True that. The problem is, is that people dont realize how hard the pit people work.

I remember my freshman year, you see, i auditioned and made it on snare in the drumline. Throughout percussion camp(before actual band camp), i worked my butt of trying to memorize my parts. (these arent stock parts we get, theyre rewritten by my percussion teacher, which means the music is a lot harder.)

on the last day of band camp we were running through the show. well, during a backwards move, i somehow tripped and fell backwards onto the ground while of course, wearing a 16 pound marching snare. the other snares, unaware of my fall, stepped all over me. this was the likely most probable ending mark of my snare-playing status that year.

A few days after band camp ended, my band teacher pulled me aside and asked me to play this timpani solo in the last song of the marching show because none of the other pit members were capable of playing it. Of course, i obliged. I still played snare for the rest of the show, right? Wrong! Turns out that there was no way for me to get to the pit from the field in a timely manner. Therefore, i was put in pit for the show. I had to learn a whole new slew of parts, which enraged me rather much, especially since i spent the previous night working 3 hours straight cleaning and memorizing the drum feature.

Even though i was internally defiant and distraught, after a while, i learned that my keyboard skills went up up by a lot. I realized that they may not march, but what they have to learn and memorize takes a lot of work. so, kudos to the pit. :)