and no one gave a crap about it.
What people have problem with is the people who free load and can't seem to take care of themselves.

Ditto. People who are clueless become a burden on the prepared on the playa, so those of us who have been here for a long time, try to nip it in the bud. Plus, this year there was the whole "newbies got all the tickets through nefarious means" going on. You've been here, soaking stuff up like a sponge. You will be hugged multiple times at the meet n greet. You will do just fine. And you can admit you're a newbie whenever you want. Many jaded old vets like to be near newbies for a sort of con tact high. Really.

[Eric]

i am just expecting all kinds of judgement and labeling everytime i tell someone "hi, this is my first burn"

You'll probably get more people going "really??"

The common thread in this... thread... is cluelessness. That utter unpreparedness that makes someone think they can start planning 3 weeks out when they've never been and haven't even bothered to book a flight yet. People who don't bother to read the survival guide, or the "start here", or threads on ePlaya, and then ask about the most basic things ("can I walk to the festival from the airport?")

You've been planning, and researching, and asking the right questions. You'll be fine.

[uncle sticky]

"Why is there all this hate, burningman is suppose to be about love!!! "
Since when? Maybe a new thread is needed to explain "just because you're on extacy doesn't mean that I'm going to love you back."
Burning Man is an edgy, chaotic place, just as full of rage as it is of love.

[FeetOfClay]

there are some really good points here in the thread, and you are all right:
i have been focused on the label "newbie" without really realizing that established burners are simply reacting to CLUELESS newbies, or SELFISH newbies, or WIMPY newbies.

guess it's kinda like the hippy thing or the vegan thing...the few bad apples give the rest a bad name.

I recently told a coworker i am vegan, and she said, "really?! but you're so...nice!"
that's when u KNOW things are going bad, when vegan and nice become mutually exclusive.

kinda like "newbie" and "prepared"

[wh..sh]

"just because you're on extacy doesn't mean that I'm going to love you back."

now you are just making me sad.

[Savannah]

there are some really good points here in the thread, and you are all right:
i have been focused on the label "newbie" without really realizing that established burners are simply reacting to CLUELESS newbies, or SELFISH newbies, or WIMPY newbies.

guess it's kinda like the hippy thing or the vegan thing...the few bad apples give the rest a bad name.

Right. The great newbies simply don't stick out much (just as ordinary, polite vegans don't make their veganism everyone else's concern 24 hours a day).

[BBadger]

guess it's kinda like the hippy thing or the vegan thing...the few bad apples give the rest a bad name.

There are no good hippie "apples."

[Eric]

Right. The great newbies simply don't stick out much (just as ordinary, polite vegans don't make their veganism everyone else's concern 24 hours a day).

What I eat must be fundamental to everyone elses life. It's really that simple. So I hope you have grilled tofu-cheese sandwiches with vegan "bacon". If not, you have absolutely destroyed my burn, even though I didn't know your grilled-cheese cart existed until 3 minutes ago.

[ZaphodBurner]

Actually, I have been packing EXTRAS of items (sunblock, snacks, even costume pieces) to GIFT to others in need or who have forgotten theirs...

Honestly, I pray that all us newbies this year really BRING IT to finally shut up all the self-righteous old-timers who assume all newbs are ill-informed spectator morons:

Friend, you have the right idea, but, wait for it and you'll see what the OP means. What's tragic is when somebody asks you where an ATM or food court is and you realize they ARE serious. Actually, burners LOVE enthusiastic virgins and will treat them very, very well. It's just ridiculous to have some asshole who was dancing on your viewing structure all week bitch you out the day you're leaving for using a generator to run power tools to take it all down. Or pitch his tent against your generator midweek, complain about the noise reactor noise during a scheduled event at, like, 10 p.m., and then leave a bunch of trash behind to spite you.

When there were only 3,000 or so newbies, the given percentage of idiots was still pretty small and tolerable. There are going to be 30,000 or so this year, and if only 10% of them aren't squared away, it could be a real problem for everybody else. I don't know the OP personally but I know there are two types of virgin burners; those who read the Survival Guide, and those who do not.

Honestly, I pray that all us newbies this year really BRING IT

LOL! We all do. Wouldn't that be awesome?

Bringing extra survival stuff IS the right idea, and I would love to hook you up with root beer or absinthe at The Green Hour on 9 and D for your effort. Ask for Gatt and let us know if you need anything. Cheers!

[Savannah]

Right. The great newbies simply don't stick out much (just as ordinary, polite vegans don't make their veganism everyone else's concern 24 hours a day).

What I eat must be fundamental to everyone elses life. It's really that simple. So I hope you have grilled tofu-cheese sandwiches with vegan "bacon". If not, you have absolutely destroyed my burn, even though I didn't know your grilled-cheese cart existed until 3 minutes ago.

My friend Pie Lady was baking pies on the playa in 2010 . . . and got hassled a few times for not making a gluten-free pie crust.

I am a pacifist, but if she'd lined those people up for me (as one does) I would've been strongly tempted to dole out sequential Bette-Davis-style slaps in the face, all the way down the row.

[BBadger]

Newbie-hippies are MOOP on the playa. Hopefully the dust storms and maybe a few deaths discourage them from attending again.

[uncle sticky]

[quote="Savannah"][quote="Eric"][quote="Savannah"]Right. The great newbies simply don't stick out much (just as ordinary, polite vegans don't make their veganism everyone else's concern 24 hours a day).[/quote]

What I eat must be fundamental to everyone elses life. It's really that simple. So I hope you have grilled tofu-cheese sandwiches with vegan "bacon". If not, you have absolutely destroyed my burn, even though I didn't know your grilled-cheese cart existed until 3 minutes ago.[/quote]

My friend Pie Lady was baking pies on the playa in 2010 . . . and got hassled a few times for not making a gluten-free pie crust.

I am a pacifist, but if she'd lined those people up for me (as one does) I would've been strongly tempted to dole out sequential Bette-Davis-style slaps in the face, all the way down the row.[/quote]

You are a better person than I, as anybody who asks expects me to provide them with finicky options to the gift I am providing will find themselves chewing with fewer teeth.

[wh..sh]

My friend Pie Lady was baking pies on the playa in 2010 . . . and got hassled a few times for not making a gluten-free pie crust.

I am a pacifist, but if she'd lined those people up for me (as one does) I would've been strongly tempted to dole out sequential Bette-Davis-style slaps in the face, all the way down the row.

You are a better person than I, as anybody who asks expects me to provide them with finicky options to the gift I am providing will find themselves chewing with fewer teeth.

I am a vegetarian and when someone offers me potentially meaty food, I ask if it has meat in it (even if its a salad because some people like to add bacon bits to it).
I do it because I want to know and make a conscious decision, not because I want finicky options (I bring my own food, thankyouverymuch).
I don't know how the pie lady was hassled but I see nothing wrong in clarifying.

[stew]

You've been planning, and researching, and asking the right questions. You'll be fine.

True. Read the survival guide, don't be a dick and you'll be fine. In fact if you follow the survival guide all the way, then I like you even more than many old-timers. There are folks that went for over 10 years and still don't get how LNT works or that 5mph on gate road means 5mph on gate road.

[Savannah]

I don't know how the pie lady was hassled but I see nothing wrong in clarifying.

Of course there's nothing wrong with asking or seeking clarification. It's quite sensible with drinks, cookies and brownies too.

Clarification was not what was being asked of my friend, trust me. (She's a vegetarian, and has to ask her own share of questions). No . . . people were getting downright rude and snippy that she didn't have gluten-free pie crust. There's a few in every crowd. It hurt her feelings though, and that's hard for me to take. Fresh pie is a rad gift.

[FIGJAM]

The unprepared won't be a problem.

They'll leave shortly after their ill prepared hovels fail, probably tuesday or wendsday mourning.

I'll be watching from my slightly better prepared hovel.

[wh..sh]

I don't know how the pie lady was hassled but I see nothing wrong in clarifying.

Of course there's nothing wrong with asking or seeking clarification. It's quite sensible with drinks, cookies and brownies too.

Clarification was not what was being asked of my friend, trust me. (She's a vegetarian, and has to ask her own share of questions). No . . . people were getting downright rude and snippy that she didn't have gluten-free pie crust. There's a few in every crowd. It hurt her feelings though, and that's hard for me to take. Fresh pie is a rad gift.

yeah, there are handful of those... entitlement, much?
If it were me, I would make couple of gluten-free pies and when these snippy ppl ask for it, I would take the "gluten-free" pie and shove it on their face
(I just enacted that in my head and it was funny as hell).

Fresh pie is a rad gift.

damn skippy!

[Simon of the Playa]

in all seriousness, whether you are a newb or a vet, east coast, west coast, european, asian or canadian, what matters is that you TRY.

it's really quite simple...

take a stab at it..whatever "it" is.....i appreciate an inspired train wreck over the uncaring and polished....

really participate in whatever it is you are doing, fuck what other people think of you, or what you THINK they think of you.

say please and thank you....Smile....pretend.....play.

be a kid.

dont be "entitled" but also don't be afraid to ask for help, just like in foreign countries, an honest genuine attempt at speaking the native tongue, no matter HOW badly you butcher it, will be received much warmer than precise english.

we dont hate the newbs....far from it....i bring them every year....this year im sherpa to two, and assisted many others....it's how i stay young...i suck their life force...

i digress..

anyway....relax....flow, like dust....

you'll be fine, and next year, you'll be snarking the "Newbians" with the rest of us...

[AntiM]

If someone calls you a Stealth Virgin, then you're doing it right.

If you call yourself a stealth virgin, pre-event, you're doing it wrong.

[CrispyDave]

Re: A point of clarification to you hippies...

I tried clarifying a Hippy once, couldn't render out anything at all...

[BBadger]

I don't know how the pie lady was hassled but I see nothing wrong in clarifying.

Of course there's nothing wrong with asking or seeking clarification. It's quite sensible with drinks, cookies and brownies too.

Clarification was not what was being asked of my friend, trust me. (She's a vegetarian, and has to ask her own share of questions). No . . . people were getting downright rude and snippy that she didn't have gluten-free pie crust. There's a few in every crowd. It hurt her feelings though, and that's hard for me to take. Fresh pie is a rad gift.

Did the gift-horse-staring morons sound put off and say "Reaally??" like somehow the pie lady weren't aware of some social norms regarding giving free stuff away?

I think there are some people forget, or never understood in the first place, the concept that they are not customers.

[fresh]

"Why is there all this hate, burningman is suppose to be about love!!! "
Since when? Maybe a new thread is needed to explain "just because you're on extacy doesn't mean that I'm going to love you back."
Burning Man is an edgy, chaotic place, just as full of rage as it is of love.

Can I borrow some of your sense of humor? Oh no, you don't have any to spare?

[scott_k]

*rim shot*

[Gage]

Eplaya represents roughly 3% of the on-playa peeps you will encounter, if that. But I do miss the snarky comments... 14 days until on-playa! woOhOo!!

[Lonesomebri]

The actual playa is way harsher than any exchange on eplaya.

[uncle sticky]

[quote="GageNdG"]Eplaya represents roughly 3% of the on-playa peeps you will encounter, if that. But I do miss the snarky comments... 14 days until on-playa! woOhOo!![/quote]

It's nice to be a member of the elite.