[Noisebridge-discuss] Sat night: There's good crazy & not-so-good crazy

[Danny O'Brien]

On Sun, Sep 4, 2011 at 9:29 PM, jim <jim at systemateka.com> wrote:

>
>
>    Terrific report, specially the ending!
>
>    Seems to me good that we all get comfy with the
> idea of gathering together to heavy out people when
> such become clearly obnoxious. I'm guessing that
> obnoxiousness occurs mainly in the night times, yes?
> There are people who are regularly there and
> unobnoxious at those times?
>
>
That's one of the things I think (night, early morning)

There's a mailing list adminned by Mitch and Rob 1.0 for the people who
spend a lot of time at night in the space, but it hasn't really been used or
spread around.
https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/night

d.


>
>
> On Sun, 2011-09-04 at 21:06 -0700, Just Duncan wrote:
> > Things have slowly been getting crazier this week, escalating
> > to the police being called last night.
> >
> > In order descending order of severity and risk are:
> >
> > (1)  Jay (J?) who is belligerent, disclosed he has schizophrenia but
> > won't take medications for it, has auditory hallucinations, paranoid
> > delusions, and has basically moved into Noisebridge every night and
> > day.  He disappeared for a few days last week and then reappeared with
> > scrapes and cuts to his face, saying he had been arrested and beat up
> > by police for doing "mime" in Union Square, was 5150'd at SF General,
> > and
> > "escaped" (his claim) when the drugs they had injected him with wore
> > off.
> > The tipping point is that he drinks heavily and generally sees NB as a
> > place to come by, get smashed and party, interrupt work, ramble on
> > with
> > his latest drama, and swing from being civil to belligerent and
> > threatening.
> >
> > Last night he was very intoxicated and, as I sat next to Kayla on the
> > couch eating a burrito and enjoying the 1 beer I got with it, he came
> > over to get a laptop off the table and wanted to apologize for an
> > outburst he had at me earlier.  All fine and good until he decided he
> > wanted a hug from me, comes over into me sitting down after I'd
> > verbally thanked
> > but declined, stumbles on a power cord, and drunkenly slurs/knocks
> > into me...
> > knocking the newly opened beer in my hand and splashing it all into
> > the keyboard of  Kayla's Macbook Pro laptop.  Seeing it was his
> > intoxication that had
> > caused it, Kayla was furious as her computer was dead by appearance.
> > She called the police and went downstairs to wait for them with Ramon.
> > Prior to leaving, Ramon talked with Rolf about asking J to leave and
> > Rolf asked if I would assist.  I agreed.  Alex was also enlisted and
> > very rigid about the police not coming in.  I went down to find Kayla
> > to
> > see if that would work for her, but she and Ramon had gone down to
> > 17th
> > street to find police and were no where to be found.
> >
> > Returning upstairs, NB was clearly emptying out.  Alex said he was
> > about to
> > leave with Stephen and Mek, said it was then or never.  We all agreed
> > and
> >  J was asked to leave... which turned into him becoming belligerent,
> > refusing to leave.  Meanwhile, I left them them trying to convince him
> > to leave and was
> > pulled to go down stairs to handle another person of concern.  This
> > was
> > successful and is detailed below.*
> >
> > Returning upstairs again, it was clear that Alex, Ramon, Rolf et al.
> > had failed.  I was going to stay, but frankly didn't/don't feel safe
> > being alone at NB with him.  I left, only to encounter the police
> > outside with Ramon, Mek, Stephen, Kayla, and Alex.
> > Kayla wanted them to remove him and get his name for her; she called
> > the
> > police.  Alex didn't want police to come up stairs, even though there
> > was no way to remove him and he, himself, had failed to remove him.
> >  The officers were an older-school/rookie-- but even the older-school
> > had the new police view of "look, we know you're a collective and you
> > don't
> > want outside involvement ever.  Unless someone is dead, you can't have
> > it both ways and we're very hesitant to go inside until you've all
> > consensused on it and agreed to let us come in."  The younger rookie
> > was
> > clearly new and naive, telling Kala to file a claim under her renters
> > policy or her parents homeowner policy... i.e. he had no clue that
> > people might not have such things.  I proposed the compromise between
> > everyone (Alex, Kayla, police) that we were OK for now, but if we
> > needed
> > help further would call them back.  Kala left upset that when a person
> > calls for police help from inside Noisebridge that "police" aren't
> > allowed in when things are out of control. Neither she nor I are any
> > great fans of the PD, but they do have times and places where they are
> > appropriate.
> >
> > Moreover, no one here knew who to call (e.g. a Board Member).  This
> > was
> > very frustrating as J stayed the night and is still here when I came
> > back at 10 this morning.  The man is quasi-psychotic, is almost always
> > wearing a knit cap for id., paranoid, and clueless... he was playing
> > punk acid rock in the kitchen Friday night on the laptop, even after
> > Rolf politely asked him to turn in down.  I, personally, do not feel
> > safe with him in the space... and some basic level of personal
> > security
> > is-- per Milo's argument at last week's meeting-- in my view, a
> > reasonable expectation of NB, along with the door working and Internet
> > access.
> >
> >
> > (2) Some guy named "Evan (aka Taemon?... "I'm the new guy that brought
> > beer!" at 3pm on Wednesday) has recently been showing up and always
> > with alcohol in tow.  Just for the record, I've got no problem with
> > alcohol (I had some of one last night with my burrito), or other
> > substance usage.  It is only a problem if people are using it and not
> > taking responsibility for their behavior and others in the space.
> > Getting angry or choosing vent frustrations with others while
> > intoxicated isn't productive; having the judgment to know when it is
> > best if they remove themselves from the space is.  I'm particularly
> > bad, personally, at reading the difference between trolling and anger
> > with someone who intoxicated or in a different "reality" space than
> > myself.  "Taemon" was a pure accelerant to J's drinking/drugging &
> > general  craziness/instability the other night.  Both were loud,
> > constantly inserting themselves into conversations not involving them,
> > while saying nothing of relevance. Taemon has spent the night both
> > times I've seen him this
> > week; I woke him on the couch at 11am this morning.
> >
> > As someone who uses the space  nearly every day, this week has been
> > a difficult one given the absences  due to Burning Man, greatly
> > reduced presence of Robert 1.0, the "squatting" over-night by the
> > above, and yet a steady stream of new guests and potential members.
> >  I've stepped up to giving tours. I love
> > and cherish this space, understand and know first hand that change is
> > constant in life, and think Noisebridge is getting better every day.
> >  I
> > put at least an hour every morning into cleaning, do my best to do the
> > "are you new to NB?" and "what are you working on?" questions, and
> > encourage
> > some sense of maintenance routine to keep going.  It is all good,
> > though I do
> > look forward to the return of others (members or not) who can help out
> > with these things so I can put more time into working on the various
> > projects that are demanding my time and attention.  Lately, this
> > includes not only the wallets, but building a website/store, settling
> > an insurance claim for my backpack stolen in June.
> >
> > On the positive side, I have probably given at least 25 tours this
> > week
> > and fundraising donations seem to be coming in.  The Noisebridge WW
> > are
> > also selling, 100% to the NB General Fund.  Also, Ed, has been  week
> > and really helped launch an attack on the fruit fly situation.  Best
> > of
> > all, he has a particularly wonderful talent for cranking out totally
> > AMAZING PIZZA!  omyn, yom, yom!  Joergen has also done some culinary
> > wonders this week.  Best of all, both of these people and most people
> > around this week have really pitched in and worked hard to not only
> > get
> > the place relatively cleaner, but to keep it that way.
> >
> > Lest this be taken as NB being "all weird and scary," let me be clear:
> > It is not.  If anything, from what I've observed over the past 3
> > months, it is becoming more excellent every week.  The vast majority
> > of what's going on at Noisebridge is awesome, outstanding, fantastic,
> > and positive.  People are what make this such an excellent
> > space/community.  Nevertheless, Noisebridge *is* a part of the
> > community around it and, I think, evolving for the good because of
> > this.  If you are curious, want to learn, want to create, want to
> > share & contribute, want to be able to do something more than covering
> > the basic needs of existence... then Noisebridge is for you.  The only
> > concern is that what before seeming to a few outliers has been
> > creeping lately into regularity.
> >
> > I thus raise this issue with the following statements in mind:
> > -Communication is leadership.
> > -Problems are easiest to solve early and small vs. later and huge;
> > Prevention is best.
> > -No growth or change is possible until everyone admits the truth of
> > the reality of a situation.
> > -Groups working together can generally find better solutions than
> > individuals acting alone.
> > -This is an opportunity to improve, not a call to isolate.
> >
> > Noisebridge is an awesome environment/space/community
> > and one that I am passionate about sharing and contributing to.
> >
> > Peace and thank you,
> >
> >
> > Duncan (the Weightless Wallet guy)
> > _______________________________________________
> > Noisebridge-discuss mailing list
> > Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
> > https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
>
>
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