[MR] What the Heck is going on?

[Michael Houghton]

Howdy!

On Tue, Aug 19, 2003 at 08:26:58PM -0400, Robert Dawson, PA-C wrote:
> First it's Pillaged Villaged, then Master Iolo and New World Arbalest, now
> it's Phil's Grill, the Mediterranean place (see below).  Does anyone know

The note from Phil presents one side -- Phil's. It will almost certainly
have a bias in how it presents important details. Another poster noted
that there appeared to be issues related to the hours kept and how that
related to the food vendor licenses. 

At least two distinct first-person accounts of issues with Iolo and his
shooting range have appeared. One dates from ten years ago; the other is
clearly more recent. Iolo's protestations do not stand unchallanged.

Pillaged Village got caught selling after the final closing time. Were they
set up? Maybe. Maybe not.

> what the heck is going on with the merchant autocrat?  I heard from three

Maybe she is just being pushed too far. I've observed her being very slow to
take precipitous action. Vendors have gotten multiple opportunities to amend
their behavior before getting sanctioned. Those who seemed to think they 
could push a bit harder found out that Cindy is not a doormat.

> other merchants that they felt their relations with her this year seemed
> strained, and two said that they were concerned about speaking out about the
> Pillaged Village incident, lest they be booted out of Pennsic, too.  One of
> them opined that Cindy Cooper is trying to drive out many of the older
> merchants and replace them with ones more to her personal liking.

Is there anything substantive to back up that claim? 
> 
> Phil's Grill is IMO one of the best of the food vendors.  Many times they
> are the only place open late, and their meals are reasonably priced with
> generous portions.  It's a fun place to eat and I'm sorry to see them go.

Saides used to be a good place to eat, but they have been gone for some
time now. The tale of their last year was gruesome.
> 
> I've never met her.  I have met Dave and Betty Cooper who seemed genuinely
> happy to have us there, and to want us to have the best time possible, but
> there seems to be a trend developing here that is disturbing in its
> implications.  All of the reports seem to have the refrain that, "from her
> comments this was premeditated and she was grabbing at anything to put us on
> our way."

That quote comes from Phil. Iolo made a broadly similar suggestion in his
note. Both notes came from the "victims". My direct observations suggest that
Cindy is not into the game of gratuitous power use. Asking permission in
advance can be productive. Hoping to beg forgiveness is not likely to work
more than once.
> 
> It's got me concerned, or maybe I'm just being an alarmist...

I'd like to think you are being alarmist.  :)

yours,
Herveus
-- 
Michael and MJ Houghton   | Herveus d'Ormonde and Megan O'Donnelly
herveus at radix.net         | White Wolf and the Phoenix
Bowie, MD, USA            | Tablet and Inkle bands, and other stuff
                          | http://www.radix.net/~herveus/