Friendly Greetings From Tombstone: Part II. Authoritarian Annie

Written 24 January, 2010

Friendly Greetings From Tombstone

II: Authoritarian Annie

Sweetie and I arrived on the Tombstone Arizona Sim (Broken Rose) sporting western costumes and wearing the titlers and role play systems from Black Diamond Ghost Town.

We were greeted either by a volunteer, a poorly-paid Tombstone employee, or a bot running Passive-Aggressive Personality V. 2.0. She smiled far too much.

When she asked us if she could help us (smile), we said we were hoping to visit. She said we would need a copy of the rules (smile). I said we had them, which she should have known, since they were given to us automatically upon arrival.

I said it seemed we would need to join the group in order to visit. She asked if we had the titler and HUD and offered to help us with the group.

Then came the first hint of passive-aggressiveness.

She said we could visit the brothel without a tag, but we looked like respectable ladies to her. And then she chuckled, a really evil laugh. I could tell just by the way she wrote "Authoritarian Annie chuckles" in chat.

She then took us to the tag and titler, and we each paid $10 for them and put them on. I started searching for the group, which didn't show at first since stupid Second Life had the adult and mature search functions turned off in Search > Groups. I finally found the group, but there was no option to join. I told Authoritarian Annie so.

Meanwhile, Sweetie had followed another avatar though the exit door and couldn't get back to the entry area. She asked Annie for help.

Annie told Sweetie she couldn't get through the door without a group tag. Sweetie said, But I AM through the door and I can't get back in. I didn't know I wasn't supposed to; the sign wasn't rezzing for me.

This seemed to flummox Annie. More than flummox, it knocked her off her program, apparently. She told Sweetie we would be getting our group tag shortly (and I remember her saying subject to the vagaries of Second Life) and could teleport down to the surface (and so would I). Hearing this, I used the teleporter on the other side of the door to beam down to the surface. Sweetie followed.

We didn't quite reach the surface. We weren't allowed on the land because we didn't have the group tags on.

And let me summarize here. We didn't have our group tags on because the group didn't allow us to join it. And because the promised group invitation from the friendly greeter hadn't arrived.

I flew up to 80 meters or so and cammed around the sim. There seemed an unreasonable amount of urchins and quite a few people who were wearing non-era-appropriate clothing. They had group tags, though. Why didn't we?

Sweetie, also hovering in the air, IMed Annie about the group tab and was told, in essence, "Sometimes it takes a while. Sweetie also IMed the mayor of the town, who was showing as online but apparently wasn't. We waited 20 minutes for our group tags. They didn't arrive. Annie once again said it sometimes takes a while, which of course meant, as she said it repeatedly, that she damn well hadn't sent Sweetie's tag. Or mine.

I teleported to Tombstone Winslow, which Annie the friendly greeter had told us didn't require a tag, and began to look around. Things were just starting to rez when Sweetie teleported me back to the Tombstone entry area.

That's Authoritarian Annie in the Green She has apparently 

called in reinforcements (the woman in black to the right).

Authoritarian Annie was in full passive-aggressive mode when I arrived. She was saying to Sweetie she knew we had been in Black Diamond, but things were different here in Tombstone. She needed to speak with Cheyenne and see her wearing her HUD and combat system before she could (meaning would) send her a group invitation.

When I walked closer so Authortarian Annie could see me, she started quizzing me, asking me specifics about the role play... and using canned spam (object chat) to do so.

"Miss Cheyenne, can you tell me what happens if you get shot and lose three of your hearts?"

When I didn't answer correctly (I was starting to get a bit sarcastic by this time), she offered to show me where to get the rules. I said I had the rules and Sweetie said we had looked them over.

I told Annie I was wearing the titler and HUD.

She told me I needed to read the rules more carefully.

I would die, she told me, if I didn't get medical attention.

I said I guess I would just die after 30 minues, then, because I didn't much cotton to sawbones (this, by the way, showed I knew the rules; I had obliquely answered Annie's question).

Meanwhile, Annie continued to spam us with the rules. She said we would be required to take classes.

I told her I wasn't interested in taking classes just to sightsee.

She asked if I agreed with the rules.

I said I 'd read the rules, but, as I had no group tag I would just not go down to the surface.

Annie said not if you don't agree to our rules, you won't.

I said I hadn't disagreed with the rules.

And she said, still with the damn smile-in-chat, if I would say "I agree" I would receive my group invitation and be welcome.

I said I was dressed appropriately, had read the rules and had no problem with them, was wearing the HUD and tag, and had tried to join the group.

And I said if we were to decide to stay, we would most certainly be interested in becoming good at role play and would attend the classes.

Annie, damn her, said I had not yet said to her "I agree."

And here is the crux of her passive-agressiveness. I was doing everything appropriately. I was wearing period costume, and I was wearing the titler and combat system. I had told her I didn't disagree with the rules, which means, in plain English, that I agreed to them.

But she wanted the words "I agree" out of my mouth.

I wasn't going to say them.

You know why?

I wasn't going to give such a pedantic, small-minded, authoritarian, passive-aggressive bossy, unpleasant, petty bureaucrat the satisfaction.

And so we went home without having seen much of Tombstone.

Learn about passive-aggressiveness in my next post.