ANST - awards & peasants & peers, oh my

[Dennis and Dory Grace]

Joel Schumacher wrote:
>My opinion is there's way too much award giving and peerage granting in
>the SCA.  Maybe I'm just seeing the wrong side of things, but I see a
>lot of peers, squires, or people with one title or award or another.

Ah, but unlike the historical times and cultures we work--with varying
degrees of accuracy--to re-create, the SCA is an undoubtedly 20th century
construct which is supported by *volunteer* efforts. Since "volunteer"
equates to "no monetary gain," then how, oh how, do we show our
appreciation for jobs well done, arts well appreciated, martial prowess
well acknowleged? Let me think.....(sorry, sudden attack by the Facetious
Bug again ;->). So if the only payment method we have available to us is
awards and recognitions--which is not only not a cost to us as a whole but
an enriching experience and testimony to our capacity for appreciating our
fellow human beings--then why disparage that?

>In these respects, I'm often more content to go to something like a Ren-
>Fair where at least the staff is playing the part of a common man.

The staff is paid. That's  tantamount to saying you'd simply be more
content in the company of waiters or bus drivers or receptionists (people
who are also paid to do what they do) than in the company of folk in the
SCA whose unpaid efforts have achieved the recognition and appreciation of
others.

 >I'm
>really kind of sick of being surrounded by dignitaries in one form or
>another.  It's nice to see people just being people instead of trying to
>be Lord or Lady or Sir or oak or acorn or whatever.  I have no
>asperations to be any of these things and would like to be around more
>people of the same ilk.

I wonder why others' success bothers you so. I can certainly understand
having a low threshold of tolerance for snobs and snoots, but I've noticed
over the years that snobbishness and ill behavior isn't something that
necessarily goes up with rank. In fact, I've actually seen the inverse in
as many cases. In fact, the attitude you're affecting could easily be
cataloged as *reverse-snobbery,* an interesting phenomenon indeed.

Also, if you have no aspirations to any awards or peerages, why the
passionate opinions? Seems a little ungenerous to want others to not have
things you supposedly don't care about.

I guess I'm with Cory, too. I wonder who you are and what your SCA
background is. Why do you play? Sounds to me like you've had some negative
experiences, either with people of rank in the SCA or else perhaps with
frustrated personal attempts at recognition either in the SCA or mundanely.
Your post has a very "sour grapes" sound to it.

I wish you luck in searching out other folk who have no aspirations with
whom to feel comfortable; the SCA has a pretty wide range of folk to choose
from to keep company with. 

Aquilanne


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