Reflections on a road show

Reflections from Clayfolk 2023:

We drove down Wednesday afternoon; with the show now open all day Friday, we'd have Thursday to set up. Stayed somewhere new to us, the Sovana Inn, just around the corner from lasts year's horrible place. This one is a little newer, fairly recently remodeled, judging from the laminate flooring. Clean, and Mario the second shift desk guy was very helpful. I think he might have been the one I talked to when I called last month to specifically request a ground floor room so Denise didn't have to attempt stairs. Reasonably good breakfast options, though the television in the breakfast room was set to Fox News; two days running I gathered our provender during their Crypto Report, which only compounded the stupid. Meanwhile, back in the room, I discovered that even with six channels of HBO and six more of Max, there's still nothing worth watching on TV.

Couldn't figure out why nobody came in to make the beds or empty the trash. Was only on our last day that I realized the "Do Not Disturb" card that slid into the key slot said "Please Tidy Up" on the flip side. Live and learn...

Drove over to the Armory around 8 am Thursday, and even with the extra lights and drapes and such, we still managed to be completely set up by 1 pm. So we went back to the room and read until supper, from an Indian restaurant called Namaste, in the old Woolworth's building downtown.

Friday morning we arrived early for the mandatory show and sales meetings, only to learn that the show and sales chairs were stranded on I-5 behind a car accident, coming in from Grants Pass. The treasurer called the sales meeting, then handed it over to me to do the demos. Years of experience cashiering at the show, lots of time using the Square point-of-sale, and a very loud former teacher's voice made the whole experience go smoothly. Nina came in late and stressed, only to find everyone set and ready to go.

As usual, I had three sales shifts, 12:30 shift each day. I like to keep busy, so request the spot closest to the head of the queue. Teamed with a different wrapper every day, all of them splendid. We had a bit of an adventure Friday, when a customer brought up two full baskets of pieces, twenty in all, and when Carmen and I had pulled all the tags, we only had 19. Cue the Benny Hill theme as we sorted pots by maker, ticked off the stickers one by one, and finally narrowed it down to one of two pieces by the same potter. Carmen and the customer went back to their booth and determined that both items were priced at $19, so I made an extra sticker, so everything (and everyone) got paid. Fortunately, there was a lull in the line so we had time to sort things out. Less fortunately, four of the items were small planters holding not-so-small cacti. A prickly situation.

It was a timeless weekend for me. Thursday night, leaving for supper, I lost my wristwatch in the parking lot. Found it later by flashlight, but apparently I'd driven over it backing out. Gucci Gucci, wristwatch. You served me well for a good decade. Think I might give it a Viking funeral, next firing.

Lots of fun catching up with old friends, potters and patrons alike. Less fun was a Saturday afternoon experience: coming in tired off my my sales shift, I was trying to rearrange boxes of back stock and managed to back into my own display. Knocked off four cream pitchers, one big one, and a cookie jar lid--Denise caught the jar. The lid also clipped a teapot spout in passing, chipping the glaze, so I had to pull that off the shelf. I can make another lid, and I think I can touch up and refire the teapot, so the damage wasn't all that great, just dramatic: the crash heard 'round the show. More stressful was all the people, potters and customers, coming up to say how sorry they were, how terrible I must feel. After a while, you just want to say, They're things! I make them! I can make more! And of course, Stop reminding me this happened! A lesson in the meaning of "emotional labor."

By Sunday, we were running out of stew mugs, animal banks, pie plates. Sold a bunch of larger-ticket pieces, a teapot, platter, large serving bowl, my biggest cookie jar. Got off my sales shift at 3 pm closing and packed up the booth, while Denise went to help copy sales tag sheets in bookkeeping so they could take down their booths. Finally had everything cleared out and the closing meeting wrapped by about 7 pm, so we ate leftover pizza in the van as we drove home. Pulled in around 9:30 pm and fell into bed shortly thereafter.

My totals for the weekend are somewhere around $6000, less the 15% show commission. And somebody passed the hat for my broken pots and left a wad of cash in my booth, about 160 bucks. You really shouldn't have, guys; but thank you.