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Post by lordrockinhood on Sept 2, 2010 21:41:28 GMT -5
Mark it, Widespread will come back some year soon in a latenight slot. It appeases every fan, and gives the rest several other options. They've never played one correct? If i was them I'd actually demand that. The tenth would make a lot of sense, and I'm not a huge fan, but totally respect them and couldn't argue with it at all.
I see a lot of people complaining about rude parking attendants. I worked as a parking attendant in 2009 and believe me when I say that if we're curt with you and tell you to move it along, it's not because we're a bunch of assholes who enjoy making your life miserable - it's because there are some 70-80,000 people all trying to cram into the same field through just a couple of gates in a 24-hour time frame. For every person that stops to argue with us over where we're parking them, or asks to be put in a certain campsite, that's an extra 10-15 seconds that you're making everyone behind you wait in line. That might not sound like much, but when literally one out of every 2-3 cars does this, it adds up fast considering there's some 25-30,000 cars waiting in line. We're just trying to get everyone in as quickly as possible in an orderly fashion, so as not to cause more traffic. We realize you've been sitting in traffic for hours, but you also have to understand that we've been on our feet for a long-ass time without any breaks whatsoever. Thursday night > Friday morning I worked 10 hours with no break, and Wednesday night > Thursday morning was a hellish 14-hour shift, also with no break (and in a torrential downpour to boot).
We will do our best to camp you near your friends if it's you and one or two other cars directly behind you, but if you're coming in a convoy of like 10 cars, I'm sorry, it's just not happening - you may have to camp 50 feet away from your friends, it's not the end of the world. I tried to accommodate people's requests at first, but my supervisor kept yelling at me to keep traffic moving along.The one exception we will make is if you tell us you have to leave early, in which case we will pull you aside and park you last in your row so you can get out easily. If you don't like where we put you, you have the option to move your stuff to tent-only starting Thursday morning; other than that, there's not a whole lot more we can do for you.
I understand your point, Jack, but I have never been treated that way by anyone at Bonnaroo. It was at the toll booths actually, before we were even sent to the campgrounds. We had a two car caravan; our other car was getting searched, and once we were done, I pulled over to wait for them. A blonde lady pointed at my car and said "Oh no you don't. GET IN LINE NOW!" I mean, screaming, like I was her child that had just smacked her. I politely tried to explain why I was waiting, and that the dude that gave me my wristband told me to pull over there, and she said "I DON'T CARE. YOU BETTER GET IN LINE NOW!"
Plasticpepper was with me and she will vouch for that lady's rudeness. Once we got into line (with our tail between our legs), I stopped another parking dude and asked what we should do about our other car and explained that this lady screamed at us to get in line. He knew exactly who the woman I was talking about was and told me she was just a b*tch. But he said they weren't allowing people to wait for the other cars in their caravans because they were afraid people were going to get stuck in the mud. Seriously, that's ALL she had to say to us... but she just started screaming.
There was really no reason for her to scream as if we were children. If she had politely asked us to keep going, I honestly wouldn't have had a problem. I've worked in customer service before, I know what it's like to deal with people all day. And I also know that if you explain the situation to someone, they are a lot more likely to comply. That was my problem.
and Jack, I too understand your point. But it is totally wrong to expect anyone to work under those conditions. That takes us back to the sweatshops of the Industrial Revolution. I would advocate for breaks...more than one in 10 hours.
but to share my experience, there were only 2 cars in my group. I was driving one vehicle and my daughter's friend (age 18) was driving the other. We came to the booth right one behind the other and made it through the booth fine, but then at the campsite for some weird reason they wanted to put her in the next row. I nicely asked if they could stay with us because they were kids. the attendant rudely barked "get over it and make friends with your neighbors"...we wound up hauling their gear over to ours and combined campsites. the one saving grace was that we were so far out in the never regions we had more space than I remember having in the past, so it worked out.
and why the hell don't they fill the spaces from the inside out? we got there Thursday and there was plenty of empty space ahead of us...by Friday evening all sorts of people that had arrived after us had been set up closer in.
you also have to understand that we've been on our feet for a long-ass time without any breaks whatsoever. Thursday night > Friday morning I worked 10 hours with no break, and Wednesday night > Thursday morning was a hellish 14-hour shift, also with no break (and in a torrential downpour to boot).
Jack, do they inform you of these hours/no breaks (14?? Jesus) before you accept the position?
I understand your point, Jack, but I have never been treated that way by anyone at Bonnaroo. It was at the toll booths actually, before we were even sent to the campgrounds. We had a two car caravan; our other car was getting searched, and once we were done, I pulled over to wait for them. A blonde lady pointed at my car and said "Oh no you don't. GET IN LINE NOW!" I mean, screaming, like I was her child that had just smacked her. I politely tried to explain why I was waiting, and that the dude that gave me my wristband told me to pull over there, and she said "I DON'T CARE. YOU BETTER GET IN LINE NOW!"
Plasticpepper was with me and she will vouch for that lady's rudeness. Once we got into line (with our tail between our legs), I stopped another parking dude and asked what we should do about our other car and explained that this lady screamed at us to get in line. He knew exactly who the woman I was talking about was and told me she was just a b*tch. But he said they weren't allowing people to wait for the other cars in their caravans because they were afraid people were going to get stuck in the mud. Seriously, that's ALL she had to say to us... but she just started screaming.
There was really no reason for her to scream as if we were children. If she had politely asked us to keep going, I honestly wouldn't have had a problem. I've worked in customer service before, I know what it's like to deal with people all day. And I also know that if you explain the situation to someone, they are a lot more likely to comply. That was my problem.
i would have just ignored her and waited for my friend(s).
what's the worst that could've happened if you did??
^This is my typical approach, you should have seen me at AllGood. I was leading a 7 car convoy into camp inforoo, and just stopped to let everyone catch up.
camp inforoo VIP had some serious issues with the parking people
we ignored them and drove up where we wanted. then this guy got REALLY pissy with us and we moved back - but that time in the configuration we wanted.
it's like, dude, at over 7 bones a ticket, you shouldnt really be yelling at us and when we specifically say "we want to park like this" you should accommodate us without a hassle.
I understand your point, Jack, but I have never been treated that way by anyone at Bonnaroo. It was at the toll booths actually, before we were even sent to the campgrounds. We had a two car caravan; our other car was getting searched, and once we were done, I pulled over to wait for them. A blonde lady pointed at my car and said "Oh no you don't. GET IN LINE NOW!" I mean, screaming, like I was her child that had just smacked her. I politely tried to explain why I was waiting, and that the dude that gave me my wristband told me to pull over there, and she said "I DON'T CARE. YOU BETTER GET IN LINE NOW!"
Plasticpepper was with me and she will vouch for that lady's rudeness. Once we got into line (with our tail between our legs), I stopped another parking dude and asked what we should do about our other car and explained that this lady screamed at us to get in line. He knew exactly who the woman I was talking about was and told me she was just a b*tch. But he said they weren't allowing people to wait for the other cars in their caravans because they were afraid people were going to get stuck in the mud. Seriously, that's ALL she had to say to us... but she just started screaming.
There was really no reason for her to scream as if we were children. If she had politely asked us to keep going, I honestly wouldn't have had a problem. I've worked in customer service before, I know what it's like to deal with people all day. And I also know that if you explain the situation to someone, they are a lot more likely to comply. That was my problem.
Haha, yes I will vouch for it! It was really ridiculous. The second guy we talked to was awesome about it, he was sympathetic and apologetic but said there was nothing he could do. If he had been the only one we dealt with, we would have no problems with anything. We were pretty much planning on going tent only anyway so it wasn't a big deal to not be parked near the rest of our group. But there was no excuse for the way that other woman treated us, especially since she full out screamed at us before we even said anything. We were perfectly nice to her even after getting screamed at.
I do realize that people trying to stay in groups and make special requests slows the whole process down, but that doesn't mean it's somehow unacceptable for people to do so. People are going to try to stay with their friends. I think that's perfectly reasonable, and in fact the Bonnaroo website says if you want to camp together you have to arrive together, which implies that if you DO arrive together, you should be able to camp together. But even apart from that, people are going to try it. And if someone stops because they have a question or request, even if you can't do anything for them, being rude is not going to be any faster than being polite and it's most likely going to be slower.
JHOinTN, zenfnp and idio - I'm really sorry to hear about your bad experiences with the parking attendants. I for one refused to yell at anybody and really tried to be courteous at all times (even if people weren't treating me that way), but I'm sorry to confess that I saw a number of my co-workers doing exactly the type of behavior you're describing.
Jack, do they inform you of these hours/no breaks (14?? Jesus) before you accept the position?
If not, I would have a major problem with it
I was told that I would be scheduled to work two 6-8 hour shifts, but that it might be closer to 10. I did have a major problem with it, which is why I chose not to go the same route again this year. I made close to $400 for two days' work, plus a free Roo ticket and transportation, but even that wasn't enough of an incentive to get me back. After that first shift in the rain, I had a horrendous case of trench foot, and there wasn't enough room on the company's golf cart taxi to fit everyone in my campsite, so I had to limp all the way back to staff camping. I then hobbled to the medical tent (it was morning by this time) to see if they had some cream or something to help my foot, they told me there was nothing they could do, but to keep my foot elevated and not put too much pressure on it - easier said than done at a music festival where you're on your feet all day and doing a ton of walking. At that point I started walking back to camp barefoot because I couldn't stand being in those wet shoes and socks any longer, and it was so bad that having gravel dig into my extremely tender soles seemed like the better option. I was cursing Bonnaroo, the parking company, the attendees, the medical staff (basically everyone and anything) and vowing never to come back to Roo. It also didn't help that I hadn't slept a wink on the bus ride down, so I'd been up for 48 hours straight.
I got back to my campsite - or lack thereof, because when I unpacked my tent I realized my tent poles weren't inside - luckily the staff were all camped under an air-conditioned pavilion tent, so I at least had some sort of protection from the elements. After a nice long sleep, some food, a shower, some phenomenal corn (corn beef hash, actually) and some much needed TLC for my feet, I worked my second shift, which was far more bearable.
Got my survey. Tried to keep it positive. Mentioned that previous years' portopotties were better maintained. Mentioned that I had no water issues but others had and that it wouldn't hurt to have more water available. Mentioned Spicey Pie as my favorite food there but also lamented the disappearance of the arepas.
As far as bands go, I continued my annual tradition of asking them to book Great Big Sea and added U2 and My Morning Jacket. I also recommended adding an Irish/Celtic tent on Thursday night for some rocking good times while the crowd is at peak energy.
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