T-shirts for change

After three days of pulling I've declared provisional victory over the ivy. It will be back, but right now there is none where there was tons of it. Unfortunately most of it had to go in plastic bags and though I have been assured that the yard waste collectors empty the bags, I have to assume they will then throw them away. Sorry. So hard to be a purist.

Best news of the day was the new movement to dress up the protestors in urban camouflage, i.e. business suits. I've been trying to think of a t-shirt idea that I could whip up when I get back to town, to sell to raise money to donate to the protest. I'm not going to go down and live in a tent, just can't do it for several reasons. But I do certainly want to do something. Reposting things on FB is getting old. Most of my friends on there share my politics so they already know this stuff.

So, t-shirt brainstorm. We're at the bottom looking up. We just want to earn. Listen to your children. Be part of the solution. Maybe a fake business suit-looking thing with something cute on the back.

I dunno, not getting anywhere. It has to be funny and clever and have something new to say. I hold my t-shirts to a high standard. And I'm not so sure it will sell. Most of the political stuff I've done in the past few years has ended up being given away. Need another hippie shirt. Get your boat this time hippie? Those tents are going to be floating in Eugene. And those shirts aren't made in the USA, folks. They might just be part of the problem.

I've been pre-occupied today with my feelings about the Fair fee increase specifically the parking sticker inequity. I really don't want to feel the us and them, but why do I and my workers have to pay $20 and the other workers pay $10? It makes no sense. We are all working as hard as we can, as far as I can see. We are all serving each other and the public. Yes, I'm making a living there, so I might go home with more money than I arrived there with, but I also have a lot of giant bills to pay when I get home.

It's a huge effort and risk to mount that show. My fees amount to $300 per public day. That is a really expensive show in my world. All of my success is due to me being on it every waking minute, and also professional and efficient in my efforts so that my customers are satisfied and my responsibilities are fulfilled. I do very much appreciate the efforts of the volunteers and see that some of what they do is for me: the security keeps me safe from threat and theft, the traffic helps me not waste a lot of time getting in and out, all the staff and coordination supports what I am doing there.

But I also support them. I bring wonderful items to entice and satisfy the public. I create a big part of the draw that builds the gate income. You can't really separate things and say one of us is more essential or more deserving than another one. So why do we not strive for more equality in our membership?

We don't seem to have this problem at Market, maybe because all of our volunteers are also vendors. We (or at least I) trust our Budget committee and they seldom levy additional fees on me. They always look to other ways to make their decisions to avoid fee increases. Our percentage fees ensure that we all pay the same proportion of our income, and when I do well I'm happy to help Market do well. The Fair did well this year, so why do I have to pay more?

I read through the meeting minutes and there were lots of sensible comments and a few proposed compromises, but the vote was taken and the fee increase was passed. Nothing to do about it now but cope. I can theoretically cut workers (though I can't, since we are all working as hard as we can) or ask them to pay for their own parking passes or something. I'm not going to do that. My workers are practically volunteers as it is. I can pass the costs on in increased prices, but I have seen the public every week this year and they do not have money. That will likely result in less income rather than more.

Occupy Main Camp? Not that funny, and I doubt the spotted towhees will care one whit if I sit out there a little longer. The Fair isn't exactly a greedy corporation even though I would like to see them trying a little harder to have more compassion for my struggle to survive.

I tried this year to shift my thinking by getting more involved. I volunteered for the Fair, specifically the Scribe Tribe, people who take minutes at committee meetings. This was really good for me. I got a much better idea of how the committees function, and paid a lot more attention to the people who do the work and what they do. I renewed my faith in what good, well-intentioned people we are. I felt a greater sense of belonging. I consider just about everyone a conscientious, conscious member of my fair family. I felt a little reciprocation. At least a few people learned my name.

But truthfully, I also noticed that these people were generally not really supportive of me. They passed by quickly if they passed by my booth at all. I heard a lot of volunteers bragging this year about how well they managed to stay out of the eight during the day. Excuse me? Is the eight during the day not the Fair? Why don't they participate in that? How come they don't buy my stuff, or even look at it (with some notable exceptions who have always been very supportive of the Market and even me in particular)? Is it me? Am I just not seeing that they do buy my stuff? I hope so.

It seems like we're having several parallel events at the same time. There's the craft fair, and the shows, and the night scene that the young people dominate, and there's the pre-fair that we all know is a really great time and a lot of sweaty work. It all happens together but it isn't really happening together.

So we can work on that. I will offer to not write a complaining letter to the FFN this year about the fees. I said it all last year anyway, to little response. I will pay the fees and not make the t-shirt with the cynical response (actually, no promises there. I have a backlog of funny and cynical ideas and I might not be able to resist come June). I will continue to volunteer (though I dropped one committee, regretfully, mostly because I can only type so much and I need to concentrate on typing things that make money for me). I will continue to try to think the best of everyone and give them the benefit of the doubt and strive for mutual understanding and common ground. We are all working hard for a valuable purpose.

I'll try not to be negative about the community center plan, though I may continue to insist that the funds for it come from fundraising and not the vendors. I'm not much of a visionary and I want to support those who are. When it is built we will probably all love it and find it useful. I certainly hope so.

But if we are really in this together and all that, I would like to see some of the visible fair volunteers come to support me and my fellow vendors this year at the Holiday Market, or maybe even on the Park Blocks in these coming dark and wet days. I'd like them to speak up about our common experiences and solidify our relationships. Purchases aren't really as necessary as presences. Let's find more ways to collaborate. Let's find more ways to love each other and include each other in our thinking.

We have a little tiny and wonderful world in Eugene/Veneta. We are really lucky that we made it that way and protected it and are living in it. It isn't perfect. But if just one volunteer comes and buys one of my $20 items, someone who has not done that before, I will use the money to buy one of my expensive parking passes and feel better. I promise to feel better about it. I do not want to feel resentful and petty.

Let's save our animosity for the real enemies. You can find lots about them on FB right now, thanks to this new revolution. Let's concentrate on big justice, and be kind to each other.

Wow, this is not how I thought this blog would go. All the way from occupy Main Camp to maybe I'll drop in there and check out that Hospitality service next fair. I hear it is for us boothpeople too. It might be quite the heartwarming time to go down there and get a snack and a drink of something cold and feel part of the family.

Dang, next thing you know I'll be running for that Board myself. Then I'll have to put myself on the line and make those hard decisions and get all that criticism. That'll show me.