[ML-General] Clarifications

Sat Sep 5 06:06:02 CDT 2015

I can definitely appreciate someone living their own life and marching to their own drum beat.  

However, public perception of the shop and its members is important since the space relies on donations from the public to run. We need to maintain a public face that will continue to attract new innovators, artists, and thinkers. 

Nobody has suggested that anybody should be treated as a second class citizen for their employment status or any other criteria. People who want to improve their skills or learn new ones are always welcome at the shop. 

> On Sep 5, 2015, at 4:50 AM, Michael Greenway <mgreenway1975 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> It really is a shame that rather than be free to live your lives as you please, and be accepted as a fellow creative/ tinkering enthusiast, you have to submit to skewed perceptions and assumptions.  This "what will the neighbors think" and and worry over what "could" happen verses clearly seeing what is happening, bothers me. We're hackers, thinkers, dreamers, techicians, and enthusiasts. So what if another lives in a van for whatever reason. Who are we to judge, especially with our own struggles?
> 
> Just FWI, I have been jobless since July of last year and have been struggling, like many, in a brutal and maddening economy since 2009. I am teaching myself robotics via arduino and picking up tech skills to better my chances at finding work.  Am I now a second class member as a result?
> 
> I can't speak for others, but Josh and Amanda have acted reasonably and respectfully around me. Niether they, nor dog interfeared with or hurt my productive shop time. They've even been kind enough to offer help on my stilt covers. I'm grateful, since Amanda's sewing expertise far exceeds my own. I've enjoyed talking with them and can relate to Josh's technical curiosity. Bottom line, I see good souls and, to quote another shop member, "people I'd want to have a beer with".
> 
> Makers Local 256 is a good place with good people and exceptional knowledge. It is a huge help to those who seek self-improvement, especially in today's crazy, uncertain world. Let's not devolve from the sense of open community.
> 
>> On Sep 5, 2015 5:06 AM, "joshua carr" <joshuaq.carr at gmail.com> wrote:
>> In these wee hours of the morning I am my most eloquent self. I've decided to write a bit tonight to clear up some rumors about myself and my fiance that have been recently brought to my attention. 
>> When I applied for membership a while back(my 4th application in 6 years) I was unexpectedly and callously denied. The friends I've made in the local maker/hacker community over the years were quick to criticize the reasons that were given for this, but I feel that that if you guys felt strongly enough about them them to turn me down, then I should be just as concerned.
>> 
>> (1) It seems that my choice of lifestyle was an issue for most. I read vague assumptions about how a person who lived in a modified vehicle rather than in a house or an apartment MUST be applying for membership so that he can take advantage of the facilities for daily functions like showering and preparing meals. I AGREE that this is not what the shop exists for. I had already established more reliable means of accomplishing those tasks, but there was no way for any of you to know that.
>> 
>> There were concerns that the presence of such a vehicle would hurt the image of the shop. It seems that some of the members are very put off by the appearance of poverty(homeless camp). What was insulting was the vapid assumption that, if I was made a member again, I would "live at the shop" and never leave. 
>> There were nights that we stayed in the shop driveway and used the shower the next morning rather than driving back to Lacey's spring, but only after we were encouraged for weeks to do so by several members.
>> 
>> Ive never been treated like a hobo before, and I'm certainly no bum, so I was quite upset by this, but I hold no grudges against the people who said these things. They were expressing valid concerns based on what they had seen or heard, and that's why makers Local has this process.
>> 
>> (2) There were also concerns that Amanda, my girlfriend of 4 years, was "part of the deal" when deciding to allow me back as a member. There were statements that she was irresponsible with, or not to be trusted around other peoples valuables.
>> 
>> This is entirely MY FAULT. 
>> A year ago, when Amanda and I were going through a sour spot in our relationship, I went on 2 angry drunken tirades, while at the shop, blaming Amanda for the failure of my business and my subsequent stress and misery. 
>> These were baseless statements made out of anger and frustration that have since evolved into a bad reputation that Amanda did not earn and does not deserve. 
>> Amanda did not steal from my company. My business failed because it was not prepared to grow and I never drew a line between our personal finances and those of the business.
>> So, while she was partly to blame for the misery that drove me to drink so much, the other problems were not her doing. 
>> I can't apologize enough for the things I said. I hope each of you can see past this. 
>> I had come so far and risked so much, that I couldn't admit to my family and friends that I had failed. I consider most of you my friends. I have respect for each of your individual successes and felt that I owed it to you to be successful as well, so I found a scapegoat in Amanda, and I've been eating crow ever since.
>> 
>> It's past time to set the record straight, for her sake. 
>> Amanda has been a helpful right hand to me in most of my endeavors and has taken the time to clean various areas of the shop on several occasions, including regularly neglected areas like the bathrooms and the kitchen.
>>   
>> Being unable to change the past, I'm focused on the future.
>> 
>> I'm pleased to share that our lives are very different now. Since reading your fervent support and damning condemnations of us, we have taken some steps to alleviate your stated reasons for apprehension.
>> 
>> (1) We don't live in the van anymore. Amandas aunt owns a 4 bedroom house just over the bridge south of Huntsville, and we are renting one of her spare rooms. The van has been emptied and is now merely a mode of transportation again. This also means that we will no longer have to bring our yappy little dog with us to the shop.
>> 
>> (2) We are gainfully employed. Our "hustle and flow" means of supporting ourselves was enough to pay our few bills before, but wasn't something that many of you can relate to, so we went out and got regular jobs. Amanda is managing a pizza joint and I'm a delivery driver. I've been able to put more money into my projects and Amanda has dusted off her sewing machine and done a few of her own.
>> 
>> (3) We are no longer attached at the hip. We purchased a second vehicle allowing us individual means of travel, and we now work varying schedules that don't always allow us to both be at the shop at the same time... For whatever that's worth.
>> 
>> I'm sending this out to you all because I intend to reapply for membership soon, and would rather be humble than be humiliated... Again.
>> 
>> TL/DR
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>> I'm not homeless or jobless anymore.
>> 
>> Amanda is good people, despite what I said when I was drunk a year ago.
>> 
>> Amanda has her own car now.
>> 
>> Yappy dog stays at home now.
>> 
>> I need to be a member again, cuz I got more money than time.
>> 
>> Stop treating me like a hobo, and just let me work on my projects.
>> 
>> Please.
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>> 
>> Josh Carr
>> 
>> Joshuaq.carr at gmail.com
>> 
>> 
>> 
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