Generation X Review
Costume Collection-
Nevertheless, I was in
“Wildfire” and came at my correct time and day for pick up. Me and
my friend waited 3 hours
before we were called off the “list” and allowed to get our
costumes only to be told we had to come back tomorrow for the rest of our;
“special orders” (wire bras and one piece). My section leader never
specified this in our email (I have a copy of the email attached).
“Hello Masqueraders!!!!
We are a week away from Carnival day!!! Ready or notCostume Pick-upFor those who have not seen the information on our website. Wildfire section is scheduled for pick up on Friday, October 5th 5pm-10pm. Mas Camp address:
7640 NW 25th streetUnit 103Miami, FL 33122
Please come with your paypal receipt in hand and cash if you have an outstanding balance. I will be accepting balance payment online up until midnight tonight. Make a request (via website), so an invoice can be sent. Payment must be received before midnight. If you have never played mas before, the mas camp can be very busy. So please bare with us during this time of bacchanal :) See you soon!! Kimone”
I was extremely upset that I am missing a party that I already paid for only to be told thanks for waiting now come back and wait some more tomorrow. I was not having it so they signed off a paper saying that we would not have to wait in line just come straight to the back and they will take care of me Saturday. The next day I had reluctantly left Red Eye early to go back to the camp to see the line is now WRAPPED around the building and is filled with angry masqueraders. I walked straight in (as instructed by Vanessa ) and still ended up waiting another hour only to be given 2 wire bras that were missing 9 jewels and was told they did not have the one piece ready and all they can do is give my friend back $25 or a plain top to “bedazzle” herself. She was in complete shock and became filled with anger because they took the rest of her money ($150) knowing they had nothing for her. When I spoke to another employee, Shiona; she told me I need to go and search for as well as PAY FOR a glue gun, glue sticks, jewels and some beads. I explained to her that in all they received over $1,000 between me and 2 of my friends and all I keep getting from Generation X is rude, sarcastic, insincere, and unmannerly employees but all I want is the 3 costumes we PAID in FULL for. She said all they can do is give me a tank top to dress up myself or give me the one piece on the road Sunday and she will PERSONALLY do it herself. The room was filled of people listening to her and told me to get a paper with her signing it saying that the costume will be at the road. She said she is not signing anything and I will have to take her word. I asked her what she will be wearing on the road tomorrow and she said “exactly what I have on today..this same white shirt and this same pair of jeans” in a disgusting tone. We obliged and left.
The next day aka day 3 aka CARNIVAL DAY, we get to the road and I found Shiona on the drink truck (in a different outfit) First she ignored me and my friend, then when I finally spoke to her she said where were we at 9am??, I told her exactly where we was suppose to be, getting our make up done. She said we need to find “Charmaine” she has the costume. We asked who is she because we have no idea how she looks. She said “Fine!! I’ll get her myself” we waited 30 minutes and watched her continuing serving drinks. Again my friend asked “can I please get my costume” and Shiona yelled “WAIT!”. After another1 hour we realize she has no intentions of leaving the truck or giving my friend her costume. My friend is miserable, upset and crying. Other masqueraders saw what’s happening and start telling us that there’s numerous other people with half of their costumes and was told to decorate theirs and other wire bras were also falling apart. They told us to find a committee member who are in white shirts and ask them to help us. When we located a committee member they said they couldn’t help us. My friend played mas in this:
Security:
The road had absolutely no security. The
band was FULL of stormers. The little security they did have was guarding the
DRINK truck.
Food and Drink:
I had 2 drinks the whole day because I was
either being told “No drinks right now” or
“wait’…or simply ignored. The food was COLD and the lo-mein tasted sour...SPOILED!!!!!
Music:
The same 9 songs were played over and over again. I have a 30 minute video that has 4 songs played twice and 2 songs played THREE times
Route:
Keeping the parade in the stadium was a horrible idea. It
took a lot away from carnival in my opinion. Instead of introducing people to
our culture, the only people that paid to came in were the ones who already
knew about our culture. Space was limited on the road to display big
costumes and it was a “stormerfest” the whole time I think
because of this as well as the inadequate security provided by Generation X.
People:
The masqueraders call themselves “Generation Vex”…I call it “Generation Next” because I’m on to the next one. You would have to be a fool to play
with Generation X again next year or ever again after how they treated the
masqueradors this year. And I really enjoyed the performance on the
truck…oh…that’s right…there was none..smh
Sincerely,
The whole truth and nothing but the truth
so help me God
-Disclaimer-
1 comments:
I definitely agree that limiting the parade to just within Sun Life was a major let-down. I registered for my camp before Miami Broward had their official site up (with parade route). If I had known the parade was going to be a joke, I might not have played mas this year. I did not play with Gen X but my camp had issues all the same. The problems with grounded American Airlines flights delayed our costumes, and then security of the stadium wouldn't let our music or food truck in to park with us, so we had no music til we were on the road. And I personally hated having all those stormers walkin up in our sections, smackin ass, and just messing up the organization of our sections in general. I think every dissatisfied masquerader should write a letter to the parade committee about making this more like the parade I went to in '08(?) that went down Biscayne Blvd and ended at Bayfront Park. That's really showing off the culture to the people!
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