[MR] In defense of inauthenticity

[gormofberra at direcway.com]

Let's see...

1. You forgot it at home...no it isn't a "good" reason, but it shouldn't result in your not being able to sit down.
2. Your baby threw up on it
3. You lent it to a friend for some other purpose
4. You had to change a spare tire on the way up to the event, used the fabric as a ground cover to protect your Elizebethan dress, and left it on the side of the highway.
5. The hall needed fabric for a wall hanging to screen off the kitchen area, and you were the only person on site who had some.

I could go on and on.  And yes, I've had some of these happen to me.

However, you're missing my point.  My point isn't that I should be able to sit in my naked Coleman chair on the side of the field as a matter of right, my point is that rather than *banning* something for failure to comply with an arbitrary standard, instead *encourage* people to meet that standard, and maybe even exceed it, by rewarding excellence.

When you say "You must meet this standard", you get a lot of activity right at that standard, and have to ban people who don't meet it.  When you say "Here is a shiny object because you excelled", you get a lot of excellence, AND you don't have to ban anyone.

Which is more likely to result in a larger pool of people with fewer hurt feelings?

----- Original Message -----
From: Marybeth Lavrakas <katrous at yahoo.com>
Date: Tuesday, October 28, 2003 1:01 pm
Subject: Re: [MR] In defense of inauthenticity

> There are plenty of reasons to use a Coleman chair,
> but I can't think of a good reason not to cover it up
> with some cloth...
> 
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> Lady Kateryn Rous, CP
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