The War with Canada
Or.. why I didn't achieve what I intended and also ache more than I should...
I ventured out into the madness that was town to buy crimp beads. (The madness being added to with the multiple bands here for the international youth music festival thingy that used to be good and is now somewhat more chaotic... kind of like having a bunch of brass bands busking)
Anyhow, I got to the bead stall to find it lacking in custom and hemmed in by a bunch of aggressive Canadian brass players who were being very loud and intimidating. There is practice and there is fifty odd young people gathered around a tradesman's stall playing random notes/snatchs of music very loudly.
The bead cart has two sides. I asked them to move away and let me get to the other side of the cart. They did so grudgingly, leaving me just enough room to squeeze through and then I had a saxophone played within six inches of me. This is not conducive to a pleasant shopping experience. I gave the nearest the eyebrow and they shuffled back very slightly. The bead guy pointed out his new stock item. He had to yell at me to be heard above the cacophony. I moved round the cart, and found a couple of the band following me. More
eyebrow. I had to shoo them back from the cart again when I wanted to go back the other side. I checked out the crimp beads... and discovered that with all the noise I couldn't think whether the crimps (and the pearls, I'll admit I had a sneaking yen for some crystal pearls) were a good price and the right size. I went to ask the bead guy and realise that I would have to yell at the top of my lungs -- I am not exaggerating. he and his daughter looked strained and very unhappy.
At this point I spotted a woman with a red sweatshirt (called Beth) moving around the kids... and not stopping them. Indeed she seemed to be encouraging them to play/play louder/move closer. So I went over to her and asked her if they couldn't make somewhat less noise and be a little more orderly -- actually I had to shout this at her because of the noise level. She yelled that they'd been invited and just got off the plane (I didn't tell her that Harrogate doesn't have an airport so this was not particularly true). I yelled that was all very nice but back in my day we turned up and played music, we didn't hang around before or after causing a nuisence and deafening people with a godawful noise.
[these things I know, the bead guys cart looks portable but it isn't -- the generator means it needs a car to move it -- he pays a helluva lot of money to to trade a very few days a year... but if he moves from his very small pitch he could lose that license, and he could also lose it if he gets involved in any public disorder (so he can't do more than ask politely for the band to go to their appointed pitch... which was round the corner)... he generally leaves his daughter looking after the stand when he goes for lunch, but clearly he was too concerned about the intimidation to leave her on her own (I am not surprised a group of fifty plus people being rude is not something you want to trust your kid and livelihood to)]
Beth the band-lady said to those actually standing next to us to quiet down. I thanked her. Then when it became clear that she wasn't going to raise her voice to extend that order to those closer to the stall I politely yelled at them that they might have missed hearing but they'd been told to stop playing and doing so would demonstrate their good discipline. I thanked them, and went back to browsing the stall.
They stared. There's something about having fifty people stare at you and mutter.
They stared and shuffled. I kept browsing. Because it was pretty obvious that the minute I left they'd start up again. It was quiet enough that a few other people even came up to the stall (which kind of proves that it was the noise and aggression driving off the guy's custom)
And a little time later, while bead guy and I were chatting about last month's bead event, Beth came over and yelled at me that I was the rudest person they'd met since they'd arrived (not much of a challenge since they'd just got off the plane but eh she thought she'd worked out the key words required). I told her that she and her band certainly exploded the myth of Canadian politeness. She yelled a bit more. I asked her what the name of the band was so I could complain to the festival organisers. She refused to tell me and repeated her observation of how rude I was and that she hoped one day I would go to Canada and be treated as rudely as I was treating them (o.o). I said she'd have put me off wanting to go to Canada except that I knew a few Canadians and would certainly remember I was a guest so hopefully not be so provoking. She squawked some more and included words that sounded a great deal like a threat to 'teach me a lesson'. I told her she was lucky I didn't make a complaint to the police. She stepped away a little. I went back to talking with the bead guy and he tried to interest me in this great new silver chain and beads (which is, apparantly, a guaranteed earner for very little outlay -- he's a market trader at heart but I like his wife). I was so pumped with adrenaline aftershock I could feel the body chemistry ripping me up (I have a seriously bad reaction to my own adrenaline). She yelled over at me that I was the rudest person she had ever met. And I, temper fraying, commented about her enlarged sense of entitlement. (The internet -- helping the people of the world learn how to insult each other more effectively)
Two minutes of dignified huff later, she, her fellow 'adults', and the entire band, went and set up round the corner -- in one of the places earmarked for the visiting bands to use. (A couple of years ago the bead guy actually had his pitch there, and preferred that location, but the Council now reserve it for this kind of event... the irony bites, so it does)
Seriously, they are supposed to use the arena area or the market gardens square... another band set up right outside M&S blocking the road (since when do brass bands sit in circles and play at each other instead of facing the audience?). The Big Issue seller was not happy, because that's his pitch and he'd be shoved off it. Plus, no one could actually stay and listen because the narrowing of the road meant all the pedestrians were trying to get through a metre wide gap... you do not accumulate an audience if there is nowhere for the audience to stand without passersby trying to walk where they're standing. A festival is not festive if a) you can't do audience things b) everyone is infuriated by people making noise instead of music c) people spend the rest of the day wondering why their rates money goes to support this crap.
And yes, both bands had buckets. The bucket shaking aspect is a courtesy, they do not have official permission to collect money. They certainly do not have permission to leave their appointed pitches in search of places they think will yield better levels of cash.
Some people have to make enough money to pay back the rental cost of the pitch. It's a lot of money. And some people are trying to make enough money to eat and keep a roof over their heads.
I guess you can tell where my sympathies are.
...
As an addendum, there were a bunch of complaints phoned in to the police -- some people ask others to behave better, some just go straight to reporting them. (I kind of think they were lucky they ran in to me because if they'd kept on with what they were doing the police would have had to turn out and take names. They were pissing off the local shopkeepers...)
I ventured out into the madness that was town to buy crimp beads. (The madness being added to with the multiple bands here for the international youth music festival thingy that used to be good and is now somewhat more chaotic... kind of like having a bunch of brass bands busking)
Anyhow, I got to the bead stall to find it lacking in custom and hemmed in by a bunch of aggressive Canadian brass players who were being very loud and intimidating. There is practice and there is fifty odd young people gathered around a tradesman's stall playing random notes/snatchs of music very loudly.
The bead cart has two sides. I asked them to move away and let me get to the other side of the cart. They did so grudgingly, leaving me just enough room to squeeze through and then I had a saxophone played within six inches of me. This is not conducive to a pleasant shopping experience. I gave the nearest the eyebrow and they shuffled back very slightly. The bead guy pointed out his new stock item. He had to yell at me to be heard above the cacophony. I moved round the cart, and found a couple of the band following me. More
eyebrow. I had to shoo them back from the cart again when I wanted to go back the other side. I checked out the crimp beads... and discovered that with all the noise I couldn't think whether the crimps (and the pearls, I'll admit I had a sneaking yen for some crystal pearls) were a good price and the right size. I went to ask the bead guy and realise that I would have to yell at the top of my lungs -- I am not exaggerating. he and his daughter looked strained and very unhappy.
At this point I spotted a woman with a red sweatshirt (called Beth) moving around the kids... and not stopping them. Indeed she seemed to be encouraging them to play/play louder/move closer. So I went over to her and asked her if they couldn't make somewhat less noise and be a little more orderly -- actually I had to shout this at her because of the noise level. She yelled that they'd been invited and just got off the plane (I didn't tell her that Harrogate doesn't have an airport so this was not particularly true). I yelled that was all very nice but back in my day we turned up and played music, we didn't hang around before or after causing a nuisence and deafening people with a godawful noise.
[these things I know, the bead guys cart looks portable but it isn't -- the generator means it needs a car to move it -- he pays a helluva lot of money to to trade a very few days a year... but if he moves from his very small pitch he could lose that license, and he could also lose it if he gets involved in any public disorder (so he can't do more than ask politely for the band to go to their appointed pitch... which was round the corner)... he generally leaves his daughter looking after the stand when he goes for lunch, but clearly he was too concerned about the intimidation to leave her on her own (I am not surprised a group of fifty plus people being rude is not something you want to trust your kid and livelihood to)]
Beth the band-lady said to those actually standing next to us to quiet down. I thanked her. Then when it became clear that she wasn't going to raise her voice to extend that order to those closer to the stall I politely yelled at them that they might have missed hearing but they'd been told to stop playing and doing so would demonstrate their good discipline. I thanked them, and went back to browsing the stall.
They stared. There's something about having fifty people stare at you and mutter.
They stared and shuffled. I kept browsing. Because it was pretty obvious that the minute I left they'd start up again. It was quiet enough that a few other people even came up to the stall (which kind of proves that it was the noise and aggression driving off the guy's custom)
And a little time later, while bead guy and I were chatting about last month's bead event, Beth came over and yelled at me that I was the rudest person they'd met since they'd arrived (not much of a challenge since they'd just got off the plane but eh she thought she'd worked out the key words required). I told her that she and her band certainly exploded the myth of Canadian politeness. She yelled a bit more. I asked her what the name of the band was so I could complain to the festival organisers. She refused to tell me and repeated her observation of how rude I was and that she hoped one day I would go to Canada and be treated as rudely as I was treating them (o.o). I said she'd have put me off wanting to go to Canada except that I knew a few Canadians and would certainly remember I was a guest so hopefully not be so provoking. She squawked some more and included words that sounded a great deal like a threat to 'teach me a lesson'. I told her she was lucky I didn't make a complaint to the police. She stepped away a little. I went back to talking with the bead guy and he tried to interest me in this great new silver chain and beads (which is, apparantly, a guaranteed earner for very little outlay -- he's a market trader at heart but I like his wife). I was so pumped with adrenaline aftershock I could feel the body chemistry ripping me up (I have a seriously bad reaction to my own adrenaline). She yelled over at me that I was the rudest person she had ever met. And I, temper fraying, commented about her enlarged sense of entitlement. (The internet -- helping the people of the world learn how to insult each other more effectively)
Two minutes of dignified huff later, she, her fellow 'adults', and the entire band, went and set up round the corner -- in one of the places earmarked for the visiting bands to use. (A couple of years ago the bead guy actually had his pitch there, and preferred that location, but the Council now reserve it for this kind of event... the irony bites, so it does)
Seriously, they are supposed to use the arena area or the market gardens square... another band set up right outside M&S blocking the road (since when do brass bands sit in circles and play at each other instead of facing the audience?). The Big Issue seller was not happy, because that's his pitch and he'd be shoved off it. Plus, no one could actually stay and listen because the narrowing of the road meant all the pedestrians were trying to get through a metre wide gap... you do not accumulate an audience if there is nowhere for the audience to stand without passersby trying to walk where they're standing. A festival is not festive if a) you can't do audience things b) everyone is infuriated by people making noise instead of music c) people spend the rest of the day wondering why their rates money goes to support this crap.
And yes, both bands had buckets. The bucket shaking aspect is a courtesy, they do not have official permission to collect money. They certainly do not have permission to leave their appointed pitches in search of places they think will yield better levels of cash.
Some people have to make enough money to pay back the rental cost of the pitch. It's a lot of money. And some people are trying to make enough money to eat and keep a roof over their heads.
I guess you can tell where my sympathies are.
...
As an addendum, there were a bunch of complaints phoned in to the police -- some people ask others to behave better, some just go straight to reporting them. (I kind of think they were lucky they ran in to me because if they'd kept on with what they were doing the police would have had to turn out and take names. They were pissing off the local shopkeepers...)