Spotting a scalper.

People look forward to the UAAP Men's Basketball Tournament for a plethora of reasons.  For the players, they look forward to for obvious reasons.  For me, I look forward to it because I am a very big basketball fan and there's nothing like watching fellow Ateneans play for the school.  But there are some people who enjoy neither basketball nor watching their schoolmates play.  They're in it for the money.  And while I understand that some Filipinos need to make a living, this is simply not the way to do it.  And don't take my word for it.  It's freakin' illegal for crying out loud.

I hate scalpers of all shapes and sizes and there are two that I encounter the most often.  I will be providing diagrams to help all the readers of this blog as to identify those scums of society and hopefully report them to the proper authorities. 

Exhibit A

Setting aside all artistic limitations, the image above is what your average Smart Araneta Coliseum scalper looks like.  While the clothing may not be accurate, I am sure that any scalper will be without a small sling bag around his body, otherwise known as the scalper bag.  I would surmise that he probably reeks of some unknown odor.  He fearlessly roams around the arena looking for rich dudes without tickets.  And once he finds them, he sells them his ridiculously priced tickets, as if it was he organized the event.  The thing that pisses me off the most is that these guys leech off someone else's hard work.  All they've got to show are a couple of sleepless nights and maybe a few hours standing in line, and he has the audacity to sell you a ticket for a thousand bucks?  That's just ridiculous.  I really hate people who take credit for other people's hard work.  That includes you, Atayde.

Exhibit B

You can find almost all Ateneo scalpers in one place.  I'm not even going to mention where it is, but if you're an Atenean, then you know what I'm talking about.  They don't dress in a distinct manner so it's hard to spot them when you're looking at physical attributes.  But when you hear them talk, that's when it all makes sense.  I wonder if this is what the JGSOM had in mind when they wanted more entrepreneurs from Ateneo.  They're definitely creative, sometimes using Facebook to have their friends bid on their tickets.  Such blatant scalping is just horrendous.  If I hate the Araneta scalper, then I hate his Ateneo counterpart ten times more.  Let's just say I expected more from these guys.  They do not deserve to study in the Ateneo if they want to engage in criminal activity.  The only "friendly price" for me is if its less than what it's actually worth.  I do not like bashing people from my own school, but this is just too much.  If anyone connected to the Ateneo administration reads this, I hope something concrete is done to address the problem. 

I hate the scalping culture.  And as long as there are rich lazy people who would rather buy tickets at a higher price than line up because they have the money, it will continue to plague this country.  So much for getting rid of "utak wang-wang".  Its roots go deeper than what anyone expects.  Actually, I would treat the Araneta scalpers as some sort of collateral damage.  But if even Ateneans continue to scalp, then good luck to Noynoy in his crusade.  Scalpers can just go suck it.

by Mr. Pink