any ideas on how to keep the dirty nasty tour rats out?

[ripfish]

I don't want my **** stolen or annoyed all fricking night

[aesop435]

Personally, I think you better check that attitude before you leave your house to go to any festie no matter how large or small. \"Tour rats\" (brilliant) are part of the scene, and there's no exclusion of anyone. I run with a lot of kids that you would probably look at as \"tour rats\" that have never stolen a thing from anyone, keep drunken frat boys and other unwanted trash in check, clean up after said unwanted trash, and have a helpful hand for anyone who needs it. Kids are the lifeblood of the scene, period. None of this would happen without dreaddy, dirty hippie kids, and some are good and some are bad, just like every clique and strata of society. You don't want to be annoyed all night? I come to a fest to party. Haul your ass to quiet camping, that's why it's there. Don't want your stuff stolen? Tour kids get their stuff stolen, too. The only cure is vigilance. Lock it up. Or maybe you're getting taxed for being an ass. There's a certain dynamic to the scene that you obviously don't quite get. The best way to make sure all goes smoothly is to try to get along with your neighbors and not go throwing around terms like \"dirty nasty tour rat\".
As soon as you say someone isn't welcome you make yourself unwelcome, man.
That being said, I hope none of your stuff gets stolen and you have a sweet fest and you are not plagued by bad kids. It's not like I don't know they're out there. It ain't wonderland, but that's no reason to go all patriot act on the scene.

[montgomeryburns]

word

[Kindbud03]

tru dat

[meatstick]

word to your mother.

[PolyOntology]

I agree with aesop for the most part right there. That being said, it'd be cool if there was some medium between the \"obnoxious partying 24/7\" and \"family camping, needs to be quiet by 10PM\". Last year we had some pretty damn annoying people around us. At about 5AM, when that thunderstorm on Thursday finally stopped, we all thought we'd get to breathe a sigh of relief and get some sleep ...but there were a group of cokeheads very near us partying VERY loudly..lots of yelling. I don't think these were the typical tour rats..they seemed more like, to be blunt, white trash. I hope i'm lucky enough to avoid that next year

[JustBob]

The best dreaddy is a clean dreaddy I have much love for dreads that shower. I run into way too many that don't.

Bob

[Missouri Mitch]

A couple of years ago at the Great Blue Heron Festival in Sherman NY, I was up early buying a cup of coffee. After receiving my cup of brew, I reached up to my left to grab the creamer at the same time the guy in line behind me was ducking in to order his own cup of coffee. Unfortunately, his face and my shirtless armpit met head on. I immediately apologized for inadvertently sticking my armpit in his face. His reply...\"No problem. You look like a hippie, but at least you aren't one of the stinky ones!\"

Let's all be kind and enjoy the diversity that a festival provides.

[aesop435]

I really don't think that personal hygene is what this little thread is all about. I've already spoken my mind about ripfish's inane post and the subject in general but I think that sort of attitude is too corrosive to this scene to turn into a joke. Have we become so shallow that we can go from an issue of someone being prejudiced against one of its core elements and turn it into a tongue-in-cheek discussion of how often we shower? There's nothing funny about that.

[PolyOntology]

Yeah I don't care how much you shower. I don't even care if you wanna stay up 24/7 hanging out..but man...YELLING for long periods of time about 20 feet from me at 5AM when I'm trying to get at least enough rest to have energy to dance my ass off (since it is a festival) is... I don't know...a bit inconsiderate? I mean, like, beee goood phaamily duuude.