[Ansteorra] Things to think about....

David Kirk txourtx at yahoo.com
Sun Jul 21 16:16:13 PDT 2002


Greetings,

I have observed over the past few years a disturbing
trend that I feel should be discussed in a public
forum.  Too often I am hearing members of the populace
of Ansteorra blame others for their own bad choices,
mistakes that were clearly their fault, and for just
plain bad luck.

Here are some examples:  "I drove ten hours and spent
200 dollars to go to event A and I didn't have fun",
"Knight #1, and Knight #2 didn't help me set up my
tent or carry my things", "I am allergic to (insert
food/spice here) and the event steward didn't make a
special (food/spice) free meal for me", "I am into
medieval nose picking and Shire such-and-such didn't
have a nose picking contest at event X" -I could go on
with more but I think most of you get my point.

For those of you that may have uttered any of the
above phrases or something like them, take some
personal responsibility for your actions.  If you
didn't have fun at an event -oh well don't go next
time or try to be a catalyst for fun.  **Your site fee
does not gaurantee you 48 hours of entertainment.**
The nobles, peers, and officers of the SCA were not
put on Earth to personally entertain you at events.
They are people who spent just as much money and time
as you did getting to the event, and I am sure they
would like to have fun while they are there.

It is a great part of the SCA that we help each other.
 However when that help is expected and even demanded,
it brings a negative to the whole "help thy neighbor"
aspect.  People do not join the SCA to set up tents
and carry baskets.  If a knight is walking from their
tent to the list field and stops to help everyone who
might need it (most often I feel it's a case of wants
and not need, the majority of our populace is quite
capable of handling their own stuff) will never get to
the field.  Its not that they are being rude, just
simply that they have their own concerns or activities
that you are not aware of.
It is impossible for a group to cater to everyones
activities or special needs.  If you like to do
something that a certain event is not sponsoring,
don't go -or better yet try something new.  If you
really want to do activity X, start by convincing your
home group to sponsor an activity X event.  There are
hundreds of different food and spice allergies out
there, if the cooks removed all of them from the menu
all we would have for feast is a glass of filtered
water and a side of purified air.  So if you are
allergic to X and X is on the menu, don't get feast
and bring your own X free food.

Anyway to some up.

If you have to choose between having money for rent or
going to an event, please choose to pay your rent.

If you have to choose between your health or going to
an event, please choose your health.

If you have to choose between your job or going to an
event, choose your job.

If you have something you can not carry or set up
alone, leave it at home or make arrangements with a
friend.

And above all; if you make the choice that gets you
evicted, puts you in the hospital, or gets you fired
remember that you made the choice.

Thank you for your time and I look forward to seeing
all of you in the future.

David Kirk
aka. Dominic MacConmara



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