Steamboat Pilot & Today

Be Rainbow aware

I am writing in response to your overly optimistic article dated June 11 about the upcoming Rainbow gathering that will be held in North Routt from July 1 to 7.

I feel that your article did little to prepare the citizens of Routt County about the problems such a mass gathering can create. No, I am not a conservative. I did not vote for Bush. I am a conscious-minded, Democratic-voting citizen. I believe in the original ideas of communal living. I used to go to Grateful Dead shows. I am a vegetarian. I like hippies.

However, I earnestly believe that many of the ideals that members of the Rainbow Family started with are no longer a part of their community. I do not mean to over-generalize, but many Rainbow Family members no longer believe that we are all one global community. I used to agree with many of the original ideals of the Rainbow Family -- we are all one, we should live together in peace and harmony and help one another.

Unfortunately, in college, two "brothers" stole my credit card. Another one stole clothes out of my closet. That was after I fed them for a week and let them crash on my floor. Any time you get a huge group of trees together in the forest, there is going to be at least a few bad apples. I saw the same thing happen at Dead shows in the 1990s. People who began with great ideals got stuck on bad drugs and became different people. When you are trying to get your next fix, you don't care about screwing over your "brother." Your mind becomes focused on one thing only -- yourself.

I am not trying to say that the Rainbow people are all bad. I have too much faith in humankind for that. What I am trying to say is this -- lock your cars, don't invite your fellow brothers and sisters into your home. Don't go out to the Mount Zirkel Wilderness alone. Communal sharing includes the sharing of women. Just be aware.

Perhaps we can inspire our Rainbow brothers and sisters. Perhaps we can help remind them why they originally came to be part of the Rainbow Family.

Sarah Burkhart

Steamboat Springs