[Ansteorra] What's happening here?

[L T]

Let me see if I can show you this way,

Okay a small barony is from 40 to 70 people..."active" population about 20-30.
This is like an extended family...you have to work with each other and see each other in realtion to the group, all the time.

You get to know much more about them than you may have known about your relatives. You have to deal with their shortcomings and they with yours... everytime there is a project coming up. You know who messes up and who fixes it...you know who over commits, you know who never volunteers, who's only doing it for show, who's purposely messing with others, who's in a divorce, who screams at their kids instead of really taking care of them, who foists their kids off on others, who doesn't have a backbone and who has to always stand as a backbone. You know who has undiagnosed mental disorders...who's always mad, who's always happy...etc...and when people get familiar...they start forgetting courtesys, and take people for granted, and then there's that whole "familiarity breeds contempt"...and you can't just do your job and walk away...you have to integrate what you do with the rest of the group...so that it works for the group. It's a community.

Even on a list this large only about 15 to 20% are "active"
so maybe 100...active...periodically...different kind of concept...you
only see what they write and what you know about them personally...
so you don't know the "whole person" or how they "play" or their "intent."

Words on the flat screen don't have inflection...or body language behind them.
So, a large part of the interpretation is where your head is at when you read the
words...if you are feeling vulnerable that day...you may take things more personal
than intended...and then there's the whole thing that none of us really speak the
same language...we que on different things...some people need direct talk...and understand that...some people que on the "interpreted meaning" behind the words...etc...

Case in point. Someone I've known pretty well had been testy on a list for
 almost a year...when I finally got to talk to them in person...I asked them
 what was up...because the tone of the words they put on the list were
 very antagonistic and terse...they're not a bad person...they were just going
 through a rough time and didn't realize it was coming out in their posts.
 
At a RenFaire...you don't spend all day working with/seeing/living with, the same people. You  have a small group of people you "work with" the rest you "play to"...and entertain is a  much larger number...you know almost nothing of these hundreds sometimes thousands of  patrons...all you know is if they smile at you or they walk by without noticing...you don't have to deal with them any further...
and if they behave like idiots...you call security to take care of them...you only have to deal with them till security gets there...and you have the freedom to walk away...when you really get tired of it...and get hired back the next season...and you didn't have to assist in maintaining it even though you were tired of it. It's a job.

LDeerSlayer

Lisa <silvina at allegiance.tv> wrote: *snip*
> okay I'll bite on this one. Because Ren Faire requires *NO* amount of
> responsibility from the patrons other than a one-time large outlay of
cash.
>
*snip*

This would be accurate, but many of the people asking this question of me
were individuals who were both SCA active and the paid entertainers for the
Ren Faires.  They were enjoying themselves more being paid entertainers (not
for the money, which isn't as good as everyone thinks) than they were at
events or even their local group meetings and get togethers.  The reasons
they cited are the same as the reasons I brought up.

And in response to a previous response to my rant... Yes, a portion of what
I complained about is group mechanics and politics, although I don't
consider a barony a small group, nor extremely large lists.

Elizabeta

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