Date: Sun, 31 May 2009 08:34:03 -0400
From: Calvin Oxendine
Subject: Antonella, the Plenty and irresponsible Matt
Matt,
The Plenty is indeed a interesting social experiment propagated by your employer and a group of businesses affiliated with your employer.
A leap of faith must be taken by all involved as their is no guarantee of their stated value, including yourself. You agreed to accept the plenty in lieu of real money, Antonella does not.
She does not profess to accept the Plenty, I checked, she is not flying the banner. She also will not shell out smokes to avoid a shiving in the yard. This is a choice she makes. It’s pretty irresponsible of you to propose a boycott based on this choice. It is doubly irresponsible to do this on behalf of your employer (is it any mistake that you used your biofuel email address in your post?).
Your strategy to demonize businesses that are not participating in this experiment will only hurt the concept. You went into her establishment with the full knowledge of her participation in this program and tried to render what amounts to a coupon in lieu of cash and then got upset upon being informed of her policy. You could have simply forgone your gratuity but you are now pressuring her and other businesses through this forum.
If this is the tactic that is being utilized in recruiting participants I not sure that this is the right thing for our little town. I believe that an organization employing these tactics does not deserve the supporters it claims to have.
Given your behavior as a agent of your employer I would recommend that those businesses reconsider their participation in the Plenty. Businesses accepting the Plenty can be easily referenced at theplenty.net and avoided in the same fashion.
As for Antonella, the tremendous void you left in her customer base has be filled. I will be making an appointment with a stylist and an estetician first thing Monday morning.
Cal