"Raymundo" (raymundo)
09/02/2015 at 10:09 • Filed to: None
2
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"Raymundo" (raymundo)
09/02/2015 at 10:09 • Filed to: None | 2
| 7 |
Hello Oppo. I live in North West Florida and here in NWF we have a few weekly/monthly/annual car gatherings/festivals. Every Tuesday night we have a meet up in the parking lot of a place called The Swamp, so the name of the meetup is affectionately known as The Swamp.
The Tuesday meets are just that; meets. It’s usually a relaxed atmosphere where the locals can simply hang out and socialize outside of Facebook and Instagram. I say usually because last night... last night was special. I felt like I had stepped onto the scene of a Fast and Furious film shoot. The pictures will not depict this because I was there to simply take pictures of things I could appreciate, not the pack of bikers constantly red-lining their engines — in a damn parking lot.
Ah local meets. I’m sure plenty of people have had a less than stellar experience with local night time meets. For whatever reason the night sky tends to bring out the boy-racer in so many people. Parking lot pulls, burn outs, constant revving, and fights. Wait, fights? Yeah, apparently the local social gathering is a place to settle disagreements.
You know, the pirates of a the 17th century had codes. In their codes it was strictly forbidden to settle disagreements on board the ship. Instead, should pirates need to quarrel they would have to wait until the ship reached land so that the pirates could duel with pistol and sword. I feel like that’s how car meets should be handled but replace “land” with “highway” and “duel” with “play in traffic”. After the fight, cops arrived thus causing everyone to disperse and ending the meet early.
So what then causes such turmoil when a large group of people gather together under a seemingly innocent premise? Maybe it’s the heat; this is Florida afterall and there does seem to be a correlation with rising temperatures and an increase in conflict in the world. Could it be that the general population consists of young males with little life experience and high amounts of testosterone? The night sky, it must be that. The decisions people make tend to become swayed under the veil of night.
I suppose a combination of all of the above would be a safe assumption. There has never been an official social media outlet that hosts this meet and I think I know why now. Hosting a night time car meet is like hearding cats and once one cat goes haywire then you’re left dealing with a cluster-fuck of spazzing cats. That’s a big responsibility considering it affects the overall atmosphere of the car community and now involves police presence when a large group of cars start gathering in a parking lot.
There you have it, ladies and gentlemen. The weekly Tuesday car meet here in NWF. We have another one on Saturday nights in another location that has way more burnouts and even more fights. I usually never go to that one.
So Oppo, how are the local car gatherings in your neck of the woods?
SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
> Raymundo
09/02/2015 at 10:15 |
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This pretty much perfectly summed up why I hate going to meets that aren’t strictly motorsport related. Whereabouts in Florida are you?
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Raymundo
> SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
09/02/2015 at 10:17 |
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Yeah, although every once in a great while I end up meeting someone really cool and then these meets become a little worthwhile. I’m in Fort Walton Beach; between Pensacola and Destin.
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SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
> Raymundo
09/02/2015 at 10:24 |
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Oh wow, you’re way up there. Ever go to autocross? You might find that the crowd and setting gives you more of what you like about meets without all of the drama. You won’t see as many super shiny show cars, but there are still cool rides and you’ll see people actually pushing the limits of themselves and their cars in a safe and controlled environment against the clock instead of dick-waving with burnouts and drag races. I’ve never had a bad interaction with someone at any of the who knows how many I’ve been to over the years, and have definitely not seen anything like the little boy tantrums at parking lot meets.
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Raymundo
> SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
09/02/2015 at 11:13 |
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Yeah I understand that. I do autocross somewhat regularly. The mindset at autocross is of course completely different and draws a different crowd. It’s funny you mention that because I wrote an article about autocross earlier this week on my website. Ha.
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SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
> Raymundo
09/02/2015 at 11:36 |
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Haha, just checked it out. Nailed it. You ever make it out to the one at Amelia Island? I make it up there every once in a blue moon.
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Raymundo
> SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
09/02/2015 at 11:53 |
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Never heard of it. *Starts Google Maps*
Whoa, that’s quite a drive for me. How is it?
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SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
> Raymundo
09/02/2015 at 12:14 |
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It’s okay, I guess. Being North Florida, I forgot that Florida the panhandle it’s as wide as it is tall. I just looked up the directions myself, and, umm, yeah. It’s track time, so to me it would probably be worth it every once in a while, but if I didn’t have friends up in Jacksonville that I use it as an excuse to visit, I probably wouldn’t go up there at all. My local is way better, and there are others that are more local to me.