[MR] Secrecy (fwd)

[Craig Levin]

Rosine:

> Secrecy
>
>    We have a couple in our barony - one more high-profile than their
> partner. The High Profile member has now been awarded Kingdom-level
> recognition three times... and in each case, the Beloved Other was not aware
> that the award was going to be given. Twice The Other skipped the event in
> order to work/do labs at school (but could have made arrangements to
> attend), and once was volunteering in an area too far away from where Court
> was being held. In all those times, their Baron and Baroness were present
> but unaware of the impending award. I have heard similar tales about other
> S.Os. and Peers whose squires/protogees/apprentices were awarded
> planned-in-advance honors with no head's up to anyone who could have made
> sure that friends and family were present while still keeping it secret.

Unfortunate but true. It's happened to Devora and myself, actually.

>    I think we have lost something important in our quest for the thrill of
> surprise - we've lost our concern for the friends and family of the honoree.
> And I *don't* think that it's something we can lay on the shoulders of our
> Royals - every territorial baron and baroness, every Order principal, every
> court herald - every person who helps out by filling in names on a scroll -
> each of those folks should be carrying an awareness that half of the joy of
> personal recognition is in seeing the happiness in one's loved-one's eyes,
> to be able to go back to one's friends and get the acclaim, the pat of the
> back, the hugs of joy while still clutching their shiny scroll.
>    So count this as a reminder, to all of us, that there's a large body of
> people who can assist our King and Queen (and Baron and Baronesses) in
> making sure that stories like the one I related above are not the norm in
> this Kingdom any longer.

Frankly, I'm not sure why the SCA *has* this cult of "gotcha". It
can be undignified-see accounts of people being hauled out from
the kitchen or someplace else in their grotty duds. It can be
painful-as above. It could even be dangerous-think of someone
with a heart problem being "gotcha-ed".

On top of that, I don't quite see it as being in keeping with the
mediaeval and Renaissance predilection for pomp and circumstance.
Ordinations, knightings, marriages, and other ceremonies for the
upper class (and that's the class which we nominally are) weren't
sprung on people (unusual circumstances like battlefield
knghtings aside, and even then, the participants had a fair idea
of whether or not they'd be involved). Instead, the honoree and
his or her people had a lot of time to prepare and to make the
ceremony as flashy as they could manage to make it. I gather that
in Aethelmearc, they use a writ of summons to make sure that
honorees and those near to them will be in court at such-and-such
a time, at least for the recognition of a new peer. I like that,
actually-the English kings created new members of the House of
Lords by sending them a writ to appear in Parliament (as opposed
to being sent by your neighbors to represent them in the House of
Commons).

For many people, the AoA is the only big-time award they're
likely to receive. Why make them get it in circumstances they'll
remember poorly?

Pedro