Allentown Fair- Day 0- Set Up

I have to admit the set up for the fair was much easier than I expected. By the time we got over there in the late afternoon, mostly everyone else was set up (except our neighbors on both sides). It was actually scarier to watch our neighbors set up than for us to get ours right. When we were applying I thought it was strange that the insurance requirements for the show were so strict when it came to having a $0 deductible on the policy, but after watching things crash all around us for a few hours, I can see why it is needed. On one side, they were putting up a pipe cage to hang lights from to showcase their artwork, needless to say the cage fell apart a few times before they got it right. I think the lack of foresight to bring a few stepladders had much to do with their assembly problems. Luckily when things fell no one was hurt, and the only things damaged were things they owned, not us. On the other side we have a vacuum demonstrator that puts together this weird clear PVC maze and then sucks things through it to show the strength of the vacuum. Only one part of the PVC fell during assembly, and that missed us too. I am contemplating bringing hard hats for the disassembly.

I think the thing that burned me the most was our neighbor who was having all the trouble setting up their booth. We made sure that we gave them plenty of room while they struggled, and we made sure that we put our entrance aisle to behind our tables on their side. This gave them a little more than 2' more space to work with while assembling. Then they have the gall to ask if they can hang more artwork to face our side of the booth. Hey I paid for a 10'x20' foot space and am already only using 18' because you scare the heck out of me, and now you want me to let you hang your artwork where your customers will need to walk BEHIND my display to see your things up close? No way! You want to hang you artwork where it will distract from the items in my display? No way! Oh, and did I mention that the things displayed that B makes are GLASS! Imagine the lady (or gent) with the huge bag or umbrella trying to skinny themselves between the table and the wall to see some painting up close. I see a few plates crashing, don't you? I politely pointed out that our display is made up of glass plates, and I'd appreciate of they kept their artwork within the confines of their booth. I was pretty hungry and cranky by then, so I bet my old evil eye while smiling and sounding cute, got my point across just fine.