What single thing at faire hurls you off into the depths of rage?

[Rowan MacD]

The other thing that irritates me are fall-down drunks.  I drink heavily at the faire.  I get drunk.  I do NOT however get so drunk I am falling into people.  I tend to save my good drinking until the adult pub sing we have and then I head home.  It irritates me when I see people so drunk they can't even speak.  It bothers me MORE when they are in garb because that reflects on ALL of us.   

   Amen.
  I grew up with an alcoholic father, and then I was married to another falling down drunk until I divorced him. 
   I drink very little, and my new hubby not at all.   We do have friends who like to indulge, but not to excess, because they know that 'snot slinging' drunks are not my favorite people, in or out of garb.
   When the drunk is in garb during the day, it amplifies the problem.   
   People who are falling down drunk in the lanes (a thankfully rare occurrence, though not rare enough) make me feel acutely embarrassed for the faire.  Children attending faire really don't need to see adults in that condition, in the middle of the day, and in a place that is supposed to be family friendly.  Kids see a 'character' in costume (whether they work there or not) and expect them to be a bit more...wholesome... for lack of a better word.  Their parents will probably not bring them back next year.       
 

[Merlin the Elder]

I think many of us play up the drinking thing—I know I do. My love of Jack Daniel's has become something of a legend, methinks. I do drink it, but at faire, it is generally left for back in the hotel, relaxing before bed. At faire, once within the walls, I drink only those ales and stouts that are available from the local barkeep. No one has ever seen me drunk at a faire.

I've seen a few of these morons at faires. It's not fun. I even had a drunken woman approach me and a companion at one faire, and she was being very loud, obnoxious, and rather crude. (For the record, I can be quite crude, but only in private, and with the best of my friends.) It would not have been a major issue had we been somewhat isolated, but we were in the main lane!

I was at a loss at how to diffuse the situation, when luckily, my companion's wife approached. She had assessed the situation as she walked up, and effectively took things back down to Defcon 5 without incident.

I've been around drunks of various types. Some are vicious, others simply sloppy. The best way of handling a situation is by contacting the management/security. I don't know if all faires are as easy, but at Scarby, all of the taverns have direct connections to security.

[Lady Gregory]

We recently saw one of the wenches during one of the pub sings who could barely walk.  At first we thought it was comical as we thought it was part of her act.  Then when the show ended, and she needed help off the stage and we witnessed her stumble on her way, we realized she was half in the bag.  Not sure if she was a volunteer or paid, but it was totally unprofessional and inappropriate either way, not to mention in bad taste, and I am far from a prude.

[Merlin the Elder]

Are you certain she was part of the faire? I should think that any faire upon finding one of their own in this condition would remove them from service—permanently—whether paid or not. The liability alone would be grounds for dismissal and banning from the faire.

[Lady Gregory]

To answer the op's original question, nothing has hurled me into the depths o rage yet, and hopefully won't.  I am pretty laid back, but it ain't pretty when I go there on that very rare occasion.

I did get annoyed by a rude shopkeeper, especially when I had planned to drop a pretty penny with them.  It killed me to walk away as I really wanted their wares, but I am a proud lady, and by God, I was not going to give them my business.  Luckily, that has only happened once.

Another thing that once aggravated me were cast members who would rather commiserate amongst themselves than talk to the patrons.  Again, only witnessed this once as most are quite wonderful and love what they do.  And yes, they were definitely on cast and not playtrons.  I experienced this personally as well as observed this with garbed and mundane patrons alike.

[Lady Gregory]

Are you certain she was part of the faire? I should think that any faire upon finding one of their own in this condition would remove them from service—permanently—whether paid or not. The liability alone would be grounds for dismissal and banning from the faire.

Yes, I am certain she is associated with them as I have seen her in many of the acts on previous occasions.  Although, come to think of it, I don't recall seeing her last weekend, so perhaps she is no longer with them.  She has been a regular fixture all this season and I haven't missed a weekend yet since Labor Day.  Yes, I agree it is definitely a liablity issue as well as portraying a bad image for the faire.  I am sure many were turned off and complained. It was that blatant.

[PollyPoPo]

Thieves.   

Security can only do so much.  Big gatherings attract the thieves in disproportion to the general population.     The idea of "we're a big, happy family" makes some of us a bit complacent at times.

Thieves.   

It's sad, but campers almost have to leave one of their group on guard duty at their campsite instead of enjoying faire.  These criminals are very good at avoiding security. 

Thieves.   

They can take a small item less than inches from your hand if you do not have eyes or physically have hand on it at all times.   In tight quarters, females hover over strollers to grab purses, cameras, etc., while Moms are busy with kid, say, changing a diaper. 

Thieves.   

[Lady Gregory]

Thieves.  

Security can only do so much.  Big gatherings attract the thieves in disproportion to the general population.     The idea of "we're a big, happy family" makes some of us a bit complacent at times.

Thieves.  

It's sad, but campers almost have to leave one of their group on guard duty at their campsite instead of enjoying faire.  These criminals are very good at avoiding security.  

Thieves.  

They can take a small item less than inches from your hand if you do not have eyes or physically have hand on it at all times.   In tight quarters, females hover over strollers to grab purses, cameras, etc., while Moms are busy with kid, say, changing a diaper.  

Thieves.  

This makes me sad, but unfortunately, there are dregs of society everywhere, even at faire.  I guess I am naive in a way and try to see the best in everyone.  All I can say is karma, baby.  She always comes back with a vengeance.

Eta:  Yes, this would be one of the few things that would def hurl me off into the depths of rage.

[Rowan MacD]

They can take a small item less than inches from your hand if you do not have eyes or physically have hand on it at all times.   In tight quarters, females hover over strollers to grab purses, cameras, etc., while Moms are busy with kid, say, changing a diaper. 
Thieves.   

Having 'lost' more things than I can count at faire, I agree 100%.
It sucks to be the victim of one of the oldest professions in history.  The techniques haven't changed in centuries, but nobody can stay hyper-vigilant all the time.

[Nidhoggr]

The other thing that irritates me are fall-down drunks.  I drink heavily at the faire.  I get drunk.  I do NOT however get so drunk I am falling into people.  I tend to save my good drinking until the adult pub sing we have and then I head home.  It irritates me when I see people so drunk they can't even speak.  It bothers me MORE when they are in garb because that reflects on ALL of us.   

   Amen.
  I grew up with an alcoholic father, and then I was married to another falling down drunk until I divorced him. 
   I drink very little, and my new hubby not at all.   We do have friends who like to indulge, but not to excess, because they know that 'snot slinging' drunks are not my favorite people, in or out of garb.
   When the drunk is in garb during the day, it amplifies the problem.   
   People who are falling down drunk in the lanes (a thankfully rare occurrence, though not rare enough) make me feel acutely embarrassed for the faire.  Children attending faire really don't need to see adults in that condition, in the middle of the day, and in a place that is supposed to be family friendly.  Kids see a 'character' in costume (whether they work there or not) and expect them to be a bit more...wholesome... for lack of a better word.  Their parents will probably not bring them back next year.       
 

Don't get me wrong, I DO get drunk at the faire.  BUT i wait until: A) The end of the day, B) I am sure I am not driving, C) I don't get sloppy drunk.  This past season, the only exception was on a hardcore day that fell on a friend who worked at the faire as a vendor's birthday.  The only attendees were playtrons who everyone knew.  D) I keep the "heavy" drinking to the adult-pub where drunken debauchery is the norm.  And most IMPORTANTLY:  E) I drink plenty of water and eat plenty of food to keep myself from falling to the ole' "Empty Stomach Monster". 

I have had PLENTY of days where I am drunk, and even a few where I am not exactly walking a straight line.  NEVER have I had a "fall down in the lanes" or "Loud and obnoxious" day.   Honestly most people at the faire have told me before that "It's hard to tell if you're drunk because you act exactly the same.  The only difference is you're ridiculously cheerful".

[PollyPoPo]

Nidhoggr, you sound like a few guys I know who never quite act drunk, just a little happier, or quieter, than usual.  

Me, a fat old elf, when I plan to drink, I am always with someone who will not only be sober, but strong enough to pick me up, dump me in a vehicle and make sure I get to a safe place.  It's very seldom I indulge much, being the matriarch and all that, but I have to plan ahead so as to not give the younglings any excuse to ever use me as an example of why it's okay to get plastered.

Unfortunately, I have seen more than one drunk lying face down, passed out, alongside a path, usually to a campgrounds.  Within Faire itself, someone usually manages to hide the serious drunks.  Bad for business, you know.

[Luna]

disrespectful people in the audience;
this past weekend some friends and I were at TRF watching "Sound and Fury". it was the last show of the day  and it was almost over when we started overhearing this guy behind us complaining about the show. he was criticizing them, I believe without really understanding what they were trying to do. he also said that they needed to wrap it up. I think if I had heard much more I would have done something, but I didn't want to interrupt the show by causing a scene, but I did give him a nasty glare. 

[Merlin the Elder]

If I wasn't enjoying a show, I think it would be logical to remove myself from the audience. It's somewhat of a chore to stand up and walk away, but I think I could handle it.

[Rosie Nell]

   Its really hard to ruffle my feathers, so there are very few things that truely bother me at Fest. Peeve me possibly? Yes, such as mispronouncing "My Lady" as "My Laty" and workers/cast who have beautiful costumes but walk around in sneakers. But the things that bother me the most are...

  1: Unsupervised kids. I get that all the time where I am at, including parents who encourage the kids to steal. I wish I wasn't making that up.

  2: Blatantly rude or obnoxious drunks. Happy drunks I find amusing and enjoy laughing and having a good time if they come talk to me.

  3. Inconsiderate smokers.  I make the distinction because I know there are smokers who are very considerate and do not blow smoke everywhere or leave their butts on the ground, and for that I am extremely thankful; even made a point to hug one a few weekends ago. On the other hand I have a severe asthmatic reaction everytime somebody comes right up to my game waving their cigarette around, chases me with it, blows it in my face or hands me money with the cigarette in the same hand. Gladly all I have to do is ask for them to move and they are very nice about it most of the time.

[adamfifer]

Though in most cases I don't mind at times past it really twisted my kilt when people have kilt-checked me at random and without warning...

Now I go bare just for those who think its funny, they get a show close-up!

How would they like if I just walked up and reached up their skirt or down their pants!