To a certain self-described run-of-the-mill snowflake (read the bio): I've got a bone to pick with you.
You wrote here on Let's Go that pilgrims in Santiago de Compostela are an obnoxious, holier-than-thou bunch. As a peregrina on the Camino, I feel compelled to defend my people.
1. We do not seek to destroy the Sacred Order of Backpackers, only to worship in a different way.
2. We're not trying for a "local look" with our wooden staffs and bucket hats and, yes, even our fanny packs. Staffs help us scale mountains, hats shield us from the unyielding sun, and fanny packs hold toilet paper for the countless fly-infested bathrooms we frequent. We dress the way we do to stay alive.
3. Galicians love us, as proven by my post here.
4. We climbed the Pyrenees.
...
87. We climbed the Pyrenees.
88. After a 30-kilometer day, buying your standard chorizo-and-cheese bocadillo is like buying a one way ticket to heaven—no indulgences required.
89. You are correct in saying we will roll our eyes at you, tourist. Sorry. Our eyes are tired from waking up at 4:30 a.m.
90. You're also correct in saying that pilgrims offer each other (even faking pilgrims like you!) "a fist-bump and a beer." Pilgrims are trusting, generous folk who transcend language barriers and national boundaries to form a tight-knit community. Also, now that we're in Santiago, we can finally get hammered since we don't have to walk in the morning.
91. The growing-a-beard-to-prove-you-survived thing is true too. Except for women, it's unshaven legs and armpits.
92. Have you ever had a "nasty blister"? The kind that swells every day no matter how much moleskin you put on it? That gains strange white striations and grows oddly-shaped tubules and so resembles a small creature that you name Maurice? If you had, you would show it off too.
93. 4€ hostels that only serve us.
94. We've been doing this for over 1,000 years. That is "epic."
95. We're pilgrims. God's divine protection, babe.