Main Street Coffee House

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My audience was sparse but kind, most of them friends or acquaintances, which is just fine. Always good to see friendly faces. The venue itself, though...

I don't mind playing gratis now and again, but I'd like some consideration from the venue: a latté, or a sandwich. Not so, tonight: drip coffee only, anything else I was a paying customer. It also helps if the person booking the act doesn't treat the act as an inconvenience. You asked me, honey, not the other way around, but you made me feel like a trespasser. Fu-u-u-ck you.

I considered packing my gear and walking out when She said, over Her shoulder no less and without breaking stride, "Drip coffee only," but I said I'd do it without ever specifying terms, so I did it. Never again, though. Not for free, anyway.

Comments

[ladyniniane.livejournal.com]

Having been both a patron and a player in more than one performance venue in recent months, I would have to say that you were justified in feeling angry with the situation.

It's less about whether you are being paid to be there or not, and a whole lot more about the kind of attitude shown by the manager. As you noted, they asked you - you didn't ask them - and you were there to help with the process of making the business work. She was showing an insensitivity to both you and her paying customers, one that will come back to bite her in the a$$ at some point.