[MR] Observations from a Newcomer

[Logan]

excellent.  thank you so much for sharing what youve shared.  im not old
enough to have been around when those rocks were soft but i guess im old
enough to yell at the kids to get off my lawn.  i too have seen the ebb and
flow of emotions over issues during the last twenty years in the sca to know
that, at the end of the day, none of the changes really matter.  some folks
act like the end of the world has come anytime something is changed.  the
fear to try something new is silly.  i mean, trying it wont take food off my
table will it?  and often times the internet sca makes mountains out of
molehills.  yet somehow when we all meet at events, and work toward making
those gatherings happen, we do so without too much drama.  will there ever
be a time without drama?  of course not.  the sca attracts a lot of
different personalities and some of them, lets face it, are socially inept.


the sca has its faults.  people have faults.  the biggest problem (in my
opinion) is the unwillingness some folks have with open, candid, honest
communication with people they disagree with.  talking things out before
jumping to conclusions and assuming the worst is the best way.  people
should try it more often.  i also want to thank cassandra for her post, i
hope it will cause a lot of folks to pause and consider things.

regards
logan

"I never did give them hell. I just told the truth, and they thought it was
hell." 
Harry S Truman 
"If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his
vengeance need not be feared"
Niccolo Machiavelli
For your SCA combat needs please visit:
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-----Original Message-----
From: atlantia-bounces at seahorse.atlantia.sca.org
[mailto:atlantia-bounces at seahorse.atlantia.sca.org] On Behalf Of Gerita
della Mara
Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2011 9:49 PM
To: atlantia at seahorse.atlantia.sca.org
Subject: Re: [MR] Observations from a Newcomer

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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