Mad as hell and twice as ugly

Well that's a lesson learned.

The conversation with the market organiser, two weeks ago, (just after the tornado market, in fact, on the 7th) went something like this:

Flib:    So I'd like to book one more day, the 16th of December.

MO:     Right, so you want to book the 9th and 16th...

Flib:    No, not the 9th, I told you last week I couldn't do the 9th.  Just the 16th.

MO:     Oh right, right, right [trails off, obviously fascinated by something outside the window, or hitching up her socks, or anything but running her business]

Flib:    And I wanted to ask you about a better rate [Flib's been told by other market traders that due to the complete lack of organisation - and lighting - all the other traders have negotiated a discount]

MO:     Ooh, well, um, the thing is we have to bring everything in, the canopies, the generator, the lighting... [Thinking - yeah, but not the footfall but what do I care about that...]

Flib:   I've had three weeks of trading where it's been dark from 3pm and there hasn't been any lighting. [Thinking - if this is such an unsuitable location, they why use it?]

MO:    Well I suppose I could give you £10 off for each week there wasn't any lighting.

Flib:  Thank you, I appreciate that. [Pitiful sense of inappropriate gratitude preventing Flib from thinking too deeply about whether she should be bothering with this market again]

MO:   So what are you going to do, send me a cheque or pay me on the day?

Flib:  Well I guess I'll pay you on the day [Thinking she'll deduct another tenner if she's piddling about in darkness again come half past three]

MO:  Fine, see you then.

So I get there this morning, and you can probably guess what happened... my friend Keith the Chocolate man, mentioned "the email we got last night" and the alarm bells started to go off.
MO wrote down my booking on the wind with her imaginary paintbrush and went off to La La land for the afternoon.

I decided I would be firm and stand my ground.  Surely relaying the conversation to MO would jog her mind?

NO.

Firstly she said 'But you didn't turn up last week,' and I pointed out that I was never supposed to be there on the 9th. But what really pissed me off was when she told me that 'any proper business person would have sent an email and a cheque'. Meaning that I should have emailed her.  Yes, if you are dealing with someone like MO, then that's probably true.  And there's my lesson learned. She was incredibly rude and that just made me think - why the hell give her any more of my incredibly hard earned cash?  Also during the previous markets she had been going on about this being the big day in the run up to Christmas:

PARTY DAY!! SAT 16 DECEMBER WITH  D.J. BIG ED,  Free Moroccan Tea, Wine & Food Tasting, Chocolate and Marshmallow fountain

Eh, yeah. Here's hoping it will be ok in the dark, as the lighting probably won't work again.  I had thought 'yeah, sounds great,' and was also really pleased that it was featured on Daily Candy, a very cool listings site/mail-out, as the thing to do this weekend.  And then was not entirely surprised but exasperated to find out this morning that MO expected the stallholders to chip in to pay for all this entertainment.  Funny how she forgot to mention this in the preceeding month as she talked it up.

So I'm almost over it all now, having spat it out at all of you - and I'm giving myself a kick in the pants and I'm going to go to Camden Market tomorrow. It's actually a little cheaper for a pitch, and even though it was scary as a customer, I'm going to go and chance it.  I don't think I'll do any more markets after Christmas but I'm giving it one last chance. 

Dear god, wish me luck.  I'm really beginning to think that the universe is trying to tell me something.

Comments

[Julie]

What an old bag - it makes you wander how she holds down a job. Poor you - not what you needed right now! Taking a break sounds like a great plan - ready to get up some energy for new year.

[Rebecca (eco felter in rural Ireland)]

I often wonder why people forget arrangements I've made with them, when I figure it out I'll let you know!