When my nephew was 8 his favorite band was Rancid.

Happy Birthday Pete!!!!!

Oh god, you guys, we went to a kink party in another city last night. It was thrown by a kink group, in a bar-like space they had rented. Small-ish, but big enough. Over in the corner was a bunch of music equipment, of the sort you'd see in a bar, covered with sheets. (Make a note of that.)

All was proceeding normally (for all values of "normal" that apply here), and then, about 3 hours into the party, with about 2 left to go, all of a sudden the music cuts and we hear this loud bellow of "PARTY'S OVER! EVERYBODY GET THE FUCK OUT!"

People are in the middle of various activities, because that's what happens at these things. So you have all these half-dressed/undressed people turning around quickly (if they could), all bug-eyed. It's this big, bald angry dude, and he yells again, "GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE, I'M CALLING THE POLICE! YOU HAVE 15 MINUTES AND I'M CALLING THE POLICE!"

By the time he finished his *first* bellow, I already had my corset off and sweater on. (I was NOT in the middle of nefarious deeds when the dude flipped his shit.)

Then he starts ranting about how all we had to do was NOT touch the music equipment, but someone messed with it, and GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE NOW OR I'M CALLING THE POLICE!!!

People are scrambling, getting dressed, shoving stuff in bags, etc., and then one guy decided to mouth off back at Angry Bald Guy. So they have a shouting match that consisted mostly of the word "fuck." And I'm thinking, oh god, this is how riots get started, I need out of here NOW.

So we scrambled out, flung stuff in the car, and drove off like bats out of hell to the nearest Waffle House. It was like being in high school and going to a party someone had when their parents were out of town -- and then having the parents come home early.

The group that threw the party legitmately rented the space, but apparently someone moved the music equipment, which was a really stupid thing to do. I mean, even if Angry Bald Dude hadn't yelled, you still shouldn't move stuff that isn't yours; you work with the space the way it's set up, or you decide not to participate. Yeesh.

Freaky. (Also with the REALLY not wanting to be arrested in conjunction with a kink event. Jesus.)

If that's any consolation for the lost party, Steph, I really don't think you were the freak at this situation. People suck, don't they?

Also, waffles are goooood.

Also, hey again!

How scary Teppy! I'm guessing that dude had no idea exactly what sort of party it was going to be and he flipped out over more than just the equipment being moved.

If that's any consolation for the lost party, Steph, I really don't think you were the freak at this situation.

Oh, I didn't feel like a freak; the whole *situation* was freaky.

Still, MUCH better than it being the actual police, which is something that's always a worry in the back of my mind. It's a calculated risk. Because even if what we're doing is legal (and, although fuzzy, it generally is), so that *if* we got arrested the charges would be dropped -- it's still getting arrested, and affects that whole public record thing.

So on the whole, Angry Bald Dude was the better option.

People suck, don't they?

And blow.

How scary Teppy! I'm guessing that dude had no idea exactly what sort of party it was going to be and he flipped out over more than just the equipment being moved.

Perhaps, but there are better ways to handle this kind of thing. Like, not flipping out. Or, getting a quick chat with the guy/woman with whom you made the agreement about using the venue for that night.

Could be just me, though.

I'm guessing that dude had no idea exactly what sort of party it was going to be and he flipped out over more than just the equipment being moved.

No; when he was approached to rent the space, he knew it was for a kink party and was cool with it. His one stipulation was Do Not Touch The Music Equipment. Which -- people should know better. There was more than enough room for people to do their thing without needing to move things.

Perhaps, but there are better ways to handle this kind of thing. Like, not flipping out. Or, getting a quick chat with the guy/woman with whom you made the agreement about using the venue for that night.

Well, yeah. Talk to the organizer, have the organizer pull the offender aside and/or ask them to leave, tell the organizer that the group is liable for any damage to the equipment, and then proceed.

Some people have anger management issues, though.

I feel most sorry for the people who were actively in the middle of scenes, because it's really jarring -- kind of traumatizing, in a very minor way -- to be interrupted/stopped unexpectedly, and THEN to have to scramble to get dressed, packed up, and out the door, when you're still very likely not in your normal frame of mind -- gah. That sucks HUGE for them.

It's good to see you back, Shir. I thought of you yesterday when I had a lovely snack of olives and cheese in the dish you gave me.

Mmmm, food.

And Laga!