If you are an ignorant a-hole, please stand up!

Just a bit of a rant.

So my wife and I went to one of the free concerts (actually a dance performance) at the bandshell in Prospect Park last week. All of the seats were full of course, but we brought a blanket and set up on the grass with hundreds of other people well before the show started.

People were milling about before the show, but when it started I was shocked that crowds of people started gathering on the walkway between the seats and the lawn and just STOOD THERE blocking the view of the hundreds of folks behing them.

My wife and a few others went up and nicely told them that they were blocking everyone's view. Some people were like "huh? oh. whatever" Others were like "but i didn't bring anything to sit on". But most simply ignored her.

Then the crowd on the lawn started chanting "Sit down. Sit down" and people started yelling "Sit your fat arses down". Some of the guards cleared the standers on the stage left side, but where we were sitting, there was still this group of a-holes blocking the view of the stage.

We finally gave up and left. On the way out I complained to one of the managers at the gate. He looked at me incredulously and said "its a free concert".

I don't know what pisses me off the most. The a-hole mob mentality of people standing infront of people who have planned their evening around an event like this, or the a-hole nature of a park EMPLOYEE (it may be a free concert, but he's getting paid) who was rude to me for voicing my valid complaint about him not doing his job and controlling the crowd.

Maybe it just goes to show you that everything that's "free" in new york sucks.

Rant off.

I just think people in general have completely forgotten how to act in society. It's starting to drive me crazy, between people using those annoying cellphones/walkytalky on the bus for the whole entire trip, or not giving up seats to the elderly, disabled or pregnant women. The worst is kids have no manners these days, and it's all coming from their parents. And I'm talking about all people, rich, poor, white, black, doesn't matter. I own a gift store so I see the rudeness everyday. What is so difficult in not talking on your phone in my store, or not putting your drink on the furniture, or telling your kid not to touch anything. The respect for others has disappeared, and it's a real shame.

Thanks for letting me vent too...

thats nyc for you, just got to deal with it, most people take the route of becoming the asshole as opposed to being the victim of the asshole, so i feel the mentality expands that way (makes more people be assholes). honestly, i probably would have pushed my way up front if i really wanted to see the show, got to look out for yourself sometimes in this place. however i do understand your point of view completely and sympathize with you. just saying for me if it was a matter of seeing the show or going home i would do what i had to do to see the show and adjust to the circumstances at hand (granted its an act i have been really looking forward to seeing), it is a free show so you can expect a lack of regulation

Just a heads up, there's almost *always* people standing
(or walking to get a beer or find their friends or . . . )
on the big semicircle path between the chairs and lawn. I get there early for a chair when it's a dance perf, or anything else I actually want to lay eyes on.
I never have an expectation of a view from the grassy area, so I'm surprised that it's a rant-able subject.
(/shrug)

Then again, I almost never sit in the grassy spot, because there's always a couple of disgruntled toddlers thrashing around, which is what I find distracting and annoying.

I think you are the ignorant one if you thought you could go to a free show AFTER all of the seats were filled then sit down and expect EVERY SINGLE PERSON in your line of sight to the stage to be sitting as well. God forbid you need to stand for 40 minutes.

pitu wrote:
I never have an expectation of a view from the grassy area, so I'm surprised that it's a rant-able subject.
(/shrug)

I agree with you on that. I mean, isn't it obvious from the sight lines that you're not going to be seeing much once it fills up?

Thanks for the reminder of why our last visit there was so annoying. I'd forgotten why we don't go to those things anymore...

happyneighbor1980 wrote: I think you are the ignorant one if you thought you could go to a free show AFTER all of the seats were filled then sit down and expect EVERY SINGLE PERSON in your line of sight to the stage to be sitting as well. God forbid you need to stand for 40 minutes.

Well, you are overstating my point a bit here. I understand that it is a public walkway, and that folks will be moving along it throughout the performance. But to form a human wall 3 deep and half the audience wide seems like an abuse of public space. The Celebrate Brooklyn website states that the lawn is for sitting to enjoy the performances, and there's plenty of room for people to sit on the grass and see the stage, if only they would. Coming in late and then blocking everyone's view is just lame. It's sad if it is really to be expected. What the heck are the 20-30 staff doing if not crowd control? Picking their noses for union pay?

I don't think the security staff is there to make people who are standing sit down. Even if the website states that the lawn is for sitting, that's not the kind of thing that translates into real enforcement.

In any situation like this, the person whose view is obstructed would save themselves a lot of frustration and angst by just moving to where they have a better view.

A crowd chanting "sit down" to a group of standers makes me cringe.

in my experience, pitu's right on. people always stand there. and given the shape of the lawn, there's not much hope of seeing the stage well even if they didn't. the chairs (or standing, if you can't get a chair) are for seeing the stage; the lawn is for lying back, looking up at the trees, and letting the music waft over you.

That's my recollection too. Blanket under the trees to enjoy the pre-concert ambience and music without unobstructed line of sight. Stand up and move a bit forward for a good look at the band, back to the lawn to continue enjoying kicking back to the music. Let me relieve you of that half-empty glass, it looks half-full to me.

I think I'll just pass next time. Doesn't seem like free performances are my thing.

sweet tea wrote: the lawn is for lying back, looking up at the trees, and letting the music waft over you.

Bats too, if you're lucky.

And a goth. Or at least a goth at heart.

I was at one of the shows and was standing in the walkway because all the people in the lawn were talking and eating snacks instead of watching the performance. It was pretty annoying to hear people complain about us "standers" for ruining the show when they were simply trying to have a picnic.

I could have gotten there earlier, but I still wanted to enjoy the show.

I hate lawn concerts for this reason. Like the NY Philharmonic concerts in the park; I went to two of them and it was just a bunch of people needing an excuse to drink wine on a blanket, which they could do any other night.

javierpuga wrote:
I hate lawn concerts for this reason. Like the NY Philharmonic concerts in the park; I went to two of them and it was just a bunch of people needing an excuse to drink wine on a blanket, which they could do any other night.

lol!

Was this the Mark Morris performance? Decided not to go given that I didn't have all afternoon to stake out a spot at the bandshell, and then didn't feel like just listening to the music (which I knew that would be all I could do if I sat outside the shell).

But yeah, people like that suck.

Subject: if you're a big cry-baby, sit down

waaaaaaa waaaaaaaaa waaaaaaa
i'm an adult baby
i can't get along with people
i just whine and complain

learn the lay of the land and adjust your plans next time

or arrive on time and get a seat in a chair or on the rise of the hill

regardless, stop whining

PS, this board is free

madman wrote: Just a bit of a rant.

So my wife and I went to one of the free concerts (actually a dance performance) at the bandshell in Prospect Park last week. All of the seats were full of course, but we brought a blanket and set up on the grass with hundreds of other people well before the show started.

People were milling about before the show, but when it started I was shocked that crowds of people started gathering on the walkway between the seats and the lawn and just STOOD THERE blocking the view of the hundreds of folks behing them.

My wife and a few others went up and nicely told them that they were blocking everyone's view. Some people were like "huh? oh. whatever" Others were like "but i didn't bring anything to sit on". But most simply ignored her.

Then the crowd on the lawn started chanting "Sit down. Sit down" and people started yelling "Sit your fat arses down". Some of the guards cleared the standers on the stage left side, but where we were sitting, there was still this group of a-holes blocking the view of the stage.

We finally gave up and left. On the way out I complained to one of the managers at the gate. He looked at me incredulously and said "its a free concert".

I don't know what pisses me off the most. The a-hole mob mentality of people standing infront of people who have planned their evening around an event like this, or the a-hole nature of a park EMPLOYEE (it may be a free concert, but he's getting paid) who was rude to me for voicing my valid complaint about him not doing his job and controlling the crowd.

Maybe it just goes to show you that everything that's "free" in new york sucks.

Rant off.

I enjoy pestering the standing people to clear out, its kind of a game but it only works when its not too crowded and the standers can just move over, once it gets crowded though you can forget it. If you really want to see the show then its pretty simple, you just need to get there early and snag a spot higher up on the hill.

MArk Morris sucks!!! BAM has given this boring choreographer more props than he deserves!!

sneakyonstmarks wrote: MArk Morris sucks!!! BAM has given this boring choreographer more props than he deserves!!

aww, c'mon sneaky. you know how much i love him. who would you rather see, merce? foofwa?

brooklynlager wrote: thats nyc for you, just got to deal with it, most people take the route of becoming the asshole as opposed to being the victim of the asshole, so i feel the mentality expands that way (makes more people be assholes).

I travel a lot for work and am constatntly amazed at how humane people in other parts of the country are complared to NY.

Case in point: I was buying a pack of smokes at a gas station in Florida, and asked the girl behind the counter if they had any matches. She said, no, but here you can have one of my lighters, I have two.

Imagine that happening in NY... oh wait you can't. The person would have ran next store to get some matches to sell to you for $10.

Just one out of hundreds of exmaples I encounter.

Makes me down on living here sometimes.

Hmmmm, can't wait for the Dylan concert!

Subject: Re: if you're a big cry-baby, sit down

elitt wrote: waaaaaaa waaaaaaaaa waaaaaaa
i'm an adult baby
i can't get along with people
i just whine and complain

learn the lay of the land and adjust your plans next time

or arrive on time and get a seat in a chair or on the rise of the hill

regardless, stop whining

PS, this board is free

Way to make this personal. Oh, and thanks for proving my point about "free" things.

good call Sterling2000.
if anyone stands up in front of me they're in for it :twisted:

Subject: Re: if you're a big cry-baby, sit down

elitt wrote: waaaaaaa waaaaaaaaa waaaaaaa
i'm an adult baby
i can't get along with people
i just whine and complain

learn the lay of the land and adjust your plans next time

or arrive on time and get a seat in a chair or on the rise of the hill

regardless, stop whining

PS, this board is free

whining about whiners makes you a whiner. and the purpose of this site is largely for whining. welcome!