Standing tall with the Tall & Small
October 29, 2009 11:46 AM
Strolling on Main Street this past Monday night, I noticed a sign on the door of the Tall & Small from the café’s owners, saying “Thank you! To the wonderful community members and clients for all your support over the last week and to those who wrote letters to the Casket, you brought me to tears!”
Intrigued, I sorted through the past few editions of the local paper and found the reason behind the note.
The October 7 issue of the Casket reported on the allegations against Bishop Lahey for the possession of child pornography.
Contained in an article titled “Arrest talk of the town” was a quotation by Meghan Peters, owner of the Tall & Small, in which she commented on the reactions she’d heard from the public about the scandal.
“Most people aren’t surprised,” she’d said.
Somewhat surprisingly, a reader wrote in the following week criticizing Peters’ statement. Beyond remarking that her comment was “hurtful,” the individual declared that it was a “cheap shot” and that her quote “says more about Ms. Peters than anything else.”
The letter to the editor concluded with the proclamation: “Rest assured that I will never again set foot in the Tall and Small Café.”
Really?
The suggestion of boycotting an establishment because the owner reiterated, second-hand, the views she’d heard from customers on particular issue, is certainly misguided.
In fact, it’s absurd when you consider that the establishment in question is run by a young couple working hard to promote fair trade, organic foods, environmental responsibility and local artists.
Truly, what “says more about Ms. Peters than anything else” is the way she runs her business, is it not?
The remarkable part of the story, though, is what followed.
In the October 22 issue of the Casket, the letters section was flooded with responses from community members pointing to the fact that Peters was relaying her impression of the public’s attitudes, not directly stating her own opinion on the matter.
These readers wrote in not only to provide a defence of Peters’ right to make the statement, but also to defend her character and the ethics of her business.
I, for one, am impressed by the rush to defend Peters, and the Tall & Small, a space so many StFX students couldn’t live without.
It’s comforting to know that the community we’re living in is just that – a community, and that a business so integral to Antigonish could not be so easily slandered.
