[MR] Fees for membership and events

[Elizabeth]

Greetings,

--- "Michelle L. McDaniel" <McDanielM at aaa.si.edu>
wrote:

(Major snippage of some very good points) 

> As for a non-membership surcharge, I think that is a
> bad idea as well. We
> should not make non-members support our hobby. 

 Wow, I've seen some excellent arguments from both
sides of the fence here, and am not yet sure on which
side I stand yet. However, I did want to comment on
the statement above. 
 I  see this non-member charge as less of an affront
to newcomers, and more a way to get active players who
do not pay for memberships to cough up their fair
share. I, as well as many others on this list, would
be happy to pay the extra $3 for a newcomer's first
few events, so I don't really see that as an issue.
Even for the very broke (like me) 3 bucks is not much.
I'm not going to rehash what the value of membership
is, or break down fees over the course of a year to
show how far that dollar stretches, and how little
money it actually turns out to be. These very good
points have already been made. However I do kind of
resent that some people play for so long without
making a financial contribution to the SCA. 
 Membership to this group like many others is a
financial burden, although a small one. I tire of
hearing how hard it is for college students to stomach
the fees. I *wish* I had the money to go to college. I
am a tour guide, and I make squat. But my money is no
less green than the successful lawyer, or more so than
the often mentioned student.
  I believe if you are active in a group you should be
willing to pay your dues. I don't pay membership fees
so I can get TI, I do it because there are costs that
need to be covered. Back to the original point of my
post, regarding expecting non-members to pay for our
hobby. Newbies aside, I don't think it's fair to
expect others to shoulder those costs while I merrily
play beside them. Then again, as my Poppy always did
remind me "Who ever told you life was going to be
fair?".
 Well, that turned out to be far more of a rant then I
planned, my apologies.
 YIS,
 Isobel, paid member

> Anyways, that's my tuppence!
> 
> **aelfwynn of whitby**
> 




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