new seasons market is not friendly

Dear Kristen,

I want to thank you for coming to our Store Support offices to share the details of your difficult, genuinely painful experience at our Seven Corners store. It showed a high degree of trust in Claudia and myself - belief that we would truly hear you.

Indeed, trust is at the very core of this dilemma. Therefore, I feel confident in proposing a clean, simple resolution to a very confusing sequence of events. You deserve a fresh start devoid of uncertainty and mistrust.

I envision that fresh start including a neighborhood store which is not a part of New Seasons Market. I am concerned that returning to Seven Corners (or any of our other stores) would entail continued feelings of discomfort - the sense that you might have to prove your innocence, so to speak. To the contrary, it would be to your advantage to shop or enjoy a meal in an environment where there are no unpleasant distractions. This would allow you to redirect your abundant energies toward your art, interest in working with children, and overall happiness which is of prime importance.

In keeping with this call for a fresh start, we support Miguel's decision to permanently preclude you from visiting our stores. And, since we are obligated by store policy to call authorities if this request is not honored, we must remind you of this consequence for returning to any of our locations.

I'm very grateful that you voiced your need for clarity so that we could work together toward a positive, concise resolution. Again, thank you for your trust.


Warmly,

Mary Alison


Mary Alison Leatart
Customer Advocate
New Seasons Market

kristin,

as you may know the indymedia site is a tool for activism and community issues, and this seems to fall strongly under the category of interpersonal issue and not a community one and it seems inappropriate to me to post all of this on a community based site and it distracts from other important issues that get posted here (the tar sands, imperialism, police brutality..) especially when it sounds like this could be handled privately with tim and a new season representative.

as an anarchist i don't endorse any profit driven structures, but i have to say new season's has done a great deal more than others to provide safe(r) spaces for individuals and offer some neighborly help when they can. i don't work there, but i get some of my groceries there (they are a bit pricey, so i only get some of my groceries there).

i hope i don't sound uncaring kristin because i do care, and this sounds like a very embarrassing situation that many of us from time to time experience.

love and respect,
a neighborhood lady

(sorry for the repetition - but maybe i should've posted this here, first :o)

hello.

yes - this was at first a personal issue - which is why i waited over a month for the other persons involved to show some decency and do the right thing. after waiting 6 weeks, i continued to keep this a personal matter, and requested to meet with a customer advocate at new seasons headquarters. i was offered an opportunity to meet with their customer advocate in person, which i gratefully accepted, and i took buses to their north portland office to do.

following this meeting regarding my grievance against their seven corners store - i waited for a reply - which i received 4 days later.

i found their reply not only very dissatisfactory - but felt my rights were being even more greatly violated than before! i am trespassed from all your location?! i called to confirm my confusion to their response - and to express my tremendous dissatisfaction with it - i then wrote out what i thought the bottomline of my complaint is (the first text in this article, see above) and sent that.

i still have not received any reply to this.

i called the customer advocate once more, and was told that she did not wish to consider this matter any further - and that i am being "troublesome".

i balk at that comment - as i have made every reasonable effort to handle this between myself and the store - and i do not feel that standing up for my self in the manner that i have so far, is at all troublesome, but rather is appropriate, proper, reasonable - and very friendly.

please hear me out:

forget the cause of any misunderstandings leading up to my being trespassed as a customer - they have become almost irrelevant to even me at this point (regarding my dispute with new seasons market).

on may 19, 2011 - i was at new seasons as a customer. i had purchased food from their deli and was seated in their dining room, minding my own business, and posing no nuisance or threat to anyone. during this time, i was publicly harassed and physically threatened by another customer, while inside their store. although i tried my best to refrain from partaking in the inappropriate and overly-dramatic scene, which the other customer was determined to make into a bigger hassle and to get the store's management involved in - this became impossible.

however, i never acted in any way, which could possibly be seen as out of line... i told the whole truth about the incident at hand to the store manager on duty at that time - when he approached me - to hear from me, what had happened. i then left the premises of my own accord and free will - without causing any further disruption to the store or the other customers - including the customer, who had harassed and threatened me.

i was waiting - outside the store - when the store manager came to where i was outside, and approached me, to tell me that i was being trespassed from the store. i immediately refuted his reason for this decision and the decision itself, when he informed me that the store does not rquire any reason. soon after that - without any altercation - i boarded my bus and left. i did not return to the store itself that evening (which was closed for business at that time), but nearby it - when the same manager - on his walk home - stopped to address me, and of his own free will, interfered with what was indeed my personal business - between myself and my friend (who is also his employee, my friend/his employee did not ask for him to get involved nor requet that he remain there while we continued our conversation)...

after what i feel was more than adequate time (6 weeks or so) for this situation to be handled fairly, by my friend, who is an employee at new seasons market, or the customer who harassed and threatened me (which happens to be my friend's girlfriend - but she is not an employee at new seasons herself) to right their wrongs and admit that i was in no way at fault and did nothing to warrant my being trespassed - i chose to seek resolution through a new seasons market "customer advocate" - who at first, seemed more than willing to hear me out and make this time to meet with me.

following that meeting between myself, the customer advocate and an upper management representative - i was told (via the e-mail i posted here) - for the very first time i was told this - that the decision to trespass me from the seven corners was not only being upheld - but that this trespassing notice was extended to all of their markets.

i sincerely feel i have a right to defend myself, to protest this decision - by any legal means which i have - including my right to free speech, and propaganda by both word and deed (so to speak)...

if you disagree with my reasoning - it is your honest right to do so - i do not personally care what your personal opinion is, but i honor your right to express it - here or anywhere else that you choose.

by the way, you don't have to read my post! you appear to have nothing better to do than to argue your opinion with me, about my having the very same right which you yourself just exercised at this very same site - whatever brings you joy - go for it.

meanwhile - i do feel my cause is just.

this is a "community-based" store masquerading as "the friendliest store in town" - profiting all that they can from the false illusion, which they are seeking to create - and going to great lengths to do so. in my opinion - this is a very brazen statement/motto for them to make - as it semantically suggests that ALL the other stores (any kind of store) in this town are less friendly than they are.

i am calling them out on this!

make no mistake: i am trying to publicly humiliate new seasons market!

what has happened to me - in the specific way which it has - probably, "could only happen to me" - however, given the statement the store manager made to me: we don't actually need a reason to trespass a customer - it obviously could - in any possible way, happen to anyone else.

i am well aware of the fact - well to the best of my knowledge - that all privately-owned businesses can refuse service to anyone for any reason (as long as it is not illegal discrimination, i believe) - however, not all privately-owned businesses seek to profit from a self-proclaimed progressive community, by making their official motto: the friendliest store in town (!)

i consider myself to be super smart, also i like to talk, and love to write - i could go on and on and on here - but i have much better things to do with my time in general, and this campaign in particular, which i launched here - and will continue to pursue - than to debate with any detractors.

i will stand up for myself at all times.

as for my protest against new seasons market's policies and hypocrisies - so far, i have notified 4 local newspapers (because it can't hurt and if enough people complain at any given time, it might cumulatively make a difference - i only just learned about the poor cyclist being screwed over by them - now that is very serious and i do feel my story is a much lesser grievance - but every misstep they take in this community speaks about their overall character so i think that every individual's complaint does matter)... i have begun to distribute literature regarding this particular matter - using their very own words - and yesterday, i did 3 hours of public outreach in the seven corners neighborhood. while on the public sidewalk outside their store: i was "politely" asked, "to leave" (and requested to discontinue my protest against them in general); i politely declined to do either.

emma goldman is my hero! i assure you that i am not comparing my personal drama to any of those, which she so bravely and courageously faced... however, i am thinking of her unwavering stands on civil rights, free speech and the right to publicly protest (and so much more - she was awesome!) - and i hold her and her amazing, exemplary life's work, as a beacon of hope for all of us, and since it's me thinking this - especially for myself.

on tuesday evening, following my final phone call to new seasons management, at which time i was told that i was being 'troublesome", i thought to myself, "what would emma do?"

i followed that discouraging phone call by calling up and speaking to, 3 separate law firms, regarding my legal rights, and my citizen's rights to free speech and protest (etc.) with regard to this matter involving new seasons market (without involving them in a law suit that is)...

i think of emma goldman almost every day, actually, for various reasons - lately it has been for very particular reasons - well, i can't say for sure what emma would do in my shoes - she had much bigger issues to contend with - and she might choose to bypass this one. yet, in her lifetime - she did significantly help to pave the way for all americans, to maintain and sustain their freedoms, including our constitutional right to assemble, freedom of the press, and freedom of speech... she called out hypocrites and made their hypocrisy public - she ruffled their feathers... she quite possibly stood up to every injustice she ever encountered - whether on behalf of herself or others - but especially others.

again - in this particular case, i am not comparing myself to emma's greatness or concetedly suggesting a likeness between emma goldman (or her comrades) and myself. [although in other instances in my life - like sueing chevron for sexual harassment - and winning my case against them - (i was just out of college, the single parent of two young children, and we were living in poverty and i never expected to triumph in that situation but i was willing to stand up to the challenge) - and i did that and i take much pride in this...] however - if i see an injustice anywhere - i always try to speak out against it, and stand up to whatever it is.

i do feel that some of my rights have been carelessly violated and that these violations have been "professionally" upheld. i also feel as if i have been slandered. i most definitely have been harassed and physically threatened while a customer at this particular store. completely putting myself aside - as a member of this community - i feel that new seasons market should be called out - by anyone and everyone - who has good cause to argue that they are in fact, profit-hungry corporate wolves posing as community-based champions of progressiveness and social justice. they say these things about themselves! i say they are hypocrites for this for many reasons - my personal grievance being pretty insignificant compared to the bigger hypocrisies they practice - but cumulatively, it all adds up.

as an animal rights activist (since age seven!) - i have long felt new seasons market to be absolute hypocrites with their "friendliest store in town" motto - as murdering animals, butchering their corpses, and selling their body parts off for profit - IS NOT FRIENDLY - and furthermore, once an animal dies, its life can hardly be sustained - and they are very big on championing themselves as leaders of sustainability, as well.

7 weeks ago, i began discussing one way i could stand up to them - and, thinking outside the box to do so - one solution i thought of was that - since i protest their decision to trespass me - i could at least give them a better reason - and protest outside their store on behalf of animal rights (i very likely will make this a next step!) - it is only following my meeting, this bullshit reply i got from them in response to that meeting, and their "we actually don't give a fuck at all" phone call response, to my e-mail reply (which was directed at their first response) - that has me now protesting for a more relevant reason to this situation (however less important it seems in comparison to my original idea... again i haven't discarded that plan yet, either...) - - - it doesn't mean that i think new seasons market are otherwise great, nor that they have nothing else to be ashamed of (they have way more important wrong-doings to be ashamed of i believe) - but rather i believe that they have given me a more specific, relevant, and unquestionably appropriate, reason to protest them - and no longer is it just the seven corners store - but because of their corporate stand regarding my individual incident at that particular store - i now protest their entire corporation.

you can ridicule my audacity or whatever you are accusing me of, all you want to (i don't like it but you can do it) - i celebrate my audacity - and i gratefully dance with joy for having been born with a mind which is all my own.

peace yo.

kristin angelique

Kristin, a normal person would have given up and moved on by now.

factory dairy farm. The Oregonian did a feature on it awhile back (I'm sure it's searchable). They should be ashamed.

i am writing this in response to posts that have been made here, and in hopes of addressing similar posts which likely will inevitably be posted here.

i began this story at this thread - posting only what new seasons market had written to me - unedited and relevant only to what i was trying to focus on - which is that - as a corporate entity i believe they are hypocrites for marketing themselves to our local community as "the friendliest store in town".

i have ever posted before on this site and this formatting is new to me, plus i was feeling very upset a i had just completed a phone call to mary alison who was not nearly as "polite" as she manipulatively tried to be in her e-mail. she made it clear that she didn't care and she accused me of being troublesome. she has every right to feel that way but she and i have very different views of being troublesome.

if my true intent was to be troublesome - i would have began making trouble for new seasons market at the time of the incident which took place in their store and which they not only shrugged off (its effect on me) in a most unprofessional manner - but i believe they acted even more unprofessionally by coming to speak to me, after i had peacefully excused myself from the public disturbance which tim's girlfriend intentionally staged inside the store - at the bus stop where i was waiting for a bus outside.

how after pleading with tim to make this right because i thought it was best if he were the one to do so - and waiting over a month for him to come to his senses, on june 6th telling him i was actually going to take the high road out of respect for the wonderful friendship we once shared and had said goodbye and best wishes etc - he then - about 2 days later - wrote me back and with the intent of provoking me once more! (i can prove this but am trying to protect his privacy - whether you believe me or not - i have gone to great lengths to do so, up until now, and now i am still making what reasonable attempts i can.)

on june 10, tim's gilfriend provoked and taunted me on a tri-met bus which i had boarded first - i spoke honestly to her about the mistakes being made and she taunted me and tried to publicly ridicule me - though the bus driver did not make an issue out of it (she asked that we move to the back to have our discussion), i could see that there would never be any "reasoning" with this antagonistic woman, so instead i got off at the next stop and waited for a diferent bus.

between tim's not letting it go and his girlfriend's harassment on tri-met - i decided maybe i shouldn't be being such a nice guy - this was seiously bothering me and i was tired out of being tim's doormat - but i waited almost two weeks to take any action as i knew it couldn't hurt to calm down and take it all in before making a decision that might escalete the situation versus neutralize it.

on june 21, i called to speak to a customer advocate at new seasons market headquarters. there are apparently two of them - i spoke to mary alison who seemed truly caring and adjusted her schedule to meet with me on the morning of june 23.

i arrived to this meeting - when 5 minutes into our discussion we were joined by claudia - an upper management representative. i spoke to them for two hours and they seemed to care at the time about what i had been through.

they tld me that they would "speak to miguel and see what could be done to return me to being a loyal and trusted customer."

i took them at their word and felt so much better and hoped that a peaceful resolution was imminent.

on june 27, i recieved the most polite "fuck you" of an e-mail i have ever read - but it is nonetheless saying "fuck you" to me.

i called mary alison to clarify that i did not misunderstand their position - particularly that i was in fact being trespassed from all new seasons stores. i was not mistaken. i was at the library still, and so i returned to the computer and wrote her a reply for at least two reasons i guess - to make sure i had not been misunderstood (as i talk differently than i write and as i have a very sweet and soft-spoken voice which while i get many compliments for my angelic voice - it does often seem to lead to my not being taken seriously. the other reason was so that i had in writing - my side of the story (without outing tim any more than i believed necessary, however) - so that there could be no mistake and so that i had this on my side - it seemed an important step to take.

the following day i had no reply yet from mary alison, so i called her again. this time she set her public relations image aside and told me she was too busy to care about me anymore and that i was being troublesome.

i then called legal aid who gave me contact information for both the aclu (it's not their sort of thing i know but i doubted it could hurt) and the oregon state bar - through which i contacted 3 different lawyers - not because i am already at a point where i wish to sue anyone - but rather to ascertain legal routes of standing up to new seasons market myself... because people are illegally arrested all the time - no guarantee could be made that i could never be arrested for a peaceful protest - but that i would be within my legal rights to do so.

i then returned to the computers and googled new seasons market for other citizen's complaints and found this site and without any real plan at the time - i began by posting the only e-mail i have had so far from new seasons market. i published it - i was done.

then it hit me - well if i don't say anything about my side of the story - how does that look and what will people be left to ponder - was i accused of shoplifting, causing a disturbance, threatening another customer or an employee - what did i do?

well - i didn't do anything. but to just say "i didn't do anything" is hard to prove without supporting evidence.

to be concise etc - i might have just summarized my side of the story by saying that an employee and i had became friends over a year ago and his girlfriend apparently became jealous of that friendship and on the night of may 19 - after walking in to where he worked and seeing us talking again - she became upset. i did not know this at the time, only about 15 minutes later when she tried to stare me down on the store floor, then about 10 minutes following that she came to whee i was seated in th dining room and antagonistically began making a public scene which included verbal harassment and physical threats. when i failed to take her bait, her anger intensified and though she stated that her objective was to "get a sevice manager and put an end to this once and for all," she first went to the station where her boyfriend worked, and began screaming at him that i had just harassed and threatened her!

only then did i participate at all - and it was brief and understated. her boyfriend/my friend - responded to this by suggesting to me that i should just leave - and i agreed wholeheartedly with that (though it was hurtful that he did not come to my defense i could understand his uncomfortable position and empathize with him) so i began to do that (first i needed to collect my things from the table in the dining room) - as i went to do that - she freaked out - that wasn't what she was after! she wanted my departure to be made permanent - so she continued her outburst... my friend/her boyfriend apparently felt that he should call his manager over to handle things - and he picked up the phone and was making whatever call as i gathered my belongings.

before i had a chance to exit the store i was approached by miguel - the service manager on duty at the time. he asked me what was going on - and to the best of my ability - but with sincere efforts not to make things any worse for my friend with his manager or his girlfriend - i stuck to the actual incident at hand. he heard me out for about 30 seconds and agrred it was probably best for me to leave at that time.

i was outside waiting for the bus - my heartbreaking and i could see through their big picture window - tim's girlfriend suddenly so cheerful that she was bursting with joyous laughter - that really pissed me off and i am mentioning it not only to try and show what a bitch she is but because it does play a part in my present state of mind.

i have a lifelong history of intolerance for crazy bitches and bullies in general. i am being honest to say this - because i am not pretending i am some sort of a saint - but i am absolutely a pacifist and generally speaking, a very gentle and kind person.

i wish the bus would have come right then - or that i had gone to a different stop - but i knew from my bus schedule it was due at any moment. unfortunately that moment did not come soon enough and miguel made what i hope is now his regrettable decision - to come outside and confront me again and to tell me he had unfortunate news - that i was 86'd from the store - to which he added that no reason was required for this decision and he warned me that should i return the police would be called! wow - because i did nothing and left peacefully and respectfully?

[well not exactly - it appears that tim lied to everyone and suddenly his in-store friendship and outside e-mail correspondence (both of which he initiated) - with me were actually in fact due to my having asperger's syndrome and imagining a friendship with him and that i was obsessed with him and maybe even stalking him - and because it is his job to be friendly he had never said anything to me about this perception he had because he was trying to spare my feelings...]

well that's when my bus pulled up and i left.

the rest has already been covered pretty thoroughly i believe.

at the time i made my first post - i was reaching my time limitation on the computer and what seemed like the best idea to me given that circumstance - was just to post my e-mail reply to mary alison's bullshit farewell - as it covered most of what seemed relevant and because since she did confirm to me (when i spoke to her on the phone that afternoon) that she had recieved it and read it - i could not be accused of presenting new or conflicting information in support of my side of the story.

everyone can benefit from therapy - if it's with a good therapist, why wouldn't they?

i did not come to this site to air dirty laundry of a personal nature - but rather to report what i see as abuse, hypocrisy and total fucked-upness of a major and prominent local business who markets itself to our progressive community as being "the friendliest store in town."

if some people consider my personal story to be an inappropriate matter of discussion for this site - these people are fre to own and to express their opinion - this is my story - isn't it better for me to tell the truth than to make something that sounds better?


at the time i made my first post - i was reaching my time limitation on the computer and what seemed like the best idea to me given that circumstance - was just to post my e-mail reply to mary alison's bullshit farewell - as it covered most of what seemed relevant and because since she did confirm to me (when i spoke to her on the phone that afternoon) that she had recieved it and read it - i could not be accused of presenting new or conflicting information in support of my side of the story.

everyone can benefit from therapy - if it's with a good therapist, why wouldn't they?

i did not come to this site to air dirty laundry of a personal nature - but rather to report what i see as abuse, hypocrisy and total fucked-upness of a major and prominent local business who markets itself to our progressive community as being "the friendliest store in town."

if some people consider my personal story to be an inappropriate matter of discussion for this site - these people are fre to own and to express their opinion - this is my story - isn't it better for me to tell the truth than to make up something that sounds better?

i am writing this in response to posts that have been made here, and in hopes of addressing similar posts which likely will inevitably be posted here.

i began this story at this thread - posting only what new seasons market had written to me - unedited and relevant only to what i was trying to focus on - which is that - as a corporate entity i believe they are hypocrites for marketing themselves to our local community as "the friendliest store in town".

i have ever posted before on this site and this formatting is new to me, plus i was feeling very upset a i had just completed a phone call to mary alison who was not nearly as "polite" as she manipulatively tried to be in her e-mail. she made it clear that she didn't care and she accused me of being troublesome. she has every right to feel that way but she and i have very different views of being troublesome.

if my true intent was to be troublesome - i would have began making trouble for new seasons market at the time of the incident which took place in their store and which they not only shrugged off (its effect on me) in a most unprofessional manner - but i believe they acted even more unprofessionally by coming to speak to me, after i had peacefully excused myself from the public disturbance which tim's girlfriend intentionally staged inside the store - at the bus stop where i was waiting for a bus outside.

how after pleading with tim to make this right because i thought it was best if he were the one to do so - and waiting over a month for him to come to his senses, on june 6th telling him i was actually going to take the high road out of respect for the wonderful friendship we once shared and had said goodbye and best wishes etc - he then - about 2 days later - wrote me back and with the intent of provoking me once more! (i can prove this but am trying to protect his privacy - whether you believe me or not - i have gone to great lengths to do so, up until now, and now i am still making what reasonable attempts i can.)

on june 10, tim's gilfriend provoked and taunted me on a tri-met bus which i had boarded first - i spoke honestly to her about the mistakes being made and she taunted me and tried to publicly ridicule me - though the bus driver did not make an issue out of it (she asked that we move to the back to have our discussion), i could see that there would never be any "reasoning" with this antagonistic woman, so instead i got off at the next stop and waited for a diferent bus.

between tim's not letting it go and his girlfriend's harassment on tri-met - i decided maybe i shouldn't be being such a nice guy - this was seiously bothering me and i was tired out of being tim's doormat - but i waited almost two weeks to take any action as i knew it couldn't hurt to calm down and take it all in before making a decision that might escalete the situation versus neutralize it.

on june 21, i called to speak to a customer advocate at new seasons market headquarters. there are apparently two of them - i spoke to mary alison who seemed truly caring and adjusted her schedule to meet with me on the morning of june 23.

i arrived to this meeting - when 5 minutes into our discussion we were joined by claudia - an upper management representative. i spoke to them for two hours and they seemed to care at the time about what i had been through.

they tld me that they would "speak to miguel and see what could be done to return me to being a loyal and trusted customer."

i took them at their word and felt so much better and hoped that a peaceful resolution was imminent.

on june 27, i recieved the most polite "fuck you" of an e-mail i have ever read - but it is nonetheless saying "fuck you" to me.

i called mary alison to clarify that i did not misunderstand their position - particularly that i was in fact being trespassed from all new seasons stores. i was not mistaken. i was at the library still, and so i returned to the computer and wrote her a reply for at least two reasons i guess - to make sure i had not been misunderstood (as i talk differently than i write and as i have a very sweet and soft-spoken voice which while i get many compliments for my angelic voice - it does often seem to lead to my not being taken seriously. the other reason was so that i had in writing - my side of the story (without outing tim any more than i believed necessary, however) - so that there could be no mistake and so that i had this on my side - it seemed an important step to take.

the following day i had no reply yet from mary alison, so i called her again. this time she set her public relations image aside and told me she was too busy to care about me anymore and that i was being troublesome.

i then called legal aid who gave me contact information for both the aclu (it's not their sort of thing i know but i doubted it could hurt) and the oregon state bar - through which i contacted 3 different lawyers - not because i am already at a point where i wish to sue anyone - but rather to ascertain legal routes of standing up to new seasons market myself... because people are illegally arrested all the time - no guarantee could be made that i could never be arrested for a peaceful protest - but that i would be within my legal rights to do so.

i then returned to the computers and googled new seasons market for other citizen's complaints and found this site and without any real plan at the time - i began by posting the only e-mail i have had so far from new seasons market. i published it - i was done.

then it hit me - well if i don't say anything about my side of the story - how does that look and what will people be left to ponder - was i accused of shoplifting, causing a disturbance, threatening another customer or an employee - what did i do?

well - i didn't do anything. but to just say "i didn't do anything" is hard to prove without supporting evidence.

to be concise etc - i might have just summarized my side of the story by saying that an employee and i had became friends over a year ago and his girlfriend apparently became jealous of that friendship and on the night of may 19 - after walking in to where he worked and seeing us talking again - she became upset. i did not know this at the time, only about 15 minutes later when she tried to stare me down on the store floor, then about 10 minutes following that she came to whee i was seated in th dining room and antagonistically began making a public scene which included verbal harassment and physical threats. when i failed to take her bait, her anger intensified and though she stated that her objective was to "get a sevice manager and put an end to this once and for all," she first went to the station where her boyfriend worked, and began screaming at him that i had just harassed and threatened her!

only then did i participate at all - and it was brief and understated. her boyfriend/my friend - responded to this by suggesting to me that i should just leave - and i agreed wholeheartedly with that (though it was hurtful that he did not come to my defense i could understand his uncomfortable position and empathize with him) so i began to do that (first i needed to collect my things from the table in the dining room) - as i went to do that - she freaked out - that wasn't what she was after! she wanted my departure to be made permanent - so she continued her outburst... my friend/her boyfriend apparently felt that he should call his manager over to handle things - and he picked up the phone and was making whatever call as i gathered my belongings.

before i had a chance to exit the store i was approached by miguel - the service manager on duty at the time. he asked me what was going on - and to the best of my ability - but with sincere efforts not to make things any worse for my friend with his manager or his girlfriend - i stuck to the actual incident at hand. he heard me out for about 30 seconds and agrred it was probably best for me to leave at that time.

i was outside waiting for the bus - my heartbreaking and i could see through their big picture window - tim's girlfriend suddenly so cheerful that she was bursting with joyous laughter - that really pissed me off and i am mentioning it not only to try and show what a bitch she is but because it does play a part in my present state of mind.

i have a lifelong history of intolerance for crazy bitches and bullies in general. i am being honest to say this - because i am not pretending i am some sort of a saint - but i am absolutely a pacifist and generally speaking, a very gentle and kind person.

i wish the bus would have come right then - or that i had gone to a different stop - but i knew from my bus schedule it was due at any moment. unfortunately that moment did not come soon enough and miguel made what i hope is now his regrettable decision - to come outside and confront me again and to tell me he had unfortunate news - that i was 86'd from the store - to which he added that no reason was required for this decision and he warned me that should i return the police would be called! wow - because i did nothing and left peacefully and respectfully?

[well not exactly - it appears that tim lied to everyone and suddenly his in-store friendship and outside e-mail correspondence (both of which he initiated) - with me were actually in fact due to my having asperger's syndrome and imagining a friendship with him and that i was obsessed with him and maybe even stalking him - and because it is his job to be friendly he had never said anything to me about this perception he had because he was trying to spare my feelings...]

well that's when my bus pulled up and i left.

the rest has already been covered pretty thoroughly i believe.

at the time i made my first post - i was reaching my time limitation on the computer and what seemed like the best idea to me given that circumstance - was just to post my e-mail reply to mary alison's bullshit farewell - as it covered most of what seemed relevant and because since she did confirm to me (when i spoke to her on the phone that afternoon) that she had recieved it and read it - i could not be accused of presenting new or conflicting information in support of my side of the story.

everyone can benefit from therapy - if it's with a good therapist, why wouldn't they?

i did not come to this site to air dirty laundry of a personal nature - but rather to report what i see as abuse, hypocrisy and total fucked-upness of a major and prominent local business who markets itself to our progressive community as being "the friendliest store in town."

if some people consider my personal story to be an inappropriate matter of discussion for this site - these people are fre to own and to express their opinion - this is my story - isn't it better for me to tell the truth than to make something that sounds better?


at the time i made my first post - i was reaching my time limitation on the computer and what seemed like the best idea to me given that circumstance - was just to post my e-mail reply to mary alison's bullshit farewell - as it covered most of what seemed relevant and because since she did confirm to me (when i spoke to her on the phone that afternoon) that she had recieved it and read it - i could not be accused of presenting new or conflicting information in support of my side of the story.

everyone can benefit from therapy - if it's with a good therapist, why wouldn't they?

i did not come to this site to air dirty laundry of a personal nature - but rather to report what i see as abuse, hypocrisy and total fucked-upness of a major and prominent local business who markets itself to our progressive community as being "the friendliest store in town."

if some people consider my personal story to be an inappropriate matter of discussion for this site - these people are fre to own and to express their opinion - this is my story - isn't it better for me to tell the truth than to make something that sounds better?

i am writing this in response to posts that have been made here, and in hopes of addressing similar posts which likely will inevitably be posted here.

i began this story at this thread - posting only what new seasons market had written to me - unedited and relevant only to what i was trying to focus on - which is that - as a corporate entity i believe they are hypocrites for marketing themselves to our local community as "the friendliest store in town".

i have ever posted before on this site and this formatting is new to me, plus i was feeling very upset a i had just completed a phone call to mary alison who was not nearly as "polite" as she manipulatively tried to be in her e-mail. she made it clear that she didn't care and she accused me of being troublesome. she has every right to feel that way but she and i have very different views of being troublesome.

if my true intent was to be troublesome - i would have began making trouble for new seasons market at the time of the incident which took place in their store and which they not only shrugged off (its effect on me) in a most unprofessional manner - but i believe they acted even more unprofessionally by coming to speak to me, after i had peacefully excused myself from the public disturbance which tim's girlfriend intentionally staged inside the store - at the bus stop where i was waiting for a bus outside.

how after pleading with tim to make this right because i thought it was best if he were the one to do so - and waiting over a month for him to come to his senses, on june 6th telling him i was actually going to take the high road out of respect for the wonderful friendship we once shared and had said goodbye and best wishes etc - he then - about 2 days later - wrote me back and with the intent of provoking me once more! (i can prove this but am trying to protect his privacy - whether you believe me or not - i have gone to great lengths to do so, up until now, and now i am still making what reasonable attempts i can.)

on june 10, tim's gilfriend provoked and taunted me on a tri-met bus which i had boarded first - i spoke honestly to her about the mistakes being made and she taunted me and tried to publicly ridicule me - though the bus driver did not make an issue out of it (she asked that we move to the back to have our discussion), i could see that there would never be any "reasoning" with this antagonistic woman, so instead i got off at the next stop and waited for a diferent bus.

between tim's not letting it go and his girlfriend's harassment on tri-met - i decided maybe i shouldn't be being such a nice guy - this was seiously bothering me and i was tired out of being tim's doormat - but i waited almost two weeks to take any action as i knew it couldn't hurt to calm down and take it all in before making a decision that might escalete the situation versus neutralize it.

on june 21, i called to speak to a customer advocate at new seasons market headquarters. there are apparently two of them - i spoke to mary alison who seemed truly caring and adjusted her schedule to meet with me on the morning of june 23.

i arrived to this meeting - when 5 minutes into our discussion we were joined by claudia - an upper management representative. i spoke to them for two hours and they seemed to care at the time about what i had been through.

they tld me that they would "speak to miguel and see what could be done to return me to being a loyal and trusted customer."

i took them at their word and felt so much better and hoped that a peaceful resolution was imminent.

on june 27, i recieved the most polite "fuck you" of an e-mail i have ever read - but it is nonetheless saying "fuck you" to me.

i called mary alison to clarify that i did not misunderstand their position - particularly that i was in fact being trespassed from all new seasons stores. i was not mistaken. i was at the library still, and so i returned to the computer and wrote her a reply for at least two reasons i guess - to make sure i had not been misunderstood (as i talk differently than i write and as i have a very sweet and soft-spoken voice which while i get many compliments for my angelic voice - it does often seem to lead to my not being taken seriously. the other reason was so that i had in writing - my side of the story (without outing tim any more than i believed necessary, however) - so that there could be no mistake and so that i had this on my side - it seemed an important step to take.

the following day i had no reply yet from mary alison, so i called her again. this time she set her public relations image aside and told me she was too busy to care about me anymore and that i was being troublesome.

i then called legal aid who gave me contact information for both the aclu (it's not their sort of thing i know but i doubted it could hurt) and the oregon state bar - through which i contacted 3 different lawyers - not because i am already at a point where i wish to sue anyone - but rather to ascertain legal routes of standing up to new seasons market myself... because people are illegally arrested all the time - no guarantee could be made that i could never be arrested for a peaceful protest - but that i would be within my legal rights to do so.

i then returned to the computers and googled new seasons market for other citizen's complaints and found this site and without any real plan at the time - i began by posting the only e-mail i have had so far from new seasons market. i published it - i was done.

then it hit me - well if i don't say anything about my side of the story - how does that look and what will people be left to ponder - was i accused of shoplifting, causing a disturbance, threatening another customer or an employee - what did i do?

well - i didn't do anything. but to just say "i didn't do anything" is hard to prove without supporting evidence.

to be concise etc - i might have just summarized my side of the story by saying that an employee and i had became friends over a year ago and his girlfriend apparently became jealous of that friendship and on the night of may 19 - after walking in to where he worked and seeing us talking again - she became upset. i did not know this at the time, only about 15 minutes later when she tried to stare me down on the store floor, then about 10 minutes following that she came to whee i was seated in th dining room and antagonistically began making a public scene which included verbal harassment and physical threats. when i failed to take her bait, her anger intensified and though she stated that her objective was to "get a sevice manager and put an end to this once and for all," she first went to the station where her boyfriend worked, and began screaming at him that i had just harassed and threatened her!

only then did i participate at all - and it was brief and understated. her boyfriend/my friend - responded to this by suggesting to me that i should just leave - and i agreed wholeheartedly with that (though it was hurtful that he did not come to my defense i could understand his uncomfortable position and empathize with him) so i began to do that (first i needed to collect my things from the table in the dining room) - as i went to do that - she freaked out - that wasn't what she was after! she wanted my departure to be made permanent - so she continued her outburst... my friend/her boyfriend apparently felt that he should call his manager over to handle things - and he picked up the phone and was making whatever call as i gathered my belongings.

before i had a chance to exit the store i was approached by miguel - the service manager on duty at the time. he asked me what was going on - and to the best of my ability - but with sincere efforts not to make things any worse for my friend with his manager or his girlfriend - i stuck to the actual incident at hand. he heard me out for about 30 seconds and agrred it was probably best for me to leave at that time.

i was outside waiting for the bus - my heartbreaking and i could see through their big picture window - tim's girlfriend suddenly so cheerful that she was bursting with joyous laughter - that really pissed me off and i am mentioning it not only to try and show what a bitch she is but because it does play a part in my present state of mind.

i have a lifelong history of intolerance for crazy bitches and bullies in general. i am being honest to say this - because i am not pretending i am some sort of a saint - but i am absolutely a pacifist and generally speaking, a very gentle and kind person.

i wish the bus would have come right then - or that i had gone to a different stop - but i knew from my bus schedule it was due at any moment. unfortunately that moment did not come soon enough and miguel made what i hope is now his regrettable decision - to come outside and confront me again and to tell me he had unfortunate news - that i was 86'd from the store - to which he added that no reason was required for this decision and he warned me that should i return the police would be called! wow - because i did nothing and left peacefully and respectfully?

[well not exactly - it appears that tim lied to everyone and suddenly his in-store friendship and outside e-mail correspondence (both of which he initiated) - with me were actually in fact due to my having asperger's syndrome and imagining a friendship with him and that i was obsessed with him and maybe even stalking him - and because it is his job to be friendly he had never said anything to me about this perception he had because he was trying to spare my feelings...]

well that's when my bus pulled up and i left.

the rest has already been covered pretty thoroughly i believe.

at the time i made my first post - i was reaching my time limitation on the computer and what seemed like the best idea to me given that circumstance - was just to post my e-mail reply to mary alison's bullshit farewell - as it covered most of what seemed relevant and because since she did confirm to me (when i spoke to her on the phone that afternoon) that she had recieved it and read it - i could not be accused of presenting new or conflicting information in support of my side of the story.

everyone can benefit from therapy - if it's with a good therapist, why wouldn't they?

i did not come to this site to air dirty laundry of a personal nature - but rather to report what i see as abuse, hypocrisy and total fucked-upness of a major and prominent local business who markets itself to our progressive community as being "the friendliest store in town."

if some people consider my personal story to be an inappropriate matter of discussion for this site - these people are fre to own and to express their opinion - this is my story - isn't it better for me to tell the truth than to make something that sounds better?


at the time i made my first post - i was reaching my time limitation on the computer and what seemed like the best idea to me given that circumstance - was just to post my e-mail reply to mary alison's bullshit farewell - as it covered most of what seemed relevant and because since she did confirm to me (when i spoke to her on the phone that afternoon) that she had recieved it and read it - i could not be accused of presenting new or conflicting information in support of my side of the story.

everyone can benefit from therapy - if it's with a good therapist, why wouldn't they?

i did not come to this site to air dirty laundry of a personal nature - but rather to report what i see as abuse, hypocrisy and total fucked-upness of a major and prominent local business who markets itself to our progressive community as being "the friendliest store in town."

if some people consider my personal story to be an inappropriate matter of discussion for this site - these people are fre to own and to express their opinion - this is my story - isn't it better for me to tell the truth than to make something that sounds better?

last night - friday, july 1 - was my 3rd day of peaceful protest taking place outside the seven corners store owned by new seasons market.

on my first day - wednesday afternoon - a woman introducing herself as marta, the store's manager - and she mentioned that she had been on vacation at the time of the incident taking place on may 19. she made a desperate but polite plea that i give up my peaceful protest/public outreach efforts and i politely refused and asserted that i was legally within my rights to be doing so as long as i stayed on the public side of their store property (the sidewalk).

nothing more was said to me and the rest of my time spent doing that occurred without further interruption.

the following day - thursday evening (i was there for just about an hour, because that's all i had to spare in my schedule on that day) - was also carried out peacefully. i was speaking at length to an intersted and comapssionate individual when miguel (the manager on duty may 19) came out and - much to my surprise - seemed friendly, stated that he was just verifying that i was keeping to the public side of their propery and that the customer i was speaking with was willingly conversing with me (yeah - that customer was being awesome to me and validated everything i was trying to do with my protest). miguel then concurred that i was and returned inside the store. wow, i was astonished, but relieved.

however - last night at about 10 pm - i continued my protest for 45 minutes (i had decided i would catch the bus downtown due there at about 10:45). but it was during the first few minutes that tim's girlfriend showed up - and unsurprisingly, she began calling me names and taunting me. she then fled into the store - taking her bike with her (lol) - and standing visibly before the big picture window on division street proceeded to complain to the management about her objection to my being 86'd from the store not extending to the neighboring public property (i am guessing but what happened next is why i think this). moments later - miguel's other face came out to speak with me and he rudely ordered me to scram - said no - he said that if didn't, then he would call the police and have me formally trespassed (i was prepared for that attempt to take place on wednesday so it came as little surprise) - i reminded him - more or less in his own words from thursday - that i was complying with standards for peaceful protesting and would indeed remain in place.

miguel then made a point of either truly calling, or pretending to call, the police at the phone right inside the same big picture window facing division street.

whether he actually made such a call or hoped that the implication would intimidate me - only he knows for sure 9at this time) - but no police office ever showed up during the next 30 minutes before my bus was due (which was 15 minutes before the store's closing time, by the way).

today i came here to the library to print out my daily alottment of 10 free copies per library card holder and to check e-mail - and to post my original plan for part two of this article (following reflection i did last night in hopes of returning this thread to its original intent to complain about new seasons market - not being screwed over by my friend) when wow - i have a new w-mail from tim and i just posted it above (this part right here got lost somehow or this would all be "part two") - and whle i am hardly shocked by tim's tone at this point in this scenario - i am mad as hell about it - because none of this - NONE OF THIS - would be taking place if not for his dishonesty and cowardice and his girlfriend's mental instability (in my opinion) and her thwarted attempts to make me 86'd from their lives.

that neither of them could see that if my friendship with tim was such a big deal to her that he needed to cut it off - that he could have just told me so and handled it privately rather than her making it a public outburst which led to my rights being further violated - is something i still cannot grasp no matter how many ways i look at it - the only conclusion i can make is that such an appropriate handling of the situation was not good enough for her - she wanted to see that i was humiliated and hurt my friendship with tim so that it was damaged beyond repair (i'm just saying that's how i see it) - or they are both just idiots? whatever.

again - this is not the dispute i was addressing here at this site - new seasons market's management's response to my victimization that took pace in their seven corners store on may 19 and their subsequent decision to trespass me from all of their stores is my the only grievance i intended to address here.

i really hope that i covered all the bases and that nobody else feels the need to taunt me or mock me - but i am wise enough to know that being on the internet anything can happen and probably will. nonetheless, please refer to my article postings and previous defenses in the discussion columns for my future objections to what will likely be additional attempts to provoke me.

a friendly note to those posting here (whether it is tim's girlfriend pretending to be an objective party - hey - your tone and language on may 19, june 10 and july 1 - the only 3 times we have ever spoken to each other - have given me enough grounds to presume it is actually YOU posting these taunts here! - or whether it is anyone on her or tim's behalf) - whatever your motivation for doing this is - please be dvised that you are working against your own best interest when you do this. why do i think this? because i am trying to limit my public dispute to new seasons market - and leave the persoanl nature of it (the situation with myself, tim and tim's girlfriend) out of this discussion. but - if you provoke me in ways which i feel motivated to defend my best interests - each time this occurs - it increases the likeliness that the personal details of our lives will be made public - i am just saying - if you want that to stop - you might wish to quit fueling the fire. it's your call and hopefully this will be my last word on that point.

peace,

kristin

-----------

-----Original Message-----
From: uno_de_mayo <  uno_de_mayo@riseup.net>
To: kangelique <  kangelique@aol.com>
Sent: Sat, Jul 2, 2011 12:04 am


I will repeat what I have already said. Do not contact me or my
girlfriend in any way ever again.

I talked to the police and they have told me that I can file a harassment
report against you and you will be charged if I have made it clear to you
to leave me and my loved ones alone, and you even attempt to contact me or
my loved ones in any way. The definition according to the law of
"contact" in this case is copied below, so that there can be no ambiguity.

"Contact" includes but is not limited to:

(a) Coming into the visual or physical presence of the other person;

(b) Following the other person;

(c) Waiting outside the home, property, place of work or school of the
other person or of a member of that person's family or household;

(d) Sending or making written or electronic communications in any form to
the other person;

(e) Speaking with the other person by any means;

(f) Communicating with the other person through a third person;

(g) Committing a crime against the other person;

(h) Communicating with a third person who has some relationship to the
other person with the intent of affecting the third person's relationship
with the other person;

(i) Communicating with business entities with the intent of affecting some
right or interest of the other person;

(j) Damaging the other person's home, property, place of work or school;

(k) Delivering directly or through a third person any object to the home,
property, place of work or school of the other person;

If you refuse to oblige, have no doubts that I will file.

yay! on an interesting note: it was the officer working at the central precinct recognizance desk - at the time i was falsely arrested by new seasons dishonesty and entrapment actions - who suggested that i might consider leading my protest by blogging or making a facebook page - to avoid new seasons hassling me with police intimidation. so yay for her. i say - why not do both? i am quite adept at multi-tasking - and i liked her idea.

of course - i did begin with the internet at this site - in some ways it might seem it hasn't gone well - but it did have new seasons freaking out within just 5 days (even "new seasons customer advocate" mary alison made an appearance to do pr spin - her post was removed the following day - but i had already saved it - link and all - online and in hard copy - so i still have this slanderous piece of evidence should i need it)- and the news editor at the portland mercury reprinted the first piece i posted here - at their website, just 4 days following publication of that post!

therefore, i do feel much gratitude to this site, despite those who tried to tear me down and scare me away - you only made me stronger by the way . . .

i also have posted stuff on my own facebook page - but so far this page i made yesterday seems to function the very best of all.

this is still just the beginning. i am building my support force up and organizing my first soon-to-be-announced demonstrations at this time.

to be continued . . .

anarchy, peace and solidarity,

kristin @