Standing Next to A Wanker at Wilco

A couple of weeks ago, I saw the band Wilco again, for the very last show on their most recent tour. Having seen Wilco a number of times, I was pretty excited about the show at Stubb’s.

Alas, during this Wilco show fate had me standing next to an asshat. This is someone who thought talking loudly during the band’s show, balancing multiple drinks between his fingers on each trip back from the bar and then taking many pictures and multiple video’s on his bright smartphone in a dark outside venue was a good use of time. In general, the guy was acting like an above average wanker, even before I interacted with him. Since the show was sold-out (and since I’m short I was happy that at least I had found a spot where I could actually see the show) I didn’t try very hard to move.

During the Wilco song “Hummingbird” the guy next to me asked me to take a photo of him and the girl he was with. Since I think that using a band as a backdrop to take a photo is rude to the band, I refused. I’ve written before about how I think that putting down your phone at shows is the right choice.

Then the guy started berating me. He told me that since I was wearing an “Austin Film Society” shirt, that I ought to be into pictures.

I didn’t mind telling him no, but I’ve been thinking a lot about the fact that the dude felt comfortable berating me in public when I didn’t want to do something that he wanted me to do. Berating strangers for not doing what you want them to do is tacky and disrespectful.

Consent is an important thing, even when it is just about taking a photo. While I can’t be sure, I wonder if this rude behaviour might be a red flag for other problems.

Last I saw the guy, he was complaining several people at that same Wilco show had told him “no.”

All I could think of was, well, this dude might the problem in his own life.