My family and I arrived at the Tenant house at around Noon time (starting time for the event.) Our group included my 80 year-old father, sister, brother-in-law, their 5 year-old, my 3 year-old, and myself. We were invited by the staff to proceed to the back of the Tenant house for hor d'ouvres and drinks. As my father, sister, and I started getting some food at the buffet table (both my and my sister's plates were still empty), Ms. Cole appeared at the buffet table and said "... Let's be considerate... We're expecting a lot of people to arrive." Ms. Cole's suggestion was somewhat unpleasant; though we did not verbally respond, we acknowledged her message. My sister, who was limping (foot surgery from 2 months ago,) immediately put her empty plate back on the buffet table and proceeded to have a seat at one of the guest tables. My father and I continued to get some food, then joined my sister at the guest table. Since the plates were 6-inch in diameter, we could not get much food. I, then, made two more trips back to the buffet table to get some more food for my 3 year-old, my sister (since she did not take any), and her 5 year-old. As I was feeding my child, Ms. Cole decided to approach us once again. (She apparently had been watching my family's every move the minute we stepped into the Tenant house.) She suggested to us we had "gone over" our "limit" or "share" of the food and that we should not attempt to return for more! She even claimed she was not trying to embarass us. This was when I told Ms. Cole she was being rude! I asked her the reason for not preparing "enough" food if she was expecting a large crowd, and thus having to limit the amount of food for guests (or just my family.) I asked whether or not she wanted us to leave the event. She did not respond and kept emphasizing the fact that my family should not return for more food. I also suggested to Ms. Cole she had no manner! Her immediate comeback was "... And it goes the other way, too", then started walking away. My response to her, then, she was being selective. (We are Americans of Asian decent. There were no other ethnic groups besides my family when this unnecessary exchange happened with Ms. Cole.) Ms. Cole subsequently returned to our table and said to us she was from an "Asian" family; hence, she was not singling us out. With my expresssion full of question marks (because Ms. Cole's facial features did not suggest she was "Asian") she told me her sister-in-law was Korean. Whether or not Ms. Cole truly has an Asian relative was irrelevant.By this time, I suggested to Ms. Cole that she should leave us alone and let us spend the rest of our time there peacefully, as she walked away. She immediately turned around and made her last, but extremely demeaning statement "... If that's the case, then I prefer that you don't return!" During the course of our time there, my family and I noticed Ms. Cole talked to her entire staff, one by one, about her discontent with my family. My family and I have a number of questions regarding Ms. Cole's poor and unprofessional behavior: 1) As I mentioned above, my family had just started getting food, at the start of the event, why would Ms. Cole assume that we would take "a lot" of food and thus advised us to be "considerate of others..."? 2) Was Ms. Cole able to quantify the amount of food my family took (basically, I was picking up treats for my father, sister, her child, and my child) when she said "more than your share" or "you've gone over your limit"? 3) The food served was 'finger' food or snack, how can anyone get full from eating hor d'ouvres?! My family certainly did not have such expectation. 4) If Ms. Cole's budget could not accommodate the "large" volume of anticipated visitors and decided to limit the amount of food each person takes, then perhaps she should have placed a sign stating the quantity of food per person; also, ask everyone to be "considerate", and NOT just us! 5) If placing a sign was not a good option, then why not ration the food?! 6) Over something as trivial as a small amount of hor d'ouvres, should Ms. Cole feel so compelled to approach my family twice?! 7) Ms. Cole's disclaimer about not trying to embarass us; however, both her words and actions indicated the exact opposite! 8) My sister and I belong to the Willowsford's "Founder's Club". We constantly receive email reminders about upcoming events. If we are only limited to the number of events in which members can participate, then there should be some sort of policy posted on the Willowsford's webpage. 9) If Founder's Club members are obligated to purchase a home in the Willowsford community in the near future, then members should be made aware of this requirement as well. 10) As we understand, Willowsford is a 10-year project and the weekend events are to promote and raise awareness for the community, then every person (Founder's member or not) should have a 10-year period to decide on making a purchase. Buying a house is one of the biggest commitments any household can make, so we should not feel pressured to make immediate plans. This was arguably the most degrading experience my family and I ever experienced in our 30 years of living in the United States. We are a known respected family in the Northern Virginia Asian community. Our family is highly educated with no less than a Master's degree; a number of us are engineers, a MBA, an attorney, a Ph. D., a M.D., and several business owners. My family and extended families (close and distant relatives) make up of serveral hundreds of individuals living in this area (Northern Virginia and Maryland.) Most of our (immediate family and relatives) weddings have been as large as 300 - 500 people make up of relatives and friends. I have at least 30 first cousins living in the area with 90% of them already established their own families. Many of us have been planning to move farther out to the suburb. Hence, we have been searching for a nice community to settle. The best advertisement is through word of mouth. My family has been discussig the Willowsford Community with our relatives, friends, and colleagues. Our recent worst ever experience, particularly with Ms. Laura Cole, will unfortunately NOT enable us to speak positively about Willowsford because of the manner in which we were treated. Besides, my family and I are no longer welcome there. Ms. Cole appears to have more than two decades of holding various managerial positions. She should have used her better judgement and handled this trivial matter in a tactful and civilized manner or left it alone, but she clearly did not. She demonstrated pettiness when she decided to give my family a hard time over such an insignificant issue; this action debased her as a human being! Perhaps, she underestimated my family and thus could not imagine us being able to afford to live in the Willowsford Community. As Willowsford's "V.P. Of Marketing", Ms. Cole is driving away possible homeowners like my family and others (relatives, friends, associates, etc.) Does Ms. Cole feel she has immunity based on her current position at Willowsford that she has the liberty to make any degrading remarks to anyone as she pleases?! Why did she single us out if she was not being prejudiced or discriminating?!! Very disenchanted consume
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