[MR] What the heck... Why be a judge?

[Terri Morgan]

I'm tired of reading/deleting messages about background checks. So why not
re-visit the brough-hahaha just previous to it?

Why should we judge A&S?

No, I'm serious.

I have been told since I became a member of the Order of the Pearl that it
is my responsibility as a Pearl (and now as a Laurel) to judge Arts and
Sciences when asked, especially if there are entries in my field of study.
And for the most part, I have done so.

I have only ever entered *one* competition, a small local one in Sacred
Stone (very, very long ago. Rocks were soft and mud was a new idea back
then) and the judges comments and scores were so hilarious that I never did
it again. Instead, I put items on display in the hopes of intriguing and
teaching folks who'd look at them. That was fun. Doing things in the SCA is
supposed to be fun, right?

So what, I ask, is fun about judging? It is un-rewarded, un-acknowledged,
and for the most part, the biggest source of guilt and negative association
for the judges of all their SCA activities. Experts in any craft field can
count on having to stop whatever they are doing at any given event and spend
hours filling out forms and trying to find a way to leave meaningful
commentary that will inspire and delight the competitor, because to do
anything less is to be... evil. Mean. The Person Who Kept The Competitor
>From Ever Doing Their Craft Ever Again.

You can't just say, "oh, that is lovely!" You can never hint, much less
write, "Hun, I'm glad that you tried this out, but...."

And no matter what you do, folks will post on the Merry Rose, in their
online journals, on their local lists and talk to their friends about what a
poor, terrible job the judges are doing and how they have been harmed and
un-inspired by those same judges.

So I've got to ask. Maybe someone out there can tell me... why do we keep
coming back for the same horrid backlash and guilt? Why *should* we, the
average Artsy-fartsy kind of person, commit ourselves to supporting a system
that we have never enjoyed and that does not bring us pleasure?

I'm all for displays and Artisan's Row. So having said that, how long do you
think it will be before I get blasted for saying so - for "not supporting
the Arts as a Peer should"?

I give it about 5 hours - since I posted this after midnight on a workday.


Hrothny