| rev:text
| - In theory, this place should be awesome: Live music, DIY ethos, and ever since it left Wilkinsburg, convenient location. In reality, it's anything but. When I frequented the Roboto Project, I felt uncomfortable and unwelcome at every show, which sucked because I went to the shows to relax and meet people. At first, I couldn't put my finger on why many of the people I met and tried to talk to were not very friendly. They seemed unwelcoming to other newcomers, too, and when I approached them, displayed body language and tone of voice strongly suggesting that I should go away. I complemented musicians after their sets, which was clearly a faux pas, since at least a dozen of them over the years rolled their eyes at me or laughed in my face. Other people were able to compliment the musicians without being mocked, but I realized quickly that I, for whatever reason, belonged to a social caste that should not compliment anyone.
I attended a Roboto Punks Picnic the first year I heard about such a thing. This was also an error of judgment on my part. About half of the attendees acted standoffish and glared at me. Several more turned their backs when they saw me approaching to say hello. I left the picnic after unsuccessfully trying to make conversation with several hostile people and spending some time wandering around by myself. When I got home, I wondered what I could have done differently to make friends. Worn a ripped hoodie instead of a Ramones-style motorcycle jacket? Worn an Aus-Rotten t-shirt instead of a Dead Boys t-shirt? Not smiled as much? Not shook people's hands and introduced myself?
The answer, as it turns out, was "Not attended the picnic at all," but I didn't know that yet. My interest in the Roboto Project dwindled considerably after the terrible time I had at the picnic, but I wanted to give it a fair chance. Nothing changed and I quickly grew tired of patronizing and supporting a community that didn't seem to want me in it. At Roboto, my LGBT activism, my work in HIV/AIDS prevention, and my liberal leanings were secondary to what I looked like, how I dressed, how long I had been in the "scene," where I'd gone to high school, and where else I went to concerts. The middle-aged suburban transplants I met/befriended through working in Pittsburgh were leagues more tolerant, open-minded, and inclusive than 95% of the Roboto/indie/underground folks. (Maybe that's why punks hate those yuppies so much?)
Ironically, Roboto always emphasized their "uniquely inclusive, tolerant attitude." What a joke! The behavior I witnessed at Roboto was something I should've expected because Pittsburghers - and especially counterculture Pittsburghers - spend so much time patting themselves and their city on the back for being "friendlier than average," and "so much better than [insert city's name here]" while striving hard to keep their social circles limited to the people they met in 7th grade. Come to think of it, Roboto could be a metaphor for trying to socialize in Pittsburgh if you didn't attend high school with your targeted social circle. If I'm ever homesick for the Midwest, all I have to do is remember institutions like Roboto (and the unemployment rate in Cleveland, and UPMC, and...) and the feeling fades in seconds. I'll close with these Dead Kennedys lyrics, which sum up The Roboto Project perfectly:
"Punk's not dead
It just deserves to die
When it becomes another stale cartoon
A close-minded, self-centered social club
Ideas don't matter, it's who you know
If the music's gotten boring
It's because of the people
Who want everyone to sound the same
Who drive bright people out
Of our so-called scene
'Til all that's left Is just a meaningless fad"
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