[MR] Society for Categorical Awards

[TJ Brunzie]

> I feel like I'm shouting down a well, but when did it become all about
> awards?

It's not all about awards, however amusing your post may have been.  It's
about recognizing and acknowledging what people have accomplished and
contributed to our fair kingdom and the society.  I rather like the
alphabet soup myself, for all that I don't have much to string behind my
name.  A person's awards communicate to other people what their interests
and commitments are.  And if I know that so-and-so is a Pearl, and I have
a question in whatever their subject matter is, I can be reasonably sure
they'll help me if their time and resources permit.  It's rather like a
curriculum vitae, in that respect.  Which is why it is a concern when
people and their works slip through the cracks.

Cheers,
Doña Violante