There once was a quaint little town called Simmerville. It was a place where the population was so small everybody knew everybody. Anyway, one day these bakers found out how to make bread that would feed all the citizens and that was incredibly delicious. The bakers were few and far between, but some got together and started group bakeries, where others went solo and opened their own bakeries. The best part about these bakeries were that the food they made was free. The bakers quickly became well respected and popular, but personal icons. People would sometimes stop in to friendly suggest that the ingredients be changed so that the bread could be better and enjoyed by all. The bakers listened and the people were happy. So happy in fact that the population of Simmerville increased more and more as people found out how to get there.
Then, one summer night this dream world all changed. A consumer came into a bakery and yelled at the baker because his recipe was way off (which, in reality was only 1/16 of a cup of flour). The consumer threw a tantrum and used four letter words that were new to Simmerville and let the baker know that he refused to eat the bread because of this supposedly colossal error, even though the bread was free. After that night things started to change. Bakers and consumers became far more critical of each other. People would get in trouble for showing or sharing a piece of bread that they put jelly, peanut butter, or (God forbid) vegimite on it. The bakeries even became competitive, despite the fact they had nothing to lose, it was all free. Virtual grocery stores started popping up and they used pieces of bread that they put jelly, peanut butter, or (God forbid) vegimite on without telling the people what bakery they got it from.
Another troubling thing started to show up. Designers started to take others ingredients. They would take the crust and bread crumbs and use it to make their own bread. This caused an outcry, lawsuits, a plethora of whining and finger pointing and maybe one of the biggest crimes of all that will be discussed below.
At around this same time another great blow came to Simmerville. A company introduced a user-friendly oven that would make great bread with complex ingredients that anybody could use. With this came the advent of the super-bakery. The bakeries had 15 to 20 bakers (with only about 8 active ones) who were only concerned with making more exotic free bread than the other bakeries. The new bakers who just joined had fiery personalities, and could not be told how to make the bread better. The consumer, naturally expecting a better bread (still for free) would make a bigger cry when something wasn't perfect.
This barrage of attacks, recipe stealing and competition caused something horrible to happen. Bakers started to walk away. Bakers that have been baking since the founding of Simmerville with bread making talent that surpasses any by far. They packed up their bags and left, robbing the people who were good to them of all their talent. Gone forever due to people stealing their bread, covering it in different toppings, excessive whining and harassment.
Who was responsible for this? Well, both the bakers and the consumers. Consumers robbed them of their credit, and harassed them. Bakers however couldn't turn a blind eye and struck back. Also the new ovens which caused immense competition in something that was free and a hobby.
Maybe someday we can go back to the way it was in Simmerville, but with the increased population and new ovens. Can't we all get along? This is just a hobby.
I hope you all see what I am trying to get at here. Please think about your actions because our hobby is going down the drain. Thank you.
PS: No offense to people who like vegimite, I just think it is the most disgusting food ever. Plus, being from Wisconsin I'm a cheese head not a vegimite head.
Patrick Wink / AFG
Patrick@alliedfsgroup.com
