[MR] Observations from a Newcomer

[Gerita della Mara]

These are really good observations.  Please don't ever think your 
opinion is not desired or important to the effort.  Sometimes we get so 
tied up in our 'internal stuff' that we forget what we must look like to 
new people, or to those who are just checking us out.  That doesn't 
discount YOU....it does make us look a bit silly, doesn't  it?

There are a whole lot of us that fall within the groups you 
describe...friendly, willing to share whatever knowledge we may have 
gleaned, willing to help with garb or whatever interests we may 
potentially share.  I know I'll teach someone to knit, any day, any 
time, any where!

  I joined the SCA back when rocks were soft (Ok, AS10 to be exact) for 
exactly the same reason you did...to have some fun, to meet new people 
who may share my somewhat offbeat interests, to take another look at 
history outside of the dry-as-dust textbooks I was used to.  We left the 
group for a few years due to pressing mundane issues, and upon our 
return found what you are seeing.  Somewhere the spark of fun was hidden 
behind emotional debates over all sorts of things.  Somehow courtesy 
went to the wall when someone felt moved to snark about your garb, or 
your tent, or what you were eating, or.....  I learned to respond to 
these folks with a raised eyebrow and a return to what I'd been doing 
when interrupted...my fun is evidently different than theirs!  Nowadays, 
I just stick with like-minded folks, welcome others like us into our 
happy little group, and enjoy the hobby begun so many years ago.

As an officer in the organization, I see the need for dealing with law 
changes and the need for the debate that often precedes them.  I do 
think we should call a moratorium on dredging up the errors of the 
past... we need to learn from those mistakes, apologise where needed, 
make amends where possible, and move on.  Dragging up that muck does not 
one thing to forward our game.  Of course, that's my opinion, and 
certainly doesn't represent the policies of the SCA (I would assume).  
There is a business side to any organization bigger than a dozen people, 
and modern law requires that we conduct that business out in the open 
where all may see, comment, and participate to whatever level they feel 
moved to.  Since we're all volunteers (other than a teeny handful of 
paid staff back in Milpitas), many of whom work incredibly hard to 
benefit our game, I wouldn't begrudge anyone their right to state an 
opinion.  I'd just prefer to see such statements couched in less 
confrontational or negative terms, and more in the spirit of cooperation 
that we see so often at actual events.

Human beings can be incredibly negative, nasty, stubborn, and can really 
have issues with crawling out of their rut and trying something new.  
This is true in any place or group you find humans.  There is an ideal 
in the SCA...a description of who and what we strive to present and 
emulate.  You've got that ideal down pretty clearly...courtesy, 
chivalry, a willingness to share what we know (or have tried and failed 
with), a willingness to pitch in and help.   It would be good if we 
could all meet that ideal, but then who would we argue with?

Hang in there.... you'll find fun and friends here, that much I can say 
unequivocally!

Gerita
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