Last weekend I attended the Malta Home Fair at the MFCC Ta’ Qali and found it informative and interesting. Unfortunately, my enjoyment of the event was spoiled by an arrogant individual – who happened to be one of the participants in the said fair.

On Sunday evening, me (together with my fiancée) and two other couples were going through the various stalls and getting information and quotes for potential purchases. The atmosphere was really nice, with all stall attendants being very friendly – some even offered us cake and coffee.

At one point however, we walked through a stall and as common, we paid attention to all details. One of my friends sat on the sofa, while another one was looking into the detailed work on the wall unit.

We were abruptly interrupted by the stall owner (as he claimed himself to be) with a rhetoric “do you think it’s polite to sit on someone’s sofa?” At first we thought it was some kind of joke or pick-up line so we just smiled back. His tone however got angrier and replied the same question. We were like “what are we supposed to do? This is a fair after all – you can’t expect someone to buy if he can’t even feel the product!” He got angry and started yelling at us, swearing and threatening us that if we didn’t leave there and then he’d throw us out. Amazed at the reaction, we simply walked away.

At 9pm we decided to head back home. On our way out we passed by this same stall, and the owner once again started provoking us. We decided to ignore ignorance, and kept on walking. Surprisingly enough, he got angrier with our response, ran towards us and punched one of my friends. Two other persons came to his rescue. We were in six and could have easily retaliated, but decided not to react, so once again we just walked away.

Now, the purpose of my complaint is twofold. First of all, I would have expected some kind of security at the stalls. This cowboy harassed us twice with verbal attacks and later also physically. May I ask where security (if any) was during this whole time? This all happened between 8.30pm and 9pm, at which time most people had left so we could have easily been heard.

Secondly, I know my legal actions are limited, if not inexistent, as there is no proof. This man’s conduct was beyond what anyone would reasonably have been expected to tolerate. Insults, verbal and physical abuse are totally unacceptable, especially when the person involved operates a business where he’s in constant interaction with people. I simply hope other shop owners get to read this letter (I’m assuming the concerned individual thinks too high of his product to read letters from laymen). I hope shop owners realise there’s much more to operating a business than simply promoting a product and baiting a customer. Luckily enough (to us customers), Malta is quite small so businessmen like this one can be quickly identified through the grapevine. I, for sure, know I will do my part.

Martin Attard

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