[Ansteorra] Event Etiquette

[iainmacc at juno.com]

On Thu, 22 May 2003 07:34:44 -0500 "letebts at earthlink.net"
<letebts at earthlink.net> writes:

> > Vivat and thank you for posting this Sir Burke! I find it
> interesting that no
> > one has yet replied to this post.  As a member of the clean-up

        I have seen some pretty disgusting things at site cleanup. For
perspective, I would like to say that MUCH more often than not, the sites
I have helped clean up have been remarkably clean already considering the
number of people in attendance. Yes, there have been occasional problems,
sometimes BAD problems. And usually it's a good site except for one area
where those particular people who were a problem were camped.
        I think this is all of a piece with the 'traditional' problem of
the SCA, the problem that seems to haunt us down through the years. We
old fogies have been hauling garbage (and much worse), dealing with fires
and floods, and missing the events because we were too busy working
through them, for years, often decades. And in large measure we haven't
complained because that's just the way it is, many hands make light work.
And it's part of how we made the SCA into something personal, something
that was OURS.
        But it seems as if it's always the same people at work nights. It
seems as if it's always the same people loading and unloading the
baronial truck or trailer. It seems like it's always the same people who
are first on the site and last to leave. Those people are proud to be who
they are, and I suspect most of them really wouldn't change it. But
somehow the example those people are setting doesn't seem to be enough,
otherwise there would be more new faces.
        In the same way, the example set by the guy who has an Altoids
tin in his beltpouch to put his cigarette butts in, or the lady who has
to empty her beltpouch every couple of hours because she is constantly
picking up small stray trash.... apparently these examples are not enough
to propagate the trend. The root of the problem, IMO, is that we need to
teach this to our new people, we need to show them that it's worth it. I
wish I could give practical suggestions on HOW to teach it. But teach it
we must, or we will still be attempting to do these things ourselves from
behind our walkers.


                      In Joyful Service,


                              Iain MacCrimmon



                    Cave Tyranniam Timorium Suorum

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