Dissed By Local Business Owner Because I'm A Republican

This afternoon, I intended to attend a candidate forum that I thought was to be held at the east branch of the Rockford Public Library. When I arrived, I could not find the event, so I took a seat in the library cafe. The cafe is a locally owned business called "Bookworm Bakery & Cafe." My experience was not a pleasant one.

When we could not locate the event, we asked the cafe owner if she knew where it was being held. She did not know of any event scheduled at the library for today and found nothing listed on the calendar. So, we were asked if we could tell her what person or group scheduled the event so she could search the calendar database by name.

I was under the incorrect impression that the local Republican Party had scheduled the event and told her to check under that name. That is when things went south.

Her quick, emphatic, response was that not only did the the republican party not schedule space but that the Republican party would NEVER have scheduled space in what she called, "the most progressive cafe in the city." We were told the ONLY political groups that would EVER meet there are the "Obama Campaign Committee" and "Occupy Rockford". It was also brought to our attention that she is a local campaign coordinator for the Obama Campaign.

The strangest part about her unprofessional reaction was that we weren't inquiring about space in her cafe. Space, by the way, she rents from a taxpayer owned public building. We were inquiring about an event we believed was scheduled outside the cafe in the public library's main auditorium / conference room.

Turns out the event for which we were searching was not scheduled for today, but rather for an upcoming date. However, if not for her belligerent attitude, we may have stayed for a cup of coffee and, possibly, other of her wares. As it is we left without purchasing anything.

So who really lost today? Not me. Not my friends. The shop owner is the only one who lost anything today. She lost our respect, today's business, and our future business.