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Buzz Feed
08-08-2025
- Buzz Feed
Shocking Items Found by Event Cleanup Crews
Reddit user ForeXcellence recently asked, "People who clean up after festivals/concerts, what's the weirdest thing you've ever found?" Unsurprisingly, because people are unhinged and so, so gross, the replies were absolutely all over the place. Here's what people revealed: "Someone once found a prosthetic leg filled with mini liquor bottles and a phone number written on it that just said, 'Call me if found. Or don't.'" "I've cleaned up after a county fair a couple of times. My weirdest find was liquid shit in a glass wine bottle. I still have questions, but we did not investigate at all." "A friend of mine worked security at a music fest and found a perfectly sealed burrito inside a shoe. Not a food container, but a shoe. The dude took it home and ate it. He said it was the best burrito he ever had, and he still talks about it three years later." "Oktoberfest finds at least one set of dentures annually." "A four-foot papier-mâché penis." "An unexploded firework shell from the fireworks display. My dad put a fuse in it and lit it off in the church parking lot across the street for New Year's. Those are NOT supposed to go off on the ground. It sent fireballs 300 feet in all directions (except down, of course). Dad turned 83 in June. Somehow, he still has all his appendages, both eyes, and most of his hearing." "Did this as a volunteer in the past. The main thing you find is just so much shit. Shit in a sock? Check. Shit in a saucepan? Check. Shit in a sleeping bag? Check. You get the picture." "Two Ziploc bags full of urine. They were found in the women's bathroom of the bar I worked in." "A small bottle of breath freshener that turned out to be many drops of LSD." "I found a woman's purse with a few thousand dollars in cash. I returned it, and the elitist husband tried to give me a $20 bill reward. I brushed him off and complimented the lady on the nice family pictures." "I did an EMS standby festival, and we would always go through with the clean-up crew to make sure there were no people left. One day, I found a bloody knife and blood all over the grass after a festival. We called in a whole crew of cops and the fire department to see if we could find this person, which we didn't. No hospitals in the area had anyone come in with a stab wound. No dead bodies in the last week with a stab wound. Have no clue what happened with that person." "My sister and her roommate found a cat tied to a tree and abandoned after the Rainbow Gathering. The roommate kept her, thank goodness, but who the hell does that?!" "Shit in a frying had been fried to medium-rare." "$8 in quarters, in a perfect little stack." "This was after a festival where I participated in an FCCLA event at the town square. I stayed back after to help clean up, and I found a jar with liquid, little plastic babies, and little plastic buttons in it." "Soooo many plastic bottles filled with urine. Several shoes. And one vibrator." "A home answering this was only 10 years ago." "Found a few condoms and a tooth once." "Cleaned up after Wacken Open Air in Germany. People left their tents, sofas, and refrigerators. Nothing really weird, but some people made sculptures out of their trash, and others burned their stuff on the campsite. Also, a burned-out caravan had to be removed." "Over 15 years of global festival production here. We find everything, especially because most of the events I've worked at are 'leave no trace' events, which means that during cleanup, we remove everything from the site. In no case have participants left no trace. At one point, I was in charge of the sanitation contract. We had a vendor who vastly underestimated and couldn't keep up with the demand one year (the event was oversold), and there were literal pyramids of poop above the toilet seats all over the site during the event. People on acid would open up the door to a port-a-potty after standing in line for 20 minutes and just burst into tears, then add their bit to the pyramid. I have no idea what they used to wipe. Also, one year we had a bout of food poisoning hit our production commissary. One of my crewmates ended up shitting in his own cooler since he was stuck and super sick in his tent for a couple of days. I have PTSD from the poop stories." "Worked at the Tweeter Center in the south Chicago burbs as a teen for a few summers. I did tons of odd jobs, but they made us all clean the hill (we picked up larger stuff; they gave us bags and gloves). It was mostly money, cigs, garbage, but one time we found a carved, wooden tortoise left under one of those hemp blankets you can buy at fests!" "I found an ounce of mushrooms in Highgate after a Grateful Dead show. I also found a fully loaded Neo Jukebox in the very early 2000s. I don't remember what show it was, but that thing had so much bad ass music on it. I found federal police hiding in the trees in Chicago '95, Grateful Dead lot. Yeeeeow. I had a lot of fun in life." "A lap harp! Hand-made, intricate carvings and in great condition. I left it with security (people I know). No one claimed it, and at the end of the season, they told me it was mine. I left it until the beginning of the following season, and it was still not claimed, so I took it home! At least I tried." "During a shift as a server at a big money gala, I found a beautiful silk scarf, a single lady's slipper shoe (the kind women bring with them to change into), a man's tie, a falsie, and there was a pair of Spanx I saw in the women's restroom garbage. There were more items, but those stuck out. I worked that gala for a few years, but they were never that many dropsies as that one." "Catheters and a gold fish in a toilet." And, finally: "A wig with a pile of raw broccoli on top of it." Have you ever worked as part of a cleanup crew for outdoor events, hotels, convention centers, arenas, etc.? If so, what's the weirdest or grossest thing you've stumbled upon? Tell us in the comments or share anonymously using this form. Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Phoenix Indian Center holds annual Rainbow Gathering for Two Spirit LGBTQIA+ community
The Phoenix Indian center hosted its annual Southwest American Indian 2SLGBTQIA+ Rainbow Gathering on June 12, 2025, at South Mountain Community College. Photo by Shondiin Silversmith | Arizona Mirror In a time of uncertainty and continuous attacks on the rights of LGBTQ+ people in Arizona and beyond, the Phoenix Indian Center wanted to offer the community a safe space for individuals to share resources and stories that highlighted Indigenous experiences. 'Visibility is more important now than ever before,' said Levi Long, a communications specialist with the Phoenix Indian Center, due to the ongoing attacks on the rights of this community. For many Indigenous people, the acronym primarily used is 2SLGBTQIA+, which includes Two Spirit people. The term Two Spirit acknowledges the traditional roles and identities of Indigenous people who lived outside the binary of male and female within many Indigenous communities, and is an identity that predates the colonization of North America. Two Spirit Diné trans woman Trudie Jackson has been a prominent advocate for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community for decades and is an Indigenous scholar with research and work that focuses on the Two Spirit community. When she placed the 2S before LGBTQIA+, she said she had people constantly trying to correct her. 'Two Spirit existed before colonization and the Stonewall Riot,' Jackson said. 'My ancestors were here before the colonizers.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX President Donald Trump's administration has pushed anti-2SLGBTQIA+ policies since he took office, including a rollback on health care services, implementing policies recognizing only two genders and banning trans people from the military and playing sports. In Arizona, several officials have pushed the same rhetoric by introducing and advancing a slate of anti-2SLGBTQIA+ bills, including a sweeping anti-trans 'biological sex' bill that Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed in April. At the Phoenix Indian Center, Long said that they are very intentional with centering Indigiqueer voices, especially in a time of uncertainty with the political landscape and the consistent challenges to their rights. He said he hopes that more organizations from the Indigenous community will step up for their 2SLGBTQIA+ relatives to let them know that there are safe spaces for them — and they're not going anywhere. The center hosted its annual Southwest American Indian 2SLGBTQIA+ Rainbow Gathering on June 12 at South Mountain Community College, providing a safe space for Indigenous people to share resources and stories. The theme for this year's Rainbow Gathering was 'Weaving Tradition: Past, Present and Future for Native People.' The Phoenix Indian Center is the oldest nonprofit organization serving the Indigenous community in the United States, offering a range of services including workforce development, peer support and youth development. Phoenix Indian Center CEO Jolyana Begay-Kroupa said the Rainbow Gathering is always rooted in Indigenous teachings of respect and a space that honors 2SLGBTQIA+ relatives as sacred healers, leaders and community caretakers. 'This gathering celebrates this diversity that weaves our Indigenous community together and makes us collectively stronger,' she said, adding that it's essential to look at the cultural teachings to guide the framework for a future that ensures all Indigenous people can thrive and have access to equitable lives. 'We gather here right now to find strength, to find solidarity and weave a stronger fabric so that we can hold on together,' Begay-Kroupa said. The gathering featured multiple speakers from the 2SLGBTQIA+ Indigenous community, who focused on topics related to Two Spirit health care, the history of Two Spirit people within Indigenous communities, body image, personal experiences and resources available. One experience shared during the event was by Charlie Amáyá Scott. She said she was 13 when she told her mother she is queer. She wrote it down on a note and slipped it into her mother's lunch bag. 'I was a scared little queer, and I was like: 'I'm queer. Love me, please,'' Scott said. 'Later that day, after I told her in a note, she told me that she loves me.' Scott, now 30, said she is proud to be her mother's oldest daughter. She was the keynote speaker for the Rainbow Gathering, and she shared with the crowd some of her life experiences as a queer, trans Diné woman and Indigenous scholar, emphasizing the importance of stories and storytelling. 'Through stories, we learn who we are, where we come from, and what we could be,' Scott added. 'We exist because of stories.' A story Scott shared reinvents the Diné creation story, going beyond the strict gender binary of the original creation narrative. 'First Woman noticed that all creatures had a choice about who they could be and who they could love,' Scott said. 'First Woman wanted this for her people, the Diné, too.' The story shares how the First Woman's gift to the Diné people was a choice, and that is how Scott would have written the creation story. Scott wrote that story over a year ago, and she said it was to share a creation story that included honoring queer, trans and intersex relatives, 'unlike the popularized versions that dictate a colonizing sex binary and heterosexuality.' Scott said she shared the story because she dreams of a better future, world and life. 'There's something very freeing when we rewrite our stories,' she said, because it provides people the ability to dream and imagine a world of possibility, liberation and freedom. 'A world that we write for ourselves and our cherished loved ones,' she added. 'Stories are not just stories, they are memories, they are lessons, they are guidance from generations before.' Scott said she has rewritten four traditional creation stories, including one about Spider Woman, who was responsible for teaching the Diné people how to weave. 'Our traditions are meant to evolve and change in time,' she said. 'To keep them static is to kill them off.' Scott said that Indigenous people are losing part of themselves if traditions do not evolve or change because they are 'meant to live and reflect who we are and where we're going.' 'What remains is the teaching, not the specificity,' she added. The Rainbow Gathering has been held in the Phoenix area since 2011. Jackson established the event and it is now hosted annually by the Phoenix Indian Center. During the gathering, Jackson shared her work on the state of Two Spirit health in North America, which later became a chapter in the book 'A History of Transgender Medicine in the United States.' The book features 40 contributors and Jackson is the only Indigenous author. Jackson talked about the impact of colonization on Two Spirit health, which includes stigma, self-confidence, self-worth, health, well-being, homophobia, transphobia and historical trauma. She said that is why, within Indigenous communities, health care workers and facilities must be inclusive of their intake assessments. Before she changed her name, Jackson said that she still remembers what it felt like when the hospital would call her by her birth name. She said she often contemplated what to do in the waiting room, wondering if she should get up. However, even after she changed her name, the stigma persisted. Jackson said that her doctor would anger her because they would go through her entire medical history pointing out that she was born male and is now passing as female. 'Our community is often viewed as less than,' she said. Jackson said it is vital for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community to tell their stories and assert their importance within the cultural, ceremonial and spiritual traditions of their communities. 'Listening to these voices, we can create medical institutions that recognize and meet our unique healthcare needs,' she said. As part of the gathering, the Phoenix Indian Center presented two community awards, the Basket and Dream Catcher awards. Jackson said she created the awards to be Indigenous, reflecting the identity of Indigenous people. The Basket award is given to an individual or organization recognized as an ally of the Two Spirit community who has provided support for programming and services targeting the Two Spirit community in the southwest. Jackson said the basket reward reflects the time and work that goes into preparing and weaving a basket within many Native cultures. 'The intent was to identify an individual who went down the same journey as the basket by creating that weave within the community,' she added. The 2025 Basket Award was presented to Tara Begay, a Diné board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner and co-owner of TL Family Nurse Practice, LLC in Phoenix. She is actively involved in Arizona's Rapid Start Initiative, which ensures access to HIV treatment upon diagnosis, according to the Phoenix Indian Center. 'Health care is a fundamental human right,' Begay said. Some of the services her practice provides include sick visits, physical exams, HIV prevention and management, gender affirming care and chronic care. The Dream Catcher award is presented to an Indigenous person who identifies as Two Spirit and has demonstrated a lifetime commitment and services to the Indigenous 2SLGBTQIA+ community in the southwest. 'We see you, we see your work, we see what you're doing out in the community,' Jackson said, adding that the Dream Catcher Award is similar to having a vision out in the community, they see something is needed and they go out and 'plant that seed. The 2025 Dream Catcher award was presented to Rita DeMornay, who is Akimel O'odham from the Gila River Indian Community, where she began her 2SLGBTQIA+ advocacy journey. DeMornay currently serves as Miss Phoenix Pride 2025, she is the first Indigenous winner of the title since 2007. 'My journey has just begun, it is not over,' DeMornay said. 'I will continue to open these doors for our Native Two Spirit LGBTQIA+ community.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
