Anyway, a lot of my ticket stalking has taken place on the Burning Man message boards aka ePlaya. Through my ePlaya stalking there are 2 recurring themes: 1) People without a ticket who are desperately searching for a ticket, 2) People who look down on those desperately searching for a ticket.
One person in particular has taken it upon himself to post increasingly negative, rude, and belittling messages to those of us without tickets. He has made it clear that he thinks we are idiots, that we are slackers, the the jacked up prices scalpers are demanding are "a fair tax" passed down to those of us too stupid to have bought early.
So the other day I decided to write a post to this guy. Just a quick blurb asking him to stop the negativity. See below:
"Hm, I don't get the negative attitude towards people who missed out on buying tickets. I didn't buy in time because I had to save money to purchase. Now I finally have enough and they are sold out. So what? I should be looked down upon because I'm not made of cash and had to work and save in order to attend. No, I think scalpers who are selling their tickets for way too much are the ones that should be looked down upon. I have had people offer me a ticket for between $560 and $1000 so far and have turned each of them down because it's not right. And the thing of it is I could afford the $560 ticket, but how is that fair to the rest of the people out there who can't? Who maybe had to work and save in hopes of getting a ticket just to find out that scalpers have plenty but aren't giving them up unless you're some trust fund kid? I keep reading some really mean-spirited postings from you, BBadger, directed towards those of us who don't already have tickets. I think it's inappropriate and you should back off. We all just want to show up in Black Rock City and enjoy the festival we always have. Good for you, you have and ticket and I hope you thoroughly enjoy yourself, but stop rubbing it in that some of us may not get to go. I for one am supremely confident that I will find that face-value ticket at the last minute but the truth is many wont and they don't need to be berated for it."
Well not only did this guy get back to me with some rude and uncalled for words other burners actually jumped on his band wagon and had some pretty shitty stuff to say to me. One even went so far as to tell me I didn't belong there and that I should take the money I would have spent on a ticket to get an education and a job that could pay for a trip to BM.
Wow, I mean, WOW! Whats up with these people? This isn't the Burning Man I remember. This behavior, these words, this willingness to gang up and attack another human being who was just asking for some understanding instead of insults is baffling to me. What has this festival in the desert become? This isn't something i could even have thought was possible before now. These people that call themselves Burners but seem to be filled with some sort of superiority and have nothing but deconstructive, negativity to pass out aren't legit.
Now I can take being personally attacked. Being called uneducated, broke, whatever. I get it all the time as there is this persistent feeling in society that people with piercings and dyed hair are somehow uneducated and dangerous. But to get it from these people is quite surprising. And I had a really good rebuttal written out. I made sure to point out my gainful employment with Microsoft, the degree in Physics I am currently working on, the fact that my money was needed else where and that the people in my life were more important than a ticket to Burning Man this year. But then I though better of it and deleted it. Instead I posted this:
"Hope I get to meet all of you on the playa and have a drink and some laughs. We don't need to fight or flame each other when we could instead be friends and create positive relationships instead of negative posts.
"Do you think they'll really have a beer with me? Guess we will find out!
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