This is the note I sent to the woman in charge of the writer’s group regarding the last entry:
So on Saturday I was at Title Wave, and I saw the writer’s group, and I thought, “Wow, I really need to start coming to this; the participation level is way up from what I’d seen before, that’s great!”
Then my friend and I sat down in the general stage area to carry on our conversation while we had breakfast before shopping. When my friend’s voice rose to a near-normal speaking level, we were summarily shushed; two minutes later someone came over and Spoke To Us about our noise level and said perhaps we didn’t know, but this was a writer’s group, and they’d *reserved* this area. The woman called us both “dear”, which is not an endearment when delivered with an admonishment; it’s condescending.
The writer’s group isn’t paying for the space they’re using in Title Wave; I checked. Nor, by definition, have they reserved the entire stage area; I checked about that, too. Title Wave is providing a space in a public area for this group–and many others–to meet in for free. This doesn’t preclude other members of the public from using that area while specific groups are meeting. Had we been full-voiced and rowdy, I might see some cause for annoyance on the writing group’s part, but given that we were speaking in bookstore/library-acceptable tones, I’m astounded by the rudeness and inexplicably proprietary behavior of the woman we spoke to.
Please remove me from this list. I have no wish to be associated with your group.
Thank you.