[Ansteorra] "Freaking the Mundanes" (was: Group status changes)

[Chris Zakes]

At 02:10 PM 7/17/2008, you wrote:
>Regarding the religious concerns...
>
>My quite religious grandmother was a little concerned about this "new cult
>you seem to be joining". I had rehearsed my explanation to her: "It's
>basically a historical society. People research what life was like from AD
>600 to AD 1600 and try to figure out how people did things back then, like
>spinning, weaving, embroidery, clothesmaking, pottery, metalsmithing. They
>also research how they fought, and there's a lot of people who do the whole
>'knights in shining armor' thing, researching martial arts from that same
>era."
>
>She went from rather dubious to quite pleased, and if she wasn't such a shy
>homebody I think she might be joining me out here.
>
>You can also, of course, say "You know those Civil War reenactors? Like
>that, but we go back further."

Some years back, we were attending a Coronation at Muskogee Castle in 
Oklahoma. Just south of town, the Civil War folks were also having an 
event. Sunday morning at our hotel, the dining room was about equally 
divided between folks in SCA, Civil War and modern clothes.


>Honestly, from my time in small-town Texas, I've found a lot of closed
>minds. I'd be surprised to find large groups of people who thought a
>historical reenactment society was Evil. Weird, yes. Not generally evil.

And then there was the time a bunch of us were having breakfast at (I 
am not kidding) the Pink Poodle Diner in Purcell Oklahoma, Sunday 
morning after the Crown Tourney that Sir Finn won. We were in the 
usual post-event mix of SCA and modern clothes. The folks at the 
restaurant were quite polite, but as we were leaving, the lady at the 
cash register asked if we were a rock band.

         -Tivar Moondragon