[MR] Newcomers, coronets, and other foolishness...

[Gina Shelley]

Well, you know how it is...all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others...

Hmmm.....

Making it easier for newcomers to identify royalty? Really? 

How about this as a radical idea: newcomers don't need to be fretting and worrying about royalty. We don't need to worry about them "offending" royalty. We need to worry about them having a good time and wanting to come back. If they are intimidated out of showing up and having a good time because they are that afraid of "not recognizing" royalty, then we are doing something profoundly wrong. If they are newcomers, then recognizing the difference in one hat from another is not something they should fret about. It's not something we should make a big deal of teaching them right off the boat, either, because it gives the mistaken impression to them that it's the end-all-be-all most important thing they need to know before they go even one step further. 

And that IS a mistaken impression. 

Should they learn proper SCA protocol? Certainly. When it becomes relevant to them, yes. As novices, though, it's not all that relevant beyond a cursory and abbreviated guideline to what a coronet signifies. 

I'm less offended at the proposed rule change than I am at this particular excuse being given for it. 

Dulcy


> 
> The SCA at its best, as I understand it, functions very well without an 
> institutionalized "pecking order." The order of precedence should not become 
> such. Many of us grew up being the last people picked for childhood games. Why 
> would we want to create another, similar situation—probably for those of us less 
> "spiffy" than others, many of whom may also be newcomers—in something we're all 
> supposed to enjoy?
> 
>