The difference between fun/chaos and destructive/theft

[silvershark]

This year I noticed more fk'dupness then any prior year. This year we did a small 9 person camp and kept ourselves living space tucked away and private.. trying to do the burn ninja-style.
even still 7 out of 9 got thier bikes stolen. 2 from center camp bike rack and was only thier 15 minutes. 2 from another theme camp and 3 from our camp, which was not easily visible from the street. Sunday morning a pickup truck pulled up infront of our camp a guy jumped out of the back.. ran into our camp and yanked a led light pole with pirate flags off our mutant vehicle. WTF????they jumped back in the truck (filled with bikes) and tried to drive away. A large friend who was awake ran after them and they tried to drive between camps and got stuck. The truck had 4 guys in it.. so my friend took back the flag pole and not wanting to get into a physical fight yelled at them and came back to camp. Some of our friends in other camps shared with me that ART they had brought to the playa got stolen. These sort of things damage the event.. it makes people not want to bring thier special things to the playa and ruins the event and expereinces for others. I rememebr when you could lose your camera and it would be waiting for you in lost and found... now i wonder if that is still a safe assumption. I feel like the event is changing.. morphing into something that can't be fixed or set right. everyones experiences are highly personal and people may not feel this same culture shift, but it was definetly felt by me and my other campmates.

[Timezone LaFontaine]

Were the bikes locked?

[ZaphodBurner]

WTF????they jumped back in the truck (filled with bikes) and tried to drive away. A large friend who was awake ran after them and they tried to drive between camps and got stuck. The truck had 4 guys in it.. so my friend took back the flag pole and not wanting to get into a physical fight yelled at them and came back to camp.

It's unfortunate for all of your fellow theft victims in Black Rock City that your friend didn't note the license plates and inform the rangers or the nearest police officer of what he saw.

As it is, 7 of your 9 bikes are probably for sale in Reno along with whatever else they stole.

At 9:D we had nothing stolen from our camp. 'course, that might be another benefit of being tucked up against the Rangers, the DPW and really cool neighbors!

[maladroit]

At 9:D we had nothing stolen from our camp. 'course, that might be another benefit of being tucked up against the Rangers, the DPW and really cool neighbors!

I keep forgetting that was all right there...really didn't see much crazy stuff happening near camp and as a first year thought Burning Man was actually sort of tame. Maybe if I camp more towards G I'll get a pleasant ratio of peace and discord.

Also, one of my greatest regrets is not being attracted by ice cold root beer ("Well, I've got sodas here") and therefore missing out on the secret absinthe.

[Candybox]

Were the bikes locked?

I know, right?

To be fair, I had my locked bike stolen in 2010, but I'd never changed the lock from the default combination (0000). Now we use locks with random number combinations and I also have a key lock where I keep the key around my neck. We have a luggage lock on our tent zipper too. In any large, anonymous situation, a few bad eggs are going to steal things if given the opportunity. I make every effort not to give them the opportunity by locking up our bikes religiously, even for short pit stops, and always at camp.

Last year, we had the pleasure of camping on the Esplanade next to the Thunderdome, a good three blocks from the nearest potties. That includes the extra-long Esplanade to A block. We had people peeing on our camp all fucking week. Like 15 times a night. Behind our car, behind our rental truck, in front of our doors. Nobody peed on our stuff this year, so... I guess for us, people were less destructive than last year.

[Jackass]

Some jerk off stole my " slow the fuck down" sign on Sunday as well. Everyone's trying to snag a trophy on the way out, that was my art it had been there all week (probably longer than the perpetrator). If you stole my sign, come back next year and I'll have a special treat for you (electrified sign complete with giant capacitor)the bare wire around it won't be just for looks.

I watched the sun rise, came back to camp and it was still there, woke up three hrs. later and it had vanished. That sign stood as a comunity service message and art. Don't vandalize or steal other people's art- fucking dildos!!!! Have some respect. Seems alot of people this year had Defaultia Music Festival Syndrome or DMFS, it's a terrible affliction. This is Burningman, not your local state fair or a concert or coachella.

[Bob]

Did you lock the sign?

[Dr. Dust]

Two of my friend's canvas prints were stolen from her Fractal Nation exhibit. This happened on Thursday, before many people had a chance to see the prints.

I've noticed that, as someone who is more or less atheist, I find Burning Man to be a very sacred experience. I wonder if Burning Man thieves are religious or spiritual in some way. Perhaps they believe their wrongdoings can be forgiven by a higher power, and therefore it's ok to mess with people's shit at a wild event like Burning Man.

My bike was stolen as well, Specialized Rockhopper, except thankfully it was stolen in SF after the burn.

[silvershark]

@ Zaphod... is that your REd Baron?? because we were right in front of you in the DMV line.. you needed me to move my pirate ship for you to do a 3 point turn to leave...

[silvershark]

I heard about the art being stolen from Fractal 51. the area 51 guys are my friends and said a lot of f'd up stuff went down over their too. An on the last few days were were listening to BMir and apparently quite a few peoples art was stolen from camps and playa. Peoples art is not a gift unless the creator hands it to you. peoples stuff is not a souvenier to take for poeple to take to satisfy thier own selfish desires.

[Jackass]

Did you lock the sign?

No, I didn't. It was just a quick impromptu hand made sign (nothing fancy or worth the wood it was done on). But it's just the principal and mentality of it all. The bastards!!!(Shakes fist in the air)

[theCryptofishist]

Last year, we had the pleasure of camping on the Esplanade next to the Thunderdome, a good three blocks from the nearest potties. That includes the extra-long Esplanade to A block. We had people peeing on our camp all fucking week. Like 15 times a night. Behind our car, behind our rental truck, in front of our doors. Nobody peed on our stuff this year, so... I guess for us, people were less destructive than last year.

*sigh*

[Jackass]

Burningman2012 039.JPG

I just turned it around on Saturday for exodus, lots of people hauling ass past our camp...

[ZaphodBurner]

At 9:D we had nothing stolen from our camp. 'course, that might be another benefit of being tucked up against the Rangers, the DPW and really cool neighbors!

I keep forgetting that was all right there...really didn't see much crazy stuff happening near camp and as a first year thought Burning Man was actually sort of tame. Maybe if I camp more towards G I'll get a pleasant ratio of peace and discord.

Also, one of my greatest regrets is not being attracted by ice cold root beer ("Well, I've got sodas here") and therefore missing out on the secret absinthe.

That sucks. I revisit that experience each time. Somebody offered me mead and I said no because I'd been drinking my own stuff. That was the unburniest thing that came out of my mouth the entire week, so I turned around and tried it. This was the first time I ever ate spiced pickles, too. I hate pickles, but, after five days on the playa the palette changes a bit.

We knew there were some new burners in your camp because in 2005 started as a camp with 15 burners, and 12 of them were virgins. Burners make mistakes for reasons they don't know about, but, the ones who have read everything and Still, the samba party rocked the fuckin' playa, did it not? If your camp is a block from Duck Pond and Distrikt and you still have people spilling out into the street dancing or playing drums, you're doing it right!

[maladroit]

I'm definitely saying "yes" more next year. I've been saying "no" to "yes" too much, unfortunately

Our camp was, by this year, all veterans as far as I know except for me. And I was a very last minute addition...I knew one other camp member and they slotted me in some open space on Tuesday night...had no idea where I'd be camping when I pulled onto the playa. The party really kicked ass, music was really different from the typical untz tssh untz tssh and the sangria was awesome (and I don't even like sangria, or wine!). Didn't even think of the Duck Pond and Distrikt angle.

Back on topic though...another regret, not walking around and introducing myself to all the neighbors (including you). That seems like a pretty good way to combat vandalism and theft. Meet all your neighbors, and you might notice when someone seems out of place rummaging through your neighbor's tent...and they might notice if someone is rummaging through yours. The theme camps are big enough it can be easy to remain insular, since strangers are scary in the default world.