Third Coast Fiber Arts Festival

I just learned today that someone out there is watching every move we make with this festival -- in one case urging a vendor not to come.  This makes me just plain heartsick.  In Minneapolis, in Seattle, even in East Lansing, Michigan, surely in New York City -- the epicenter of capitalist competition -- shops cooperate, understanding that all the boats rise, that getting companies known and people knitting can only help everyone.  I wonder if anyone realizes any of this.  And of course Artisan Knitworks, while the main sponsor of this event, probably will lose money.  I suppose it's not imaginable anymore that we just want Detroit to have its own fiber expo?  That there COULD be something like a selfless act?  That a professor who's been at a university for three decades might want to hold something there and benefit her UNIVERSITY and CITY before retirement?  Oh no.  We have to push and shove and behave like six-year-olds on the playground.  I'm ashamed of whoever has been doing this, and I hope it doesn't affect turnout.  If this affects participation and the necessary sense of celebration, it WILL affect my decision as to whether to remain in Michigan, I have to say.  What a sorry state of affairs.  Smiling, being happy, helping, are always easier than the alternatives.  Guess that fact has been lost.

svb