*this is the story of kim and tim* (part three...)
February 4, 2012:
OK! This is what is left for me to do in keeping my promise to follow through with this documentation of how I came to be fucked over by New Seasons Market.
YAY! I am so finishing this story!
Part one and part two -- to the best of my knowledge -- cover all of the relevant back story to the events leading up to (and, to an extent, I went well beyond that) the day I began my formal protest against New Seasons Market's fraudulent logoing and obvious hypocrisy. What follows here is a general timeline of what has led to my ongoing protest; which now is most focused on New Seasons Market's blatant corruption and unforgivable infringement on my CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS:
1. On May 19, 2011: New Seasons Market's Seven Corners store manager, Miguel Rosas-Baker failed to make the right decision after I told him the absolute truth about an incident involving myself and the girlfriend of an employee on duty there -- who I truthfully shared a more than year-long friendship with: his name is Tim -- an incident which was instigated by and, in my opinion, is 100% the fault of his girlfriend.
I admitted to Miguel that I was doing all I could to protect my friend's privacy, but I was always totally honest about the incident involving my friend's girlfriend. My friend's girlfriend volatile-ly approached me where I was sitting and writing (as a customer) in the store's dining area/community room... She screamed at me, verbally harassed me, and made physical threats against me: I am convinced that she had ulterior motives; but regardless of my opinion -- she was making false accusations against me pertaining to my friendship with her boyfriend and she was calling me names and doing her best to spark a confrontation with me in hopes of getting me trespassed from the store -- she was explicit about her intent to do that...
...I remained uncharacteristically calm throughout this ordeal as I truly cared about my friend and worried that this scene she was causing would harm his job security (at the very least)... I kept my cool and did not take her bait; this infuriated her even more and so she chose to make a dishonest report about our interaction to the management and drawing from her own behavior attempted to spin this incident as being my fault, due to my actions (rather than hers), etc... I made every effort to defend myself against these false charges but was so focused on defending my friend that I volunteered to leave in hopes that this would be the end of it...
While waiting, peacefully (but with a breaking and heavy heart), at the bus stop outside the store front: I was re-approached by Miguel Rosas-Baker who condescendingly and unsympathetically announced to me that a decision had been made to formally trespass me from returning to the store and informed me that "should I return: the authorities would be called and I would be arrested!" ...I found this reaction to be unfathomable as I had -- not only done nothing wrong; I had also made a tremendous effort to quell the situation out of a desire to do what was best for both my friend and the business -- and had voluntarily excused myself from the drama instigated by my friend's girlfriend inside the store...
Miguel Rosas-Baker replied to my dismay by telling me: "We don't actually need any reason (to trespass you)..." Right at that moment, as I began to cry -- because this was so cruel and unfair and my heart was breaking already from having just witnessed my friend do nothing to defend my honor and feeling as if he had just thrown me under the bus -- the bus I was waiting for pulled up and I excused myself and boarded that bus...
As I rode that bus a lot of thoughts were spinning in my head and I felt the greatest sadness... I decided that I could not let my special friendship with my friend end in this way and it felt impossible for me to wait it out... I got off the bus, walked around for awhile (to adjust my timing) -- and then returned to the block of the Seven Corners store -- and, standing about half a block away; I waited on a corner in hopes of my friend skateboarding home in that direction when he finished his shift...
...That wish came true -- and my friend, though understandably alarmed at first (I had many reasons to be angry with him; but I only wanted to talk to him and try to make peace with him and work this out between us; and I desperately wanted to make certain that he knew my side of the story; that the earlier scene at his work was due to his girlfriend and not me) -- after he heard me call out to him and saw me trying to wave him down, Tim stopped and came to where I stood near that corner, next to a tree, on some grass by the curb... We had just begun talking, he didn't even seem angry with me, and it felt like we might be able to come to an understanding...
Then, unfortunately, Miguel Rosas-Baker happened by us on his walk home... Miguel asked what was going on -- he seemed accusatory in his questioning of Tim -- Tim responded to him, saying: "I guess we're talking it out..." (See my open letter to Miguel, in the following segment below, for more about this; but my specific conversation with Tim -- however transformed it was by Miguel's presence -- is something I wish to try and keep private...) I believe that Miguel, who refused to give us total privacy and uninvited-ly hovered nearby us, whether he selfishly grew impatient or thought he was doing Tim a favor only he knows, but he appears to have called in reinforcement from his cell phone (...Though considering that he hadn't left his phone at home as he coincidentally had told me earlier, before anything involving the incident ever took place, makes him an even bigger liar... FYI without digressing too much.) -- before Tim and I were finished talking -- somebody magically appeared in their SUV; and calling to Tim through their passenger side window: asked Tim if he was "ready to go" -- but Tim ignored this person for a time and continued to speak to me... Tim told me: "I'm sorry it had to end this way."
The driver of the SUV (I never took my eyes off Tim and so I only knew from the voice that it was a girl, I later put things together and realized it must be a co-worker prompted most likely by Miguel) then called out to him again: "Are you ready to go now?"... Tim hesitated but got into the vehicle and I walked in the opposite direction/turned the corner and continued walking away, with tears flowing from my eyes...
2. An exchange of e-mails between Tim and I followed that last peaceful conversation we had, and it became clear to me that Tim had been dishonest with his girlfriend about his friendship with me and in backing up his dishonesty (at least for this reason) he had also been dishonest with his workplace about the "nature of our friendship"...
3. I was distraught for those weeks that followed, and the lies about me seemed to be getting more and more out of hand... I honestly tried to "take the high road" -- and out of loyalty and devotion to my friendship -- I had written Tim regarding my intentions to walk away from the terrible injustices being inflicted on me and leave him to his own conscience with the dishonest and inconsiderate choices he was making regarding me...
4. On June 10, 2011 -- which happened to also be my birthday -- I was riding a bus down Powell Blvd. when Tim's girlfriend boarded the same bus about 20 blocks after I had... I attempted to talk to her -- I wasn't gracious; but I didn't attack her either... However, she went in to her self-destructive (IMO*) mode and tried to humiliate me in front of the other passengers... Calling me names and again making false accusations against me: The driver ignored her attempt to have me evicted from the bus -- and the other passengers seemed to be rooting for me -- I spoke the truth and stated what really happened on May 19 -- I then voluntarily exited the bus at the next stop...
[* If not for her repeated verbal assault against me; I probably would have let things go as I had just told Tim I planned to do on June 6! She blew it for him again...and again...]
...Following that altercation with Tim's girlfriend -- I gave everything a lot of thought -- I concluded that I wasn't going to be able to live with myself if I let Tim's girlfriend get away with her scheming and bullying and total dishonesty... Furthermore, very sadly, I came face to face with the underlying distressing (but now pretty obvious) other fact of the matter: Tim had been setting me up for this, not intentionally I hope, by way of something he must have said that was untrue -- presumably long ago and I only now was putting all these pieces together. This hurt me the most...
5. I slept on all these things -- for about two weeks -- and finally concluded that I wanted to make sure that everyone knew the truth and to stand up for myself with regard to all of these cumulative injustices...
On June 21, 2011: I called the corporate offices of New Seasons Market and said only that I had a serious grievance against one of their stores and upon my referral to a "Customer Advocate" >> I set up a meeting at these offices for June 23...
6. I have covered this already, but to be thorough in this timeline: I will restate that I attended this meeting with Mary Alison Leatart and we were soon joined (previously unannounced to me) by an "upper-management representative", Claudia Knotek... I told Mary Alison and Claudia -- as much as I could in the two hours we spent in that meeting -- about the history of my friendship with Tim; but with a sincere attempt to deflect any intentional wrong-doing on his part regarding this friendship, which took place most often when I visited with him during his shifts at work -- but I also alluded to the ongoing correspondence Tim and I had had outside his workplace, via e-mail, for more than a year...
My main goal was to state that whatever was being said about me, if it in any way suggested that I was at all at fault for the incident on May 19: that this was all untrue; that I was innocent in that regard...
...Both Claudia and Mary Alison assured me that they would look into the situation: "...speak with Miguel and see what could be done to restore me to being a loyal and trusted customer..."
7. The following week I received an e-mail in reply to that initial promise, which was incomprehensible to me -- and I have written here at this blog and elsewhere: so much about that injustice being served to me in such a disingenuous manner -- but to wrap that part of this summary up: I did not take this injustice lightly -- and though I initially sought to work out this new and greater grievance peacefully with Mary Alison/New Seasons Market management -- she stated their intention to uphold their fucked-up decisions and basically blew me off!
After my repeated attempts to work things out with New Seasons Market, and my great effort to put everything into writing to avoid any possible ensuing misunderstandings -- and their subsequent refusal to budge -- I thought of how I could lawfully seek justice... I published Mary Alison's fucked-up e-mail to me (the only personal reply to any of this that I have received thus far) at portlandindymedia.org and then printed it out, mass-duplicated it -- and beginning on the afternoon of June 29, 2011: from a public sidewalk -- I distributed this published e-mail to customers exiting the Seven Corners store and also around the neighborhood...
8. Within just a day or two of launching my formal protest (July 3? I'll consult my notes and follow up on this IF I am mistaken) -- New Seasons Market called the police on me and attempted to have me arrested; but I was not breaking any laws; and the police officer who arrived to take their complaint: conceded that I was within my rights to protest in the manner which I was -- and despite Miguel's futile attempt to get the officer to reconsider -- the officer left me in peace to continue my protest...
9. July 9, 2011: Day 11 of my protest -- I was in the midst of placing informational flyers on the windshields of cars PARKED ON THE STREET -- which now stated: "Open Call to Boycott New Seasons Market" [and listed the 9 most commonly heard complaints pertaining to New Seasons Market's unethical practices (as reported to me by the community during my "public outreach") -- as well as a 10th reason: my personal grievance against them for their arbitrary decision to have me trespassed due to an incident for which I was not responsible -- but furthermore I was the one who had been victimized!...] At this time is when Tim came rushing out of the store (via the Division Street entrance/exit) and he began screaming at me that I had better stop my protesting, etc... I was startled by Tim doing this but not enough to stop what I was in the middle of doing; this seemed to greatly insult him and so -- without guessing what he was actually up to (at the time) -- I finished that single task and then met him on the sidewalk where he stood seething with a seemingly affected rage...
It was (from my perspective) pretty funny: Tim was throwing a tantrum -- and it reminded me of the arguments I've witnessed young siblings have with each other -- except that I didn't match his rage. Rather, I was amused/bemused and I couldn't help but laugh at him -- and unable to resist -- when he stood as close as he possibly could to me and tried to make himself taller (it appeared to be his intent) by standing as straight as he could and doing his best to appear intimidating (he failed miserably at this): I reacted by flicking his baseball cap off; Tim replaced it, and I flicked it off again -- :o) -- at which point Miguel came out to supposedly intervene -- at that moment just before he reached us where Tim and I stood by the telephone pole -- is when Tim said this to me: "You hit me."
Seriously, Tim! WTF?!
Tim then repeated that bullshit accusation louder to Miguel: "She hit me; did you see her hit me?" Before Tim finished that full statement/question Miguel began to answer, "Yes" -- but upon hearing Tim's full accusation he then responded -- "Well, no... I saw her knock your hat off..." -- to which Tim dishonestly reaffirmed: "She hit me."
...That wasn't the full verbal exchange between Tim and I at that time (nor Miguel and I; he seriously pissed me off with shit that he also said to me and Miguel clearly was still missing the point of my protest! This was not about my relationship with Tim! This was about his own actions towards me along with New Seasons Market's upholding of his fucked-up decisions pertaining to me!): but that's the summary...
I DID NOT immediately leave; I still had a few flyers left (o: ...But once I gave the last of these away, I began to walk away... I had crossed the street, and looking back, I saw both Tim and Miguel had returned to that sidewalk outside the store (on Division Street); I flipped my middle finger at them -- and simultaneously I suspected I had just been set up and that the police were most likely on their way -- sure enough!...
...I was about three blocks away, walking down 21st Avenue and approaching Clinton Street when I heard and saw a police car -- with its siren blaring and lights flashing -- drive past me... Wow. It was that moment when I sadly began to lose any last remnant of the once tremendous respect for Tim that I had ever had -- and I can't begin to overstate how depressing that was for me -- and still is...
10. I might be able to attribute this to my (possibly but quite likely) having what is sometimes referred to as "Asperger Syndrome" or it might just be that I so loved Tim (I still do but that's another part of the story) that it didn't fully sink in yet that the whole reason for that scene he staged outside the store was a premeditated tactic to make a charge against me for which I could be arrested (I was also, and this is important: innocent!) -- and so: I unwittingly returned to the Seven Corners store to continue my protest, on the following Saturday...
[OK: Stupidly might be more accurate... Especially since just a short while before this event -- I had been warned by a concerned citizen at a General Meeting for portlandindymedia.org -- that New Seasons Market would likely find a way to have me arrested! I was in agreement with this advice, but having broken no laws, I didn't worry too much I guess...]
...On this particular day: JULY 16, 2011 -- I had only been absent from this daily protesting for 6 days because I had been tending to other areas of my personal life, not because I had been scared away -- and as I am trying to make clear, I did not suspect that I would be in any trouble for returning to continue my legal protest... Therefore, I was in the process of again distributing protest materials on the public sidewalk between the store and Division Street, when Miguel came out -- AND POINTING TO WHERE I WAS STANDING, HE TOLD ME: YEAH, YOU ARE OK THERE... JUST MAKING SURE YOU STAY ON THAT PORTION OF THE SIDEWALK (designating the "line" between the two concrete sections closest to the store, and the two sections where I stood, which were closest to the street)...
...My immediate thought was: WELL, DUH!
I knew I was OK; but I also didn't give a flying fuck how Miguel felt about it!...
I started to get a bad feeling about Miguel's true intent for telling me that; I wrapped up my sidewalk protesting for the day and had begun to walk away, when: police officers appeared and ordered me to halt...
...I "obeyed" (not out of any respect; but because I know the best way to avoid arrest is to cooperate...) their command; I stated that I was within my rights to protest, etc... One officer stayed with me -- and he listened to me narrate the reasons for my protest, etc -- while the other officer went into the store and presumably listened to Miguel lie his ass off... Moments later, that officer emerged -- and announcing that I was under arrest; handcuffed me, and led me around the corner to the parking lot where two police cars were parked....
I cooperated with both officers; but I reminded them that I wasn't trespassing, nor breaking any other laws -- that is when one of the officers informed me that I WAS NOT BEING ARRESTED FOR TRESPASSING! BUT RATHER FOR AN ALLEGED ASSAULT AGAINST AN EMPLOYEE THAT TOOK PLACE ON JULY 9...
...My heart shattered in that moment: how could Tim go so far over to the dark side; how could my special and wonderful friend be capable of such a crime against me?!
I clearly stated to the officer: that this was not at all true... I tried to say what had honestly happened between us that day of July 9: that I had been in the street when Tim came out of the store and that Tim had confronted me - and that I had joined Tim on the sidewalk - and during Tim's rant I had humorously knocked his hat off - and nothing more!
...The officer replied: "That's why we have courts and judges" -- and dismissing my denial -- that same officer (I think, but it's not important which officer) apparently made a phone call to Tim and then came back to the car (where I was being detained by the second officer) and told this other officer that: "I guess Shipp (Timothy Ryan Shipp) doesn't want to press any charges after all -- BUT! ...New Seasons would still like to press charges for trespassing..."
[WTF?! I was just moments before -- informed by the police -- that "trespassing" wasn't the charge! Yet here they were -- deciding to make it the charge -- when Tim (gratefully) withdrew his allegations against me! ...In remembrance of this; I honestly don't know why I didn't vocalize my acknowledgment of this bait and switch tactic... I suppose that I just felt helpless -- and understandably, I continued to see it in my best interest to comply with the officers, and like they said: tell it to the judge...]
I was taken to the Central Precinct: I was booked, photographed, and fingerprinted multiple times (whatever!)... After a long wait in a lobby-like area, but in the main area of their operations -- I had my turn speaking to the Recognizance Officer -- it was fortunately agreed upon that I could be trusted to go free, and to show up in court to face the "Criminal Trespassing" charge against me by New Seasons Market...
[The charge was reduced to a "Violation" and the case was later dismissed: by the court.]
11. At about 5:30am, I was released on my own recognizance (or whatever: they let me finally go)... There was not any bus service at that time, as it was Sunday morning; so I walked from Downtown to Southeast Portland -- and without thinking if it was wise to do so -- even though Tim had dropped the charges (the charges were fucking fake and he had been a fucking jerk to make them in the first place!) -- I walked right up to the front door of Tim's apartment and rang the bell twice...
...Tim opened the door, he had most likely been sleeping, and he was shirtless. I noticed Tim's tattoo, which I never knew he had before then... Unless I am mistaken: it was a tattoo of a heart -- with a dagger in it -- and that seemed pretty fitting for my state of mind; WOW...
[As does the song which Tim wrote and shared with me (circa May 2010) seem quite profound in retrospect: "I dreamed I was a pack of wolves..."]
...Tim was -- understandably -- freaked out to see me at his door. Also, it had started raining as I'd walked there, and so by then I was dripping wet... Tim quickly shut the door in my face; but I expected that... My only intention for arriving there when I did: I had come there to show him I had rightfully been set free -- and most of all -- to tell him this:
"I HOPE YOUR CRUELTY, DISHONESTY AND HYPOCRISY HAUNT YOU FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!..."
12. I appeared in court on July 19, 2011... Due to poverty, and the fact that no attorney would be appointed to me by the court because I was being charged with only an apparently very minor misdemeanor; I willingly bargained with the judge for my freedom and accepted the only choice which guaranteed my case would be dismissed... I was told I could plead guilty in exchange for the dismissal (huh?) -- in addition to performing 4 hours (I think he said 4 hours...) of "community service".
...I don't know what the official record shows; but this is how I handled that preposterous offer: I stated that I was definitely "NOT GUILTY" -- I made my official statement about having been falsely arrested, describing how the charges had been switched after the initial charge had been dropped, that even so -- I would, with pleasure -- perform the assigned community service as I personally have great respect for serving one's community -- and for the record; I also added this: That it is my personal belief that my protesting has been in itself: community service! ...That I have felt it to be my civic duty...
(o: Soon after leaving the courthouse, I returned to the Seven Corners store and continued my perfectly legal protest, with an even greater passion than before BOOYAH! :o)
13. I was offered a fair amount of time to perform the assigned community service -- but I requested to do it as soon as possible; the day after the next -- as if angels were looking over me through all of this; when I reported for that assignment: the crew leader had failed to show! I was told that I was free to leave -- and that by just showing up -- I had fulfilled my obligation! The court officially dismissed the case New Seasons Market leveled against me on August 16, 2011.
So this is where I want to say -- "Na na na na na" -- to New Seasons Market; but absolutely with this caveat: None of that -- Tim dropping those fake charges, the court dismissing my case, nor my never having to perform the assigned community service -- NONE OF THIS: exempts you from your crimes against me! Nor my wrath against you! -- where your corruption is concerned: WORD!
But still >> New Seasons Market: Yay for my freedom and yay for your failure and yay for this one true justice prevailing in this huge ordeal for which your corruption is fully to blame!
I now rest my case against you; but my protest lives on...
I FUCKING HATE YOU NEW SEASONS MARKET!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
GOD MAY FORGIVE YOU; BUT I WON'T (AND I WON'T EVEN TRY)
[Part Two of Part Three]
...part one of part three (first published 01/23/12) follows this...
LINKS to part one and all of part two (plus subsequent parts) are near the end of this page.
[Part Two of Part Three]
...part one of part three (first published 01/23/12) follows this...
LINKS to part one and all of part two (plus subsequent parts) are near the end of this page.
February 4, 2012:
OK! This is what is left for me to do in keeping my promise to follow through with this documentation of how I came to be fucked over by New Seasons Market.
YAY! I am so finishing this story!
Part one and part two -- to the best of my knowledge -- cover all of the relevant back story to the events leading up to (and, to an extent, I went well beyond that) the day I began my formal protest against New Seasons Market's fraudulent logoing and obvious hypocrisy. What follows here is a general timeline of what has led to my ongoing protest; which now is most focused on New Seasons Market's blatant corruption and unforgivable infringement on my CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS:
1. On May 19, 2011: New Seasons Market's Seven Corners store manager, Miguel Rosas-Baker failed to make the right decision after I told him the absolute truth about an incident involving myself and the girlfriend of an employee on duty there -- who I truthfully shared a more than year-long friendship with: his name is Tim -- an incident which was instigated by and, in my opinion, is 100% the fault of his girlfriend.
I admitted to Miguel that I was doing all I could to protect my friend's privacy, but I was always totally honest about the incident involving my friend's girlfriend. My friend's girlfriend volatile-ly approached me where I was sitting and writing (as a customer) in the store's dining area/community room... She screamed at me, verbally harassed me, and made physical threats against me: I am convinced that she had ulterior motives; but regardless of my opinion -- she was making false accusations against me pertaining to my friendship with her boyfriend and she was calling me names and doing her best to spark a confrontation with me in hopes of getting me trespassed from the store -- she was explicit about her intent to do that...
...I remained uncharacteristically calm throughout this ordeal as I truly cared about my friend and worried that this scene she was causing would harm his job security (at the very least)... I kept my cool and did not take her bait; this infuriated her even more and so she chose to make a dishonest report about our interaction to the management and drawing from her own behavior attempted to spin this incident as being my fault, due to my actions (rather than hers), etc... I made every effort to defend myself against these false charges but was so focused on defending my friend that I volunteered to leave in hopes that this would be the end of it...
While waiting, peacefully (but with a breaking and heavy heart), at the bus stop outside the store front: I was re-approached by Miguel Rosas-Baker who condescendingly and unsympathetically announced to me that a decision had been made to formally trespass me from returning to the store and informed me that "should I return: the authorities would be called and I would be arrested!" ...I found this reaction to be unfathomable as I had -- not only done nothing wrong; I had also made a tremendous effort to quell the situation out of a desire to do what was best for both my friend and the business -- and had voluntarily excused myself from the drama instigated by my friend's girlfriend inside the store...
Miguel Rosas-Baker replied to my dismay by telling me: "We don't actually need any reason (to trespass you)..." Right at that moment, as I began to cry -- because this was so cruel and unfair and my heart was breaking already from having just witnessed my friend do nothing to defend my honor and feeling as if he had just thrown me under the bus -- the bus I was waiting for pulled up and I excused myself and boarded that bus...
As I rode that bus a lot of thoughts were spinning in my head and I felt the greatest sadness... I decided that I could not let my special friendship with my friend end in this way and it felt impossible for me to wait it out... I got off the bus, walked around for awhile (to adjust my timing) -- and then returned to the block of the Seven Corners store -- and, standing about half a block away; I waited on a corner in hopes of my friend skateboarding home in that direction when he finished his shift...
...That wish came true -- and my friend, though understandably alarmed at first (I had many reasons to be angry with him; but I only wanted to talk to him and try to make peace with him and work this out between us; and I desperately wanted to make certain that he knew my side of the story; that the earlier scene at his work was due to his girlfriend and not me) -- after he heard me call out to him and saw me trying to wave him down, Tim stopped and came to where I stood near that corner, next to a tree, on some grass by the curb... We had just begun talking, he didn't even seem angry with me, and it felt like we might be able to come to an understanding...
Then, unfortunately, Miguel Rosas-Baker happened by us on his walk home... Miguel asked what was going on -- he seemed accusatory in his questioning of Tim -- Tim responded to him, saying: "I guess we're talking it out..." (See my open letter to Miguel, in the following segment below, for more about this; but my specific conversation with Tim -- however transformed it was by Miguel's presence -- is something I wish to try and keep private...) I believe that Miguel, who refused to give us total privacy and uninvited-ly hovered nearby us, whether he selfishly grew impatient or thought he was doing Tim a favor only he knows, but he appears to have called in reinforcement from his cell phone (...Though considering that he hadn't left his phone at home as he coincidentally had told me earlier, before anything involving the incident ever took place, makes him an even bigger liar... FYI without digressing too much.) -- before Tim and I were finished talking -- somebody magically appeared in their SUV; and calling to Tim through their passenger side window: asked Tim if he was "ready to go" -- but Tim ignored this person for a time and continued to speak to me... Tim told me: "I'm sorry it had to end this way."
The driver of the SUV (I never took my eyes off Tim and so I only knew from the voice that it was a girl, I later put things together and realized it must be a co-worker prompted most likely by Miguel) then called out to him again: "Are you ready to go now?"... Tim hesitated but got into the vehicle and I walked in the opposite direction/turned the corner and continued walking away, with tears flowing from my eyes...
2. An exchange of e-mails between Tim and I followed that last peaceful conversation we had, and it became clear to me that Tim had been dishonest with his girlfriend about his friendship with me and in backing up his dishonesty (at least for this reason) he had also been dishonest with his workplace about the "nature of our friendship"...
3. I was distraught for those weeks that followed, and the lies about me seemed to be getting more and more out of hand... I honestly tried to "take the high road" -- and out of loyalty and devotion to my friendship -- I had written Tim regarding my intentions to walk away from the terrible injustices being inflicted on me and leave him to his own conscience with the dishonest and inconsiderate choices he was making regarding me...
4. On June 10, 2011 -- which happened to also be my birthday -- I was riding a bus down Powell Blvd. when Tim's girlfriend boarded the same bus about 20 blocks after I had... I attempted to talk to her -- I wasn't gracious; but I didn't attack her either... However, she went in to her self-destructive (IMO*) mode and tried to humiliate me in front of the other passengers... Calling me names and again making false accusations against me: The driver ignored her attempt to have me evicted from the bus -- and the other passengers seemed to be rooting for me -- I spoke the truth and stated what really happened on May 19 -- I then voluntarily exited the bus at the next stop...
[* If not for her repeated verbal assault against me; I probably would have let things go as I had just told Tim I planned to do on June 6! She blew it for him again...and again...]
...Following that altercation with Tim's girlfriend -- I gave everything a lot of thought -- I concluded that I wasn't going to be able to live with myself if I let Tim's girlfriend get away with her scheming and bullying and total dishonesty... Furthermore, very sadly, I came face to face with the underlying distressing (but now pretty obvious) other fact of the matter: Tim had been setting me up for this, not intentionally I hope, by way of something he must have said that was untrue -- presumably long ago and I only now was putting all these pieces together. This hurt me the most...
5. I slept on all these things -- for about two weeks -- and finally concluded that I wanted to make sure that everyone knew the truth and to stand up for myself with regard to all of these cumulative injustices...
On June 21, 2011: I called the corporate offices of New Seasons Market and said only that I had a serious grievance against one of their stores and upon my referral to a "Customer Advocate" >> I set up a meeting at these offices for June 23...
6. I have covered this already, but to be thorough in this timeline: I will restate that I attended this meeting with Mary Alison Leatart and we were soon joined (previously unannounced to me) by an "upper-management representative", Claudia Knotek... I told Mary Alison and Claudia -- as much as I could in the two hours we spent in that meeting -- about the history of my friendship with Tim; but with a sincere attempt to deflect any intentional wrong-doing on his part regarding this friendship, which took place most often when I visited with him during his shifts at work -- but I also alluded to the ongoing correspondence Tim and I had had outside his workplace, via e-mail, for more than a year...
My main goal was to state that whatever was being said about me, if it in any way suggested that I was at all at fault for the incident on May 19: that this was all untrue; that I was innocent in that regard...
...Both Claudia and Mary Alison assured me that they would look into the situation: "...speak with Miguel and see what could be done to restore me to being a loyal and trusted customer..."
7. The following week I received an e-mail in reply to that initial promise, which was incomprehensible to me -- and I have written here at this blog and elsewhere: so much about that injustice being served to me in such a disingenuous manner -- but to wrap that part of this summary up: I did not take this injustice lightly -- and though I initially sought to work out this new and greater grievance peacefully with Mary Alison/New Seasons Market management -- she stated their intention to uphold their fucked-up decisions and basically blew me off!
After my repeated attempts to work things out with New Seasons Market, and my great effort to put everything into writing to avoid any possible ensuing misunderstandings -- and their subsequent refusal to budge -- I thought of how I could lawfully seek justice... I published Mary Alison's fucked-up e-mail to me (the only personal reply to any of this that I have received thus far) at portlandindymedia.org and then printed it out, mass-duplicated it -- and beginning on the afternoon of June 29, 2011: from a public sidewalk -- I distributed this published e-mail to customers exiting the Seven Corners store and also around the neighborhood...
8. Within just a day or two of launching my formal protest (July 3? I'll consult my notes and follow up on this IF I am mistaken) -- New Seasons Market called the police on me and attempted to have me arrested; but I was not breaking any laws; and the police officer who arrived to take their complaint: conceded that I was within my rights to protest in the manner which I was -- and despite Miguel's futile attempt to get the officer to reconsider -- the officer left me in peace to continue my protest...
9. July 9, 2011: Day 11 of my protest -- I was in the midst of placing informational flyers on the windshields of cars PARKED ON THE STREET -- which now stated: "Open Call to Boycott New Seasons Market" [and listed the 9 most commonly heard complaints pertaining to New Seasons Market's unethical practices (as reported to me by the community during my "public outreach") -- as well as a 10th reason: my personal grievance against them for their arbitrary decision to have me trespassed due to an incident for which I was not responsible -- but furthermore I was the one who had been victimized!...] At this time is when Tim came rushing out of the store (via the Division Street entrance/exit) and he began screaming at me that I had better stop my protesting, etc... I was startled by Tim doing this but not enough to stop what I was in the middle of doing; this seemed to greatly insult him and so -- without guessing what he was actually up to (at the time) -- I finished that single task and then met him on the sidewalk where he stood seething with a seemingly affected rage...
It was (from my perspective) pretty funny: Tim was throwing a tantrum -- and it reminded me of the arguments I've witnessed young siblings have with each other -- except that I didn't match his rage. Rather, I was amused/bemused and I couldn't help but laugh at him -- and unable to resist -- when he stood as close as he possibly could to me and tried to make himself taller (it appeared to be his intent) by standing as straight as he could and doing his best to appear intimidating (he failed miserably at this): I reacted by flicking his baseball cap off; Tim replaced it, and I flicked it off again -- :o) -- at which point Miguel came out to supposedly intervene -- at that moment just before he reached us where Tim and I stood by the telephone pole -- is when Tim said this to me: "You hit me."
Seriously, Tim! WTF?!
Tim then repeated that bullshit accusation louder to Miguel: "She hit me; did you see her hit me?" Before Tim finished that full statement/question Miguel began to answer, "Yes" -- but upon hearing Tim's full accusation he then responded -- "Well, no... I saw her knock your hat off..." -- to which Tim dishonestly reaffirmed: "She hit me."
...That wasn't the full verbal exchange between Tim and I at that time (nor Miguel and I; he seriously pissed me off with shit that he also said to me and Miguel clearly was still missing the point of my protest! This was not about my relationship with Tim! This was about his own actions towards me along with New Seasons Market's upholding of his fucked-up decisions pertaining to me!): but that's the summary...
I DID NOT immediately leave; I still had a few flyers left (o: ...But once I gave the last of these away, I began to walk away... I had crossed the street, and looking back, I saw both Tim and Miguel had returned to that sidewalk outside the store (on Division Street); I flipped my middle finger at them -- and simultaneously I suspected I had just been set up and that the police were most likely on their way -- sure enough!...
...I was about three blocks away, walking down 21st Avenue and approaching Clinton Street when I heard and saw a police car -- with its siren blaring and lights flashing -- drive past me... Wow. It was that moment when I sadly began to lose any last remnant of the once tremendous respect for Tim that I had ever had -- and I can't begin to overstate how depressing that was for me -- and still is...
10. I might be able to attribute this to my (possibly but quite likely) having what is sometimes referred to as "Asperger Syndrome" or it might just be that I so loved Tim (I still do but that's another part of the story) that it didn't fully sink in yet that the whole reason for that scene he staged outside the store was a premeditated tactic to make a charge against me for which I could be arrested (I was also, and this is important: innocent!) -- and so: I unwittingly returned to the Seven Corners store to continue my protest, on the following Saturday...
[OK: Stupidly might be more accurate... Especially since just a short while before this event -- I had been warned by a concerned citizen at a General Meeting for portlandindymedia.org -- that New Seasons Market would likely find a way to have me arrested! I was in agreement with this advice, but having broken no laws, I didn't worry too much I guess...]
...On this particular day: JULY 16, 2011 -- I had only been absent from this daily protesting for 6 days because I had been tending to other areas of my personal life, not because I had been scared away -- and as I am trying to make clear, I did not suspect that I would be in any trouble for returning to continue my legal protest... Therefore, I was in the process of again distributing protest materials on the public sidewalk between the store and Division Street, when Miguel came out -- AND POINTING TO WHERE I WAS STANDING, HE TOLD ME: YEAH, YOU ARE OK THERE... JUST MAKING SURE YOU STAY ON THAT PORTION OF THE SIDEWALK (designating the "line" between the two concrete sections closest to the store, and the two sections where I stood, which were closest to the street)...
...My immediate thought was: WELL, DUH!
I knew I was OK; but I also didn't give a flying fuck how Miguel felt about it!...
I started to get a bad feeling about Miguel's true intent for telling me that; I wrapped up my sidewalk protesting for the day and had begun to walk away, when: police officers appeared and ordered me to halt...
...I "obeyed" (not out of any respect; but because I know the best way to avoid arrest is to cooperate...) their command; I stated that I was within my rights to protest, etc... One officer stayed with me -- and he listened to me narrate the reasons for my protest, etc -- while the other officer went into the store and presumably listened to Miguel lie his ass off... Moments later, that officer emerged -- and announcing that I was under arrest; handcuffed me, and led me around the corner to the parking lot where two police cars were parked....
I cooperated with both officers; but I reminded them that I wasn't trespassing, nor breaking any other laws -- that is when one of the officers informed me that I WAS NOT BEING ARRESTED FOR TRESPASSING! BUT RATHER FOR AN ALLEGED ASSAULT AGAINST AN EMPLOYEE THAT TOOK PLACE ON JULY 9...
...My heart shattered in that moment: how could Tim go so far over to the dark side; how could my special and wonderful friend be capable of such a crime against me?!
I clearly stated to the officer: that this was not at all true... I tried to say what had honestly happened between us that day of July 9: that I had been in the street when Tim came out of the store and that Tim had confronted me - and that I had joined Tim on the sidewalk - and during Tim's rant I had humorously knocked his hat off - and nothing more!
...The officer replied: "That's why we have courts and judges" -- and dismissing my denial -- that same officer (I think, but it's not important which officer) apparently made a phone call to Tim and then came back to the car (where I was being detained by the second officer) and told this other officer that: "I guess Shipp (Timothy Ryan Shipp) doesn't want to press any charges after all -- BUT! ...New Seasons would still like to press charges for trespassing..."
[WTF?! I was just moments before -- informed by the police -- that "trespassing" wasn't the charge! Yet here they were -- deciding to make it the charge -- when Tim (gratefully) withdrew his allegations against me! ...In remembrance of this; I honestly don't know why I didn't vocalize my acknowledgment of this bait and switch tactic... I suppose that I just felt helpless -- and understandably, I continued to see it in my best interest to comply with the officers, and like they said: tell it to the judge...]
I was taken to the Central Precinct: I was booked, photographed, and fingerprinted multiple times (whatever!)... After a long wait in a lobby-like area, but in the main area of their operations -- I had my turn speaking to the Recognizance Officer -- it was fortunately agreed upon that I could be trusted to go free, and to show up in court to face the "Criminal Trespassing" charge against me by New Seasons Market...
[The charge was reduced to a "Violation" and the case was later dismissed: by the court.]
11. At about 5:30am, I was released on my own recognizance (or whatever: they let me finally go)... There was not any bus service at that time, as it was Sunday morning; so I walked from Downtown to Southeast Portland -- and without thinking if it was wise to do so -- even though Tim had dropped the charges (the charges were fucking fake and he had been a fucking jerk to make them in the first place!) -- I walked right up to the front door of Tim's apartment and rang the bell twice...
...Tim opened the door, he had most likely been sleeping, and he was shirtless. I noticed Tim's tattoo, which I never knew he had before then... Unless I am mistaken: it was a tattoo of a heart -- with a dagger in it -- and that seemed pretty fitting for my state of mind; WOW...
[As does the song which Tim wrote and shared with me (circa May 2010) seem quite profound in retrospect: "I dreamed I was a pack of wolves..."]
...Tim was -- understandably -- freaked out to see me at his door. Also, it had started raining as I'd walked there, and so by then I was dripping wet... Tim quickly shut the door in my face; but I expected that... My only intention for arriving there when I did: I had come there to show him I had rightfully been set free -- and most of all -- to tell him this:
"I HOPE YOUR CRUELTY, DISHONESTY AND HYPOCRISY HAUNT YOU FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!..."
12. I appeared in court on July 19, 2011... Due to poverty, and the fact that no attorney would be appointed to me by the court because I was being charged with only an apparently very minor misdemeanor; I willingly bargained with the judge for my freedom and accepted the only choice which guaranteed my case would be dismissed... I was told I could plead guilty in exchange for the dismissal (huh?) -- in addition to performing 4 hours (I think he said 4 hours...) of "community service".
...I don't know what the official record shows; but this is how I handled that preposterous offer: I stated that I was definitely "NOT GUILTY" -- I made my official statement about having been falsely arrested, describing how the charges had been switched after the initial charge had been dropped, that even so -- I would, with pleasure -- perform the assigned community service as I personally have great respect for serving one's community -- and for the record; I also added this: That it is my personal belief that my protesting has been in itself: community service! ...That I have felt it to be my civic duty...
(o: Soon after leaving the courthouse, I returned to the Seven Corners store and continued my perfectly legal protest, with an even greater passion than before BOOYAH! :o)
13. I was offered a fair amount of time to perform the assigned community service -- but I requested to do it as soon as possible; the day after the next -- as if angels were looking over me through all of this; when I reported for that assignment: the crew leader had failed to show! I was told that I was free to leave -- and that by just showing up -- I had fulfilled my obligation! The court officially dismissed the case New Seasons Market leveled against me on August 16, 2011.
So this is where I want to say -- "Na na na na na" -- to New Seasons Market; but absolutely with this caveat: None of that -- Tim dropping those fake charges, the court dismissing my case, nor my never having to perform the assigned community service -- NONE OF THIS: exempts you from your crimes against me! Nor my wrath against you! -- where your corruption is concerned: WORD!
But still >> New Seasons Market: Yay for my freedom and yay for your failure and yay for this one true justice prevailing in this huge ordeal for which your corruption is fully to blame!
I now rest my case against you; but my protest lives on...
I FUCKING HATE YOU NEW SEASONS MARKET!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
This next segment was previously published (as noted above at this specific blog) on January 23, 2012:
i wrote these open letters on October 12, 2011. i had been waiting to publish them along with some other previously written (and as of this moment unpublished) segments in what would most likely become part 3. i guess this can still be designated as part 3 - but trust me, new seasons market - this is so not over yet. i promised myself to make further progress on my blogging project today: feeling that addressing these grievances is long overdue; i am choosing to publish these particular excerpts at this time.
...to be continued!
-- kimberly kristin angelique, january 23, 2012
(o: Editor's Note: The above segment, which I added on 02/04/12: That's my continuation :o)
GOD MAY FORGIVE YOU; BUT I WON'T (AND I WON'T EVEN TRY)
[Part One of Part Three]
...part two of part three (published 02/04/12) actually precedes this...
[Part One of Part Three]
...part two of part three (published 02/04/12) actually precedes this...
MIGUEL! Let me start with you – I’m quite sure I will not be done saying shit to you anytime soon – but for now let me say this: I hate you Miguel Rosas-Baker. I know that hate is a very strong word – but in my opinion it is too weak a word for how much I truly despise you. You are a super lucky guy that I am not the violent sociopath that Jennifer tried to tell people I was – and while I can’t be certain what you told the police – I am guessing it wasn’t very nice and I know it wasn’t true or they would have never FALSELY arrested me.
I don’t even know where to begin with you – obviously you were a total asshole on May 19 and you upset me greatly when you dismissed what I was telling you but took every lie that Jennifer was spewing at you like it was the voice of God – guess what – God knows I was telling the truth and that you heard the truth from me – I don’t know exactly what that will mean for you karmically but I believe that it will come up for you– maybe it already has...
You are a fucked-up jerk for making your decision so fast – you should have gotten all the facts and waited on it and thought it over long and hard before you told me what you did. You cursed yourself for life when you failed to do that (in my opinion and I plan on holding you accountable for as long as I live) – and God knows how terribly fucked up you behaved following May 19 – for instance July 1, 2, 9, 16…
But for the record: the thing that I hate you the most for – and for which I hope you suffer the greatest for – is your interfering in my private conversation with Tim after he was off-duty, when we were not on the premises of New Seasons – and just because you happened to walk by us on your way home from work – you should have kept on walking.
Tim works for you and had just totally lied to you – to protect his job – how can he then be expected to tell you to leave us alone? Tim did tell you we were talking it out – he did not ask you to stay...
I asked you to leave. You tried to play God that night and for that I hope you pay a terrible price because you are not God Miguel – you are a fucking grocery store manager – you were not still on duty and you were not even still at work!
Hate is way too fucking weak a word for how I feel about you hovering by us – but OMG how I fucking hate you for that!
That moment – was my one and only best moment to talk this out with Tim – to hear his side of things and for us to try and come to some resolution – or at least to be on the same page – and you destroyed that moment. If you would have left Tim and I alone to talk – there is a very good chance that none of what is happening now or since then ever would have happened.
We will obviously never know.
Perhaps I am wrong to think that Tim and I would have reached a solution to the mess he unintentionally got himself into and which his girlfriend set fire to at work – it’s just speculation – but before you butted into our private moment – Tim was talking to me.
...Tim got off his skateboard and had walked over to where I stood and we had just started talking. Once you showed up – and remained – Tim put on his mask and I wasn’t talking to my friend any more – I was talking to your employee who was freaked out about losing his job, which he desperately needed.
You blew it Miguel; you fucked it all up. Don’t fucking try to defend yourself by saying it was your job to interfere or moderate – it was not – you weren’t at work any more. I know for a fact from our other encounters how you power trip – this was you power tripping – you helped nobody that night – if New Seasons Market Corporate wants to find the best person to blame for all this – it is all you.
I am pretty certain you already know how I feel about you setting me up in July and arranging for my false arrest. I hope you go to fucking hell Miguel.
Mary Alison: I have already told you in my July 5 e-mail what I think of your disingenuity, dishonesty, and puppetry. But I forgot to tell you this: FUCK YOU!
Claudia: FUCK YOU!
Marta: I don’t like you very much; you could have actually done something right and at least attempted to make things better – but you actually seem to be a pretty decent person. I maybe resent you interfering with my free speech to the extent that you did and your tearing down my flyers – but you somehow managed to be nice when you did all that and you didn’t come off as phony. I appreciate that. I think there is hope for you: I hope you find a company to work for where you don’t have to sell your soul.
Trisha: What the fuck?! I had no idea until it was too late what a fucking bitch you are. On April 22, 2011 – did you know all the things that I did not know yet when you set me up to speak so honestly with you that morning at Sanborn’s? Did we meet there by accident? Was it just a coincidence? Did Adam not show as some part of a conspiracy? My guess is that it is just a coincidence – but I sure as hell can’t be positive.
What I am positive about – is that I felt like you were fishing for information – and you kept asking me all those questions about Tim and because I was trying to balance being honest with not telling anything about Tim that might get him into any trouble at work – you upset me because talking about my conversation with Tim which had occurred following my recent tragedy – brought up that pain for me all over again (about that tragedy) and when I started crying – suddenly you had to go like I was making you uncomfortable. I know you mentioned you were planning to go get your son – but I could still tell that you were judging me poorly – and yet you were the one pumping me for all that information!
What I am positive about – is that I felt like you were fishing for information – and you kept asking me all those questions about Tim and because I was trying to balance being honest with not telling anything about Tim that might get him into any trouble at work – you upset me because talking about my conversation with Tim which had occurred following my recent tragedy – brought up that pain for me all over again (about that tragedy) and when I started crying – suddenly you had to go like I was making you uncomfortable. I know you mentioned you were planning to go get your son – but I could still tell that you were judging me poorly – and yet you were the one pumping me for all that information!
I wish I hadn’t been so gullible and I wish I knew how to just shut the fuck up when I only know how to be totally honest. Tim told me – after it was too late – about you calling him into your office to discuss that conversation you had with me... You were wrong to do that; but you were even more wrong to ask me the questions you asked and to trick me into thinking you cared about me when you obviously don’t...
When I tried to talk to you about that outside the Seven Corners store last summer, when we crossed paths – you wouldn’t even look at me! You are a fucking jerk. You totally suck and I sincerely hope the very best for your child – but I hope that someday you personally will get fucked over in some way comparable to the way you fucked me over – then perhaps you will come to understand just how unethical you have been.
For the record: Tim and I were special friends. You played a willing part in destroying that friendship – you may be one of the people who is least to blame – but you definitely share some of the blame.
...Perhaps if you could at least admit you were wrong to act as you did, to mess with things the way that you did and truthfully tell me that you are sorry – that might go a long way – but if you just let your unethical behavior and insincerity and being a total bitch stand as they do – you will pay some price – because you must know on some level that what you have done is terribly wrong – and when you do things like that knowingly – you fall from grace – is that the example you want to set for your son?
* * *
[Editor's Note, March 21 2012:
Trisha Shozuya: Yeah you. I know your last name now. Nice to put a full name with someone who totally screwed me.
You are at Food Front NW now, Miguel? Did you quit Seven Corners or were you finally fired? Either way - you will always suck wherever you are - and I'm still blaming you for so much; especially your crimes against me. In case you were wondering.]
kristin's BOYCOTT NEW SEASONS MARKET page
https://www.facebook.com/boycottnewseasons
kristin boycotts new seasons
http://kristinangelique.blogspot.com/p/kristin-boycotts-new-seasons-market.html
[Not the end!]
* * *
link to *kim and tim* part one: excuse me while i break my own heart
link to (part one and part two of) *kim and tim* part two: i am the platypus in a walled city (what is and what if)
link to (part three of) *kim and tim* part two: new seasons market is not friendly... new seasons market totally sucks...
dear new seasons: it would be in your best interest:
to retract your false accusations and other slanderous remarks directed at me.
i highly recommend that you make a formal, PUBLIC and ideally, sincere, apology to me.
i've been waiting for almost 2 years now; hurry up already...
. . . peace . . .
kristin angelique
* * *
I have long ago moved on: Today, upon revisiting a rule-book for writers; I thought of this work of mine, how three years later it remains here in cyberspace, still not meeting all the set standards… I had a nice laugh. Then, quite spontaneously, I declared that I might at least finally state my thesis: this is that effort undertaken and hopefully achieved. Thank you dearest reader…
au revoir!
kristin angelique
* * *
My Thesis, Postscript
My main purpose is twofold:
To demonstrate how I was unjustly trespassed by a New
Seasons Market Store Manager and subsequently victimized by the Upper
Management while attempting to seek resolution with them. During the course of this
procedure (which was verbally provided to me by the corporation’s representative,
to whom I first inquired), I found myself placed in the harrowing position of enduring
further humiliation: I believe that their suppression tactics were deliberately
employed to traumatize me; I know that I was intentionally, falsely
arrested. This business which markets and promotes itself to the public as
being genuinely progressive and “the
friendliest store in town”, purposely lied to police.
An equally important purpose for this presentation is to
defend myself against, and prove myself innocent of: the slanderous, disparaging untruths and false
accusations targeting me during New Seasons Market’s failed public relations attempt
to blame the victim; portraying me in an intentionally scathing, negative light
– on the global internet – as if to
suggest that, were their statements actually true; the conclusion should be that I am deserving
of the punishing acts and consequently unworthy of justice.
This public relations statement had been openly published in July 2011; authored by the same “Customer Advocate” who disingenuously represented herself as being my actual advocate when we first spoke on the phone, and again when I met with her at the Corporation’s Headquarters (a meeting she arranged for me).
This public relations statement had been openly published in July 2011; authored by the same “Customer Advocate” who disingenuously represented herself as being my actual advocate when we first spoke on the phone, and again when I met with her at the Corporation’s Headquarters (a meeting she arranged for me).
I further assert that – even if their character
assassination of me were not a deliberate fabrication – nobody deserves to be
treated as grievously as I have been by New Seasons Market. It is significant
that they were dishonest, and therefore, I am certainly not deserving of such
severe treatment; I maintain that New Seasons Market’s bullying, intimidation
tactics and harmful actions – aimed at anyone – is telling evidence of their corruption.
* * *
…I did not draw up a blueprint of how to best defend myself
in a way that might hopefully assure me of immunity from all future
embarrassment. If anybody has any sage advice for how I might better go about
doing this, please send me an e-mail, no matter how far down the road it gets
to be…
I never considered not defending myself –
no other option seems acceptable to me – but, I did not immediately rush to tell
the whole truth while carelessly tossing others and their presumed desire for
privacy aside.
Although the best course of action for me instinctively
involved telling the truth at all times – I did sincerely try my best to leave
other involved persons out of the story as much as I could without not telling the truth at all times. My aim was not to make
anyone else suffer along with me – even if they were among the primary
instigators of this snafu. So as not
to be remiss – I admittedly felt no sympathy for New Seasons Market as a
corporate entity, and I clearly stated that, more than once, but I did not feel
vengeance toward their employees or other customers. For the longest time, I limited
any exception, to the two main perpetrators who began this whole ordeal with their
dishonest acts.
Having said that: I harbored strong, personal, romantic
feelings for one of these individuals and the other one I wanted to give a good
kick… But, to tell the truth about either of them involved telling the truth
about both of them, and it quickly became successively more complicated.
My overall objective had been that, ideally, once I told the
whole truth – that all of my detractors, even the management at New Seasons
Market, would clearly see how/why all these misunderstandings arose in the
first place: How one employee’s lie – which had led to another lie (this lie was
then repeated to others; spreading about as it grew) – had brought all these different people to be
misled, to jump to false conclusions, and consequently, to make mistakes in
their judgment, causing them to behave badly...
I had taken this approach from the beginning – when I first
open-published to the internet, the official ruling by New Seasons Market (as
stated to me in an e-mail they issued a few days following our face-to-face conference)
and from then on – earnestly trying to uphold this ethic – as I replied to the
combative and/or taunting comments in reply to my post, and/or other comments
which I’d posted in response to someone else’s comment... My efforts produced
disastrous results.
Some of these antagonists may have been legitimately random
people who found the discussion interesting enough to participate, with or
without good intentions; but it seemed to me that these comments were
deliberate attempts to get me to back down, rest my case, and bail out… While
others seemed intent to personally hurt me with their remarks.
This was both before and after New Seasons Market erred in
posting a hurtful comment which, while meant to smear me, reflected more negatively
on their public image than my personal character, in my opinion. I believe that
it was a bad move for them to have made, and it came with consequences. But I
did not retaliate by squelching my own ethics, nor did I regard the other
persons most closely involved as being collateral damage. Instead, I pleaded once
again for these individuals to take their share of responsibility in the
greater misunderstanding and particularly, own up to the full-blown lies which
they had constructed in an effort to make their invented story stick together.
I pleaded to no avail.
In conclusion:
This is my truthful account – at my own personal website; no
outsider comments permitted – of how this whole mess got started. This is my side of the story. I decided
to start at the very beginning – not with the purpose of boring anyone to death
– for the purpose of attempting to eliminate any ambiguity.
It should be noted, however, that while the need for more
revisions will become more and more apparent, should you continue to read
further: At this time, I am done.
I have long ago moved on: Today, upon revisiting a rule-book for writers; I thought of this work of mine, how three years later it remains here in cyberspace, still not meeting all the set standards… I had a nice laugh. Then, quite spontaneously, I declared that I might at least finally state my thesis: this is that effort undertaken and hopefully achieved. Thank you dearest reader…
P.S. New Seasons Market totally sucks!
--Kristin Angelique, 14 September 2014
[Posted here today, 15 September 2014]
au revoir!
