[MR] Queen's Corner

[Dave Montuori]

> If people do service or arts "just to get the cookie,"  why are there
> so many Pelicans still out there doing stuff?  Why do Laurels take up
> new arts and continue to work at them?  There are very few who "rest on
> their laurels," so to speak.  I feel sad when someone retires shortly
> after getting a coveted award (and yes, it's OK to covet them); it
> means they really didn't enjoy the journey, did they?

Or, alternatively, that they got the award shortly before burning out. I 
have seen this happen with a few friends (though far from all)... and it 
doesn't mean the journey wasn't enjoyable, but perhaps other factors were 
coming into play, or that what had been enjoyable for the most part was 
turning into drudgery after many many years of doing it over and over 
again.

That doesn't happen to everybody, of course; there are plenty of examples 
of Laurels and Pelicans who meet your initial descriptions.

There is, however, a stereotype of the "social climber" whose main goal of 
getting a title is to have the title, and the respect and social status it 
supposedly brings. Over the last two decades I have encountered a number 
of these myself... and really, if such stereotypical individuals didn't 
exist, then "Lady Tudor Glitz" wouldn't either! It may be that such types 
were more common in the SCA in earlier days, I'm not sure. But I suspect 
it is the reaction to them that has passed down the concept that it is 
less than a good thing to aspire to Laurelhood or Pelicanhood.

Evan