Mayfair Day 4
I think only one word can describe the day- fiasco…It is the only way I can describe a show that doesn’t bother to warn its crafters that a large storm is heading their way. It is the only way I can describe a show where there is no assistance for the dozen or so crafters who had completely lost or broken tents due to the storm. It is the only way I can describe the fact that a crafter opens a sewer line to use it as a storm drain, only to fill the artist market tent with noxious fumes, sending one person to the hospital after they just about pass out.
Somehow by the grace of God I avoided large losses. The storm came through at just an angle that it blew in the back “extension” portion of the tent, letting in air that tried very hard to move the tent, to blow it over. It pulled stakes out of the ground. I held on to a beam, feet off the ground, using all 165 lbs of me as ballast, as the tent rocked and shaked through the wind. I have never been so scared in my life, for my life, for the life of others if the tent did actually blow away…
We had no warning other than the grey skies coming towards us. I saw little or no help after the fact. It was a good Samaritan that helped me lower my tent closer to the ground as another storm just skirted us, bringing more rain and more wind. I counted around a dozen tents that were just gone from were they started, tables and displays standing in 3 inches of water, no roof, no sides, and a twisted, crumpled mess of metal and tarp fabric 20 feet or so behind where a booth once stood.
As I waited in line to gain entry, to pack my booth early, to call it a day and go home, behind me was a line of weary, worn, crafters who lost everything, or nearly everything. People who I have seen before, who I know, who I care about, soaked to the skin, hair tussled, a complete look of surprise and utter disbelief that this had happened to them. Anger building as the process of “escorting” cars through the uncaring and sparse crowds made for long lines of people waiting to get both in and out of the craft area. And as I watched some pack, show management came by, and rather than showing compassion for their losses, for their fear, and their anger, they only showed heartlessness, and a complete lack of understanding as they admonished many for leaving early, for packing up and going home, in essence for taking care of themselves physically, emotionally, and financially.
I can only say two things, one, K was an angel sent to me this day. Her presence allowed me not to completely loose my mind, as she packed my booth, I packed B’s inventory, since she was the one brought to the hospital. It was having K around that kept me from just breaking down, and not knowing what to do next, she gave me focus (not much I felt like a twit) but enough to be able to think in a rational manner, to make decisions, and to get braced for another storm if it came before we could get out.
The other thing is that it was a miracle that no one was seriously hurt that I know of. Tents from one side blew into empty spots on the other, tents blew where no one walks, and all those electric cords sitting in standing water didn’t electrocute a soul. Now I sit today in vigil and wait to hear about B and her health. Last M told us she was in the hospital, waiting for some tests….I can only hope that the adrenaline from the storm mixed with the fumes was her downfall, lets pray that its nothing else more serious….
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