[MR] Vivats to that 5%!

[oldstormcrow at aol.com]

Many vivats to that 5% of event attendees who actually help out! A rather dismal percentage, wouldn't you say? Why is it that the cook(s), kitchen staff, autocrat(s), and a tiny handful of other folks are the only ones cleaning up after events? After all the work that is involved in feeding that many people these good gentles deserve a break, rather than working until lunchtime on Sunday cleaning up the site. Why is it that I see the same people clearing the dishes from high table, packing up leftovers, washing dishes, pulling the empty beer bottles out of the bardic circle firepit, and mopping the hall the next day? Why is it that the other 95% of people who have enjoyed the event quietly pack up their gear the next day and slip out unnoticed? Is it because they have become SCA "tourists" who feel that their event fee covers the feast AND cleanup afterwards like some kind of twisted bed and breakfast? I hear all kinds of excuses as to why someone can't manage to stay long en
 ough to help......"I have to go to work", "I have to study", "I've got a long drive", "I've got to get home and feed the cat",  or my personal favorite "I've got to get home to go to fighter practice because I'm going to be fighting in Crown"! If you can take the time to come and enjoy an event, then you can bloody well take the time to make sure that you have contributed something besides a few dead presidents to make it a success for everyone. 
         Those of you who know me already will recall how little rant control I have......and those of you who don't know me will probably realize it by now, too.
 
                          Baron Arkein Steinschleifer von Uberstein