We're sure all of you are as excited as we are on the board about the home opener matches this weekend. It’ll be good to see the lasses and lads out on the pitch at home, and to spend some quality time with friends we may have not seen since the last time we walked out of the gates at Providence Park.
However, for many the excitement of the new season is tempered with a tad bit of trepidation. The board has received more than a few emails from people who are already dreading dealing with issues related to people cutting in line and excessive seat saving.
The Rose City Riveters and Timbers Army hold respect for others as one of our highest values. Often we talk about this in the context of larger human rights issues, but it also should be practiced in our day to day interactions with our fellow supporters and community at large.
Part of being respectful in a match day setting is recognizing that there are established norms with regards to getting into and standing in the north end.
When you go to line up, you should not be inserting yourself into the line in front of people who have been waiting longer than you. Many of us learned this in kindergarten, and it still holds true today: Don’t cut. Go to the end of the line like thousands of other people did before you got there. You’re not that special.
Once in the stadium we have an old adage: One Scarf One Seat - this means that you may save a seat for yourself and a seat for a friend. You may not toss down 2 (or 5 or 10 or 37) scarves across any more than the seat you will occupy and the seat your compatriot will use. Everybody has friends who need to work late or can’t show up in time to get their preferred seat: again, you’re not that special.
SG representatives will be on the lookout for abusers this season: if you see something say something. Find a board member or a capo or someone with a tifo pass and let us know. We don’t want to involve security or the front office, but if we don’t deal with this ourselves we may have no other choice. And then, frankly, we all lose.
So rather than draining positive energy from the stands via selfish actions, let’s all be excellent to each other and use that energy to sing louder, clap longer, and wave our flags higher - because, in the end, isn’t that what we’re here for?
