Badges and Terms

[Angela M Viator]

<snip>
> Maybe it's not an
> emergency and I'm kind of shy and don't want people to make a fuss.
>
> First off, I'm supposed to know that this "chiurgeon" sign I've passed
> by several times (while looking for "first aid") is what I need.
>
> Chiurgeon's not in, but somebody saw him/her at the list field - and
> they've got their "badge" on!  Great!  Must be the universally known
> symbol of a red cross, right?  Well, it does have some read, but it's
> a circle.  Inside of this circle, there's a white, teardrop looking  
> thing, and inside of that there's what looks like an upside-down number 2.
> Yeah, after the red cross, that was my second guess.
>
agreed. As a quazi-neophyte if it weren't for the fact I had a lot of free
time on my hands at the begining of the summer and decided to "research"
this wonderful organization I'm getting myself into, I would never have
known what the symbols/badges meant. I mentioned earlier in my postings
that I've been involved in the midrealm, but only a very little and not
enough to have learned the various offices' symbols/badges...it just
wasn't high on my friends' list of things-to-inform-me-about, they and I
knew if I needed anything I could go to them to get to whomever I
needed...chirgeon, senchal, whathaveyou.

> C'mon.  Symbols or badges aren't going to work unless people know what
> they mean.  Same goes for the labels of officers.  What's wrong with a
> "medic", "nurse", or "first aid" sign?  Why not the universally
> recognized red cross?  (Especially for something as serious as first
aid).
>
you may  get many a response to this but in my "research" I found that the
red cross was ruled out as arms for the offices of the chirgeon because
they didn't want to be confused with the redcross because they are not the
red cross and not affiliated with it. While it is a widely known symbol
the modern middle ages do have to consider 20th century politics.

> And, (to further illustrate), I don't know what a "hospitaler" badge
> looks like.  How many of you do? (a rhetorical question - no replies please)
> Does this symbol convey "welcome", "i'm the one to talk to"?  Does it
> have any words on it?  Like "Ask me about the SCA"?  Sure, that may sound
> stupid, but if I walked up to a practice, it would be my invitation to
> start talking to this person.             

again, as a neophyte, I have to agree on this point wholeheartedly. When I
popped in to my first Stargate fighter practice (with the intent of merely
getting in touch with my home baronial sisters and brothers) the only
reason I talked to the gentleman that I did was because he was already
answering questions to a group of observers/passersby...hence I waited
till they were done and stepped up and introduced myself. If twere not for
the fact he was already talking to some people, I would never have known
who to speak with...true I know the symbols/arms but I wouldn't know where
to look for them on a person wearing them..."can you stand there for a sec
while I look for the right symbol on you?"-assuming I know what I'm
looking for. 

Yes there should be some nigh-modernly recognizable, highly visible symbol
that people who are PEOPLE PERSONS -not just the hospitaler- can wear so
that those who know not what to look for, but are interested in playing
with us can see and understand "hey that's who I can talk to about this
really cool, fun looking activity!"


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|          Luv&Luck,
          Isabel Soberbia         |              Angel Viator
 Incipient Canton of Dun Bruddair |
      The Barony of Stargate      |
           ~ANSTEORRA~            |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|



On Wed, 18 Jun 1997, Joel Schumacher wrote:

> > Actually there is a badge that certain people can wear: it is the badge for
> > the office of Hospitaller/Chatlaine.
> > 
> > At demos and during an event, anyone who holds the office of Hospitaller
> > should wear (quite proudly) the badge of his/her office
> 
> I know there's the desire to try to hide modern life, but these symbols,
> are often cryptic drive me nuts.  A lot of this may boil down to
> "newcomer" training though.
> 
> Maybe some of the newcomer's guides that have been put together have
> this.  I wouldn't know.  At my first event, I was introduced to the
> hospitaler and told she would have a "newcomer" handout.  She didn't
> and after several attempts, I gave up.
> 
> But back to the symbols and labels the SCA dubs on officers.  Let's say
> I'm at an event, I'm kind of new, and need medical attention.  Before
> advice, like "ask somebody", follow me on this.  Maybe it's not an
> emergency and I'm kind of shy and don't want people to make a fuss.
> 
> First off, I'm supposed to know that this "chiurgeon" sign I've passed by
> several times (while looking for "first aid") is what I need.
> 
> Chiurgeon's not in, but somebody saw him/her at the list field - and
> they've got their "badge" on!  Great!  Must be the universally known
> symbol of a red cross, right?  Well, it does have some read, but it's
> a circle.  Inside of this circle, there's a white, teardrop looking thing,
> and inside of that there's what looks like an upside-down number 2.  Yeah,
> after the red cross, that was my second guess.
> 
> C'mon.  Symbols or badges aren't going to work unless people know what
> they mean.  Same goes for the labels of officers.  What's wrong with a
> "medic", "nurse", or "first aid" sign?  Why not the universally recognized
> red cross?  (Especially for something as serious as first aid).
> 
> And, (to further illustrate), I don't know what a "hospitaler" badge looks
> like.  How many of you do? (a rhetorical question - no replies please)
> Does this symbol convey "welcome", "i'm the one to talk to"?  Does it have
> any words on it?  Like "Ask me about the SCA"?  Sure, that may sound
> stupid, but if I walked up to a practice, it would be my invitation to
> start talking to this person.
> __________________________________________________________________________
> Joel Schumacher                        JCPenney Co. - UNIX Network Systems
> jschumac at uns-dv1.jcpenney.com          12700 Park Central Pl
> (972) 591-7543                         Dallas TX  75251
>