Alan Gutierrez

At Rose Nicaud yesterday, speaking with someone about Think New Orleans on the phone. I hang up. A fellow pops up and asks about my conversation. He sits across from me. I give a brief description of the Web Publishing Workshops. He asks, are you funded? I say, no.

I expand on the project, because he seems interested. Then he’s done. Goes off to sit by himself. I give him my card, but he doesn’t have one on him. He doesn’t appear to want to give out contact information.

It left me feeling like I’d been, as the say in sales parlance, stroked.

Are you funded? Talk to him about the funding situation. Then he backs off, as if to make me feel like I’d been asking him for money. He can’t be bothered.

The answer from now on is yes. Think New Orleans workshops have a suggested donation of $35.00. It will cover costs. It will stock up some money for printing and audio recording. Won’t have to subject myself to that test again. Are you funded? Yes, Mercy Corp punk, I am.

This is the second time that I ran into someone from Mercy Corp who rubbed me the wrong way.

Was describing the web publishing project to someone form Mercy Corp at one of the Neighborhods’ Planning Network meetings. I was sent a follow up that said, thank you, but we’re going to work with person x on project x.

Who was asking to work with you? What an obnoxious tone to take with someone.

Why does everyone at Mercy Corp behave like they are bestowing an audience upon you, even when you meet them in passing?

Do they treat people in developing nations with similar distain, or is it an order of magnitude worse?