Reality (was: RE: Made to Swear Fealty)

[tegan at swbell.net]

> 
> OK, this is one of my hot button issues.  The notion that the SCA isn't
> "reality".  The hours we spend on it are real.  The money we spend on
> it is real.  The way we behave in it is real behaviour.  The ideals we
> try to live up to are real. 
> 
>I am usually just a quiet eavedropper to these posting but to this one I feel I must reply. One of my first introductions to the SCA was while I was in the military,I will not devulge the time or place so as not to embarress anyone but I was a private in an MP company when one of our sargeants attempted suicide. When she came out of the hospitol and was put on light duty our First Sargent asked me to quietly keep an eye on her for a while. She confided to me that she had begun to feel that her identity or persona in the SCA was the only one she had left and the only one she wanted anymore. Now I think this is an extreme example of
what Bors refered to but she had truly lost her grip on what I would
term reality. 
Now don't get me wrong, I do not believe that the SCA in any way caused
her to attempt suicide,But  it is a lovely place to hide when the REAL
world gets to rough. I don't know how many times I have heard women
reject men as a possible mate because he was "not a heavy fighter, not a
light fighter ect.." Yes I have heard this. Some criteria for choosing a
life partner.
>For those of us who have our prioritys straight (I hope I do) then the SCA is a magical place to be, but sometimes I really do fear for those who seem to be lost in the game.
> I'm sure Baron Bors met no disrespect to you or anyone like you who works as hard to make sure the magic continues, but I for one understand what he meant. 
> My point in writing this is when you do meet these people ,and you will, treat them with kindness. There but for the lack of a good grip it could have been you. 
>
> 
>
> http://www.flash.net/~pmitchel/galen.htm