Rodeo is a special time of year where we suspend disbelief and pretend we're all from Texas and nobody questions it. That's not a slight at Texas, but it's true. Is there really that much use for cowboy boots in Alabama?
How many of us actually like NASCAR? Is it really necessary to start drinking at 7am in the morning? Of course, these are probably all resounding 'nos', but we do it anyway. We do it because it's fun. Right?
The Alpha Psi Rodeo, despite being a charity event, seems to bring out the absolute worst in everyone. This year with the reduction of parking passes, the shuttle lines were unreasonably long, and what I witnessed while I stood in line with likely 2,000 others caused me to suffer an almost complete loss of my faith in humanity that I'm not certain I've regained just yet.
Maybe it was because the average wait time was two hours to get to a bus. Maybe it was the morning sunshine that shifted too-quickly from pleasant to torturous, and the ensuing sunburn. Maybe it was the fact that there were people already drunk at 9 am. Whatever it was--I've never seen adults behave this way.
People were shoving and hitting each other. People were cutting in line in droves. I heard more remarks of profanity, racism and sexism shouted through that crowd than I've ever witnessed anywhere else. A line that started as maybe 10 or 15 people across turned into 50, and the barriers were torn down.
When the time finally came to board a bus, the crowd threw beer cans--both empty and full ones--at the boarders, and held up middle fingers. One of the people trying to control the crowd even gave up after a while and got in her car and cried.
People were arrested. Cops were harassed. I've never seen college-educated adults behave in such a way.
Even before all that started, all the good was taken out of the charity. Do you really think it's okay to buy a ticket for a good cause and then scalp it for triple the price? I heard someone say that parking passes were going for as much as $500. How is that okay? Sure, maybe you bought the ticket for $45. Good for you. The charity still got that and you made it back five times over. How altruistic.
People traveled from all over the South to come to Auburn for this event. When this is how we behave for them, what does that say? Do we really want this to be the foot we're putting forward? We've been called one of the most hospitable campuses in the South. We've been called one of the friendliest, the most welcoming, even when we're hosting rival football teams.
Shouldn't we try to put forward that same hospitality in all aspects of Auburn life? I thought Auburn men and women were better than this.
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