Seeking and Finding Wholeness

I went to the Basilica Block Party yesterday. If you know me then you know I am not big on parties, concerts, loud music, etc.. I was invited to go so I went. People were much better well behaved than I expected, I think Minnesotans are generally nice and polite and this contributed to the party situation. Maybe the fact this was a Basilica party also made a difference. The music was fun, especially the Barenaked Ladies band (the Chinese Chicken song).

What I did not like was how party admission volunteer staff had everyone get rid of any food or beverages (including water). I understand that they would like people to not bring food or alcohol or even soft drinks, but water is a different story.

I felt that asking people to get rid of their water was an overreaching rule (and a wasteful one). They were filling trash container after another with bottles of water and other drinks, a huge waste.

I did not have my own water bottle with me, so I did not have to get rid of anything. But, had I had water I would have felt very uncomfortable doing that and probably would have refused.

Once I was inside the fenced, barricaded “camp” you could only buy water from a few places and each bottle was sold for $4!  A $1 bottle for $4!

I call this an abuse of power, even extortion. It also felt like an infringement on my human and constitutional rights. Further, you could buy food and beer from many vendors, water was only available at a couple places, no free (fountain) water was available.

What If I said No?

The next time I go to a party I will take my water bottle with me, and I will refuse to throw out my water. If they insist I do, I will say I need it because of health reasons. If they say “no” I will ask for FREE water inside. If they say “no”, I will write about it here again and will then consult with an attorney to see if I could take legal action.

As far as I am concerned what they did was extortion in order for me to buy water from them at their inflated prices.

You may have to wait a few years before I get to try this, since I rarely go to parties like these.

To the Basilica of Saint Mary I say, “please do not extort me again”. Just, “stop it, now”.

To you, the readers, if you had similar experiences I’d like to hear from you, please leave a comment below. If you are a representative of the Basilica I’d love to hear from you, do leave a comment below.

Thanks!

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