[at-l] Gathering and Camping

[jbullar1 at twcny.rr.com (Jim Bullard)]

At 01:07 PM 9/26/2004 -0700, Janet Hensley wrote:
>if you believe that NO ONE camping at the Folk Life
>Center will have even a flask of the "good stuff" to pass around,  or
>a nice bottle of "homemade huckleberry wine",  or this years "spring
>water" ... then you haven't been to the same ALDHA Gathering that I
>have attended for several years!  I dislike hypocrites much more than
>I do over indulgent drinkers!  This doesn't have to be a problem at
>all.  It is all about attitudes more than anything.  Can't we all just
>get along?

This is going to make me unpopular but what the heck...

Suppose you want to hold a get-together and I offer you and your group free 
use of my place to stay on condition that there is no alcohol. This isn't a 
rule I set just for your group, it's the rule all the time for anyone using 
my place. Suppose then that you agree to that to my face but to your group 
you say 'no alcohol guys, just bring your fresh "spring water" (wink, wink, 
nudge, nudge).

So who's being the hypocrite in that scenario, the party who is made the 
rule and accepted your word that you would comply, or the one who is 
agreeing to the rule but tacitly ignoring it? Actually there's a better 
word for the later behavior... deceit.

We spend a lot of time patting ourselves on the back about how hikers are 
better than the average person and how the trail is safer than most other 
places. Shouldn't we live up to the image we project? If we want to be 
thought of as trustworthy we have to be trustworthy. That doesn't mean 
bring alcohol, hiding that you have it and cleaning up after so no one will 
know you broke the rule you agreed to. It means adhering to what we agreed 
to. It's that simple folks. It's not about turning a blind eye or just 
getting along, it is about honesty. If you truly cannot comply, do not 
accept the hospitality of the Folklife Center and recognize who is really 
responsible for your being somewhere else. Hint: It isn't Warren Doyle and 
it isn't the Folklife Center.