[MR] Value of membership -- a request

[Susan and Frank Downs]

I'm including your note in its entirety at the end, just so people know what
I'm talking about.  Thank you for your pleasant and gracious response.  I
had stopped posting on the issue, because I realzed that I, too, was getting
more emotionally involved than I would like, and everyone's views seem
pretty well established, and it was starting to feel like beating a dead
horse.  I admit to some ambivalence on this particular issue, but attending
the Board meeting engendered an epiphany for me when I saw how hard the
Board and corporate officers worked, and how much care and concern they
evinced.  It just struck me how much they do and sacrifice to facilitate us
playing our little games, and it aroused in me a propensity to protect them
and perhaps trust to their benevolence to a greater extent than is frankly
wise (I well remember the earlier trouble and know that it is generally
sensible to keep an eye on the watchmen).  At any rate, I appreciate the
candor and consideration which go into your posts understand that your goal,
too, is to improve the game.  I will try to emulate your example and express
myself in more courteous terms in the future (That is, after all, one of the
biggest points of what we do).

Gratefully,
-- 
Takenoshita Naro
Frank Downs

> From: clevin at ripco.com (Craig Levin)
> Date: Thu, 29 Aug 2002 06:09:36 -0500 (CDT)
> To: atlantia at atlantia.sca.org (Merry Rose)
> Subject: [MR] Value of membership -- a request
> 
>> Takenoshita Naro:
>> 
>>>> Knee-jerk reactions to those
>>>> decisions by members who didn't bother to attend or convey their comments
>>>> beforehand therefore appear extremely boorish to me.
>>> 
>>> To which Pedro responded:
>>> 
>>>> Actually, I was among the 525 who sent in written comments on the
>>>> issue. 
>>> 
>>> In that case, my lord, I'm clearly not talking about you.  For what it's
>>> worth, I appreciate your efforts to communicate your opinions to those
>>> making the decisions.  I at least partially agree with your later post that
>>> a huge problem facing the society is the difficulty in communication between
>>> members and the BoD.  One aspect of that problem is a large number of people
>>> who choose not to communicate ahead of time, then react vociferously to
>>> decisions they don't like.  These are the people whose behavior I find
>>> boorish.
>> 
>> Thank you!
>> 
>> I will admit to being confused, now and again, by second-hand
>> reports, and I will admit that my emotions sometimes take over my
>> orations, as they seem to have on this issue. As a herald, I try
>> to be as pleasant to people as I can manage, and a confused and
>> acid-tongued herald isn't doing himself, his real or potential
>> patrons and clients, or his trade, any good. So if I have muddied
>> the waters or hurt anybody's feelings, I am sorry.
>> 
>> Pedro