[Ansteorra] History/Enculturation/Clickishness....

[Paul DeLisle]

> > I would like to have your feeling on something I perceive is
> happening...
> >
> > There seem to be fewer and fewer "older" people remaining
> onsite at events
> > in the evenings and at night.  Because of this I see a growing split in
> > culture because the "newer" people are not being exposed to the
> history or
> > able to get into circumstances to easily get to know the "elders" in
> > informal settings that breed camaraderie...
>
> You're absolutely right and it is most definitely a problem.  How
> to fix it
> is a trickier prospect. The easy answer is "convince them to stay on site
> longer".  The hard part is coming up with the actual means of doing it.
>
> Luciano
> Guilty of this himself

Geez...I throw a little guilt around, and I suddenly have 45 messages in my
Inbox! (*G*)
...I understand the inherent problems...I'm encountering them myself...but
acknowledging them doesn't make them go away. In many cases, I think that we
are starting to lose our sense of "community"... You know; the kind where,
if you saw a car with an SCA bumper-sticker on it on the side of the road,
at 2 AM, you wouldn't think twice about pulling over?

We *are* a wee bit larger group now, then we were 20 years ago....but that
can't be all of it. I just don't think we can develop a sense of unity by
driving to the event, putting on our funny clothes, fighting
(displaying/cooking/sewing/whatever) all day, going out with a few select
friends for pizza afterwards, and going home. Large or not, "old" or
not...that ain't a community. It's a softball team.

...And I'm too old to play softball....

One thing that *will* help is not to be a part of the problem, but a part of
the solution! Try and camp, stay for the feast, etc. First off, the food
ain't *that* bad, that many times. (Ohh, and for those of you who can't eat
the feast (or *say* they cant eat the feast *G*) because of food allergies
....what's to prevent you from bringing your *own* feast...and eating it
with your friends???

And have you seen the marvelous things they have for camping, nowadays? (my
cadet was proudly displaying his new collapsible queen-size bed, that sits
18 inches off the ground, has an inflatable mattress....and it's 1/3 the
size of my armor bag! We can be comfy, if'n we try... (why...in *my* day, we
slept on small rocks, in the snow...and we were *happy* to have 'em!)

Why *not* try reviving an old custom of Wardship or "fostering" newbies?
It's a great way to meet people!

Okay...let's take it one more step back. You can't stay, you can't eat the
feast....at *least* don't bad-mouth it! Good gentles, there just flat-out
ain't that many *bad* feasts! Yeah...I've had a few....maybe ten in 20
years...that were truly *bad*. I've had maybe 30 that were *outstanding*.
And several hundred that were okay to pretty good. So don't tell the
youngsters how *horrible* the feasts always are, and that's why you don't
eat them....they'll believe you! At least let's try to put a positive light
on something that we think (or once thought) so important...or it just might
go away....

Alden
(too old to play softball, but not too old to lay on the ground...if'n we
could just get a new tent...*sigh*)