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SHIELDS_UP

                                                  September 11, 2007

   The "Burma Shave" at the gate to Burning Man
   this year was a long and tedious rant based
   on one and only one point: a lot of people
   complain about how Burning Man has lost it,
   but all they mean is that it isn't exactly
   the same as it was when they first went.
   You can't have the thrill of losing the same
   virginity twice.


   The joke was funny for a minute,
   but as it continued on and on,
   it got bothersome very quickly.


     No doubt BMORG gets a lot of
     complaints, no doubt a lot of
     them are inane, poorly thought            BURNING_CRITICS
     out complaints... but this
     extended rant made it sound
     like they were declaring themselves
     above criticism.

     We're a bunch of volunteers
     how dare you complain about anything!     Volunteer organizations
                                               all come to this point,
                                               but if they're smart they
                                               realize they can't stay there.
                          FIRSTIMP

                                               It's really important to keep
                                               your ears open, even though this
                                               often means you need to listen
                                               really hard to find a kernel of
                                               any sort of sense buried in the
                                               complaints from The Public that
                                               often seem repetitive and inane.


                                           And you can't expect people
                                           to kneel down and kiss your
                                           hem for being a holy volunteer.

                                           If you don't want to volunteer,
                                           then don't volunteer.

                                           If you expect to get anything
                                           out of it except the experience
                                           of doing it, then you're
                                           probably volunteering for the
                                           wrong reasons.





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