FIDM Fail at MyFigueroa meeting on February 8, 2011

The hosts of the MyFigueroa meeting on February 8, 2011, the lords of flash and glitter that run the Fashion Institute of Design and Marketing (FIDM), left us wanting a bit more humane security and bike parking polict. FIDM is a bad place for a meeting like this. We (me, my wife, our 3 year old daughter) arrived on our bicycles and were promptly directed into a darkened park to find "bike parking" next to a shifting group of men in an unlit corner. That is to say, there is no secure bike parking at FIDM. We parked in front of the school next to a street tree on Grand. Once we were parked, our daughter let us know she had to pee.

The FIDM security guards wanted us to "sign-in" (at the CRA's "Contact me later" table to get a sticker with our first name on it) before letting us wait for the elevator to the 5th floor, where we could then let our 3-year old pee. These guys must not have any kids of their own, because when a little kid tells me she has to pee I don't make her wait 15 minutes, then wait for an elevator to the 5th floor , and expect her to hunt for a bathroom in a building her parents aren't familiar with. I show her mom or dad the nearest bathroom right away. Then again, I am not one of the three well dressed security guards at FIDM that evening.

My daughter peed in her pants on the ground floor. Luckily, we had spare clothes - but you can imagine how much seething rage had to bottled up because our daughter's bladder represented a security risk to these goons at the gate.

Your building is secure FIDM, but your public image is not - you are jerks. Why did the CRA use this space for their event anyway?

FIDM sent one of their tuition collecting Velociraptors to the event to invite us all to their ground floor museum of costume design. A round of applause for you FIDM Fashion Velociraptor. Is there a bathroom in that museum? Do you think a small girl could use it instead of being forced to piss herself in your foyer?