[Northkeep] Rumors and other crap (was Picnic on the 21st)

[Marc Carlson]

Kevinkeary at aol.com wrote:
> But we're supposed to have all letters of intent in by then, and vote in
> August.  Am I the only one that feels this is moving WAY too fast?  As though
> Persons Unnamed were trying to circumvent the Society Seneschal's
> investigation?  We were supposed to be able to proceed at a proper, orderly
> pace with only a seneschal.  We CERTAINLY should be able to do so with a
> Vicar.

Um, Kevin...  You know you are just expressing your concerns, I
know you are just expressing your concerns -- but to outside
observers, snide obscura about "Persons Unnamed" could either be
indicative of factional paranoia (which in your case, I'm
virtually
certain is not the case (I can't be positive without telepathy,
but
it's my working hypothesis)) or trying to stir up more trouble.
I know you weren't at the moot, where a lot of this was
discussed,
and just as soon as Robert tells me it's ok to do so, I will be
posting the abstract of the moot so that maybe some of your
concerns
could be allayed.

The upcoming Crown has their reasons for wanting this to be done
by the end of their reign - you may not care for them, I'm not
sure
I understand them well to care for them or not.  Yes, Robert
reported
what he understood them to be, and while I will happily accept
what he
said is what he heard - I'd like to verify those statements with
the
actual source as well -- and so isn't it great that they will be
here
in only two and a half weeks, just so we can ask them and talk to
them about it.

And in case anyone thinks I'm being hard on the Vic about this --
I'm
not.  I'm being careful about what I believe as "fact" -- in the
past
week we've already had one major error in communication that
occurred
somewhere between the Society Seneschal's original plan and the
instructions we received from Ian -- and you know what, I'm
virtually
certain that everyone along that train of communication
transmitted
what they understood to be the message in good faith.  It just
got
screwed up somewhere.  These things happen in the real world.

Which brings me to another real world problem.  Because of the
way
that a lot of social units work, doing things like this quickly
can cause people to become uneasy about what's 'really'
happening,
people's motives, and so on.  Things like -facts- can be swept
under
by speculation and rumor.  Because of the seeming haste of way
the
upcoming Crown has decided to do things, the general
dissatisfaction
with the populace of how this has been done so far, and the
traditional
fictionalizing practices alleged to some people in the Northeep
region, the ground here has been beautifully fertilized for the
growing of rumors. With a little new reign, these things just
spring up.

Now, unlike other people in this groups, I'm not going to ask you
to
stop passing rumors around.  If the rumors are based on fear,
then
asking that they be stopped is reasonable, but probably won't
work.
If there are (as has been rumored for years now) malevolent
rumor-
mongers, then it's as pointless as mundanely asking that people
stop
robbing banks, shooting convenience store clerks, and so on.
Some
people may be inclined to tell lies to hurt others.

OTOH, I collect folklore and legend (which is what I was doing
before
'shoes' :) ), and try to think about what people tell me as
"facts",
verify details, and think about things clearly.  For instance, I
was
just told this week (since the moot) that Alton and his crew were
planning on 'taking Northkeep by force' and making him Baron.
Now,
aside from the fact that if he were intending on doing such a
thing,
it would indicate a pathetic understanding of Ansteorran Law,
much
less the social dynamics of a Volunteer-based organization :).
Now,
I also happened to talk to Alton at the moot, and when I
(jokingly)
suggested it write a letter, he expressed even less of an
interest
in the job than I have (and I'd rather have a terminal disease).
So, I'm thinking -this- rumor is highly unlikely, so it's not
going
to be high on my list of things to stay up late nights worrying
over.

So, anyway, I collect these things -- and if I have my way will
start
posting them to the web page to keep them perspective.  If people
stop
passing them around, I'll have nothing to research and
ridicule...

(BTW, when the rumors start coming out that I'm doing this or
that to
take over the group, or am just all sour-grapesy about not
getting the hat
last time -- please let me know.  I *love* those (true the old
ones about
my using the "demo guild" idea were annoying, but mostly because
I assumed
people would be smart enough to realize that someone who had been
dodging
awards for a decade because they didn't match his persona, might
not want
to be in charge) - and very few people are willing to come to me
and ask
about them being true or not.

All, I'm -asking- is that you share them with me, and *think*
about
what you being told.  Even if you trust the source, rumors are
like
VD -- sure you may trust the person you are talking to, but do
you
trust all the people they spoke to earlier, and if they
understood
what THEY heard.

To take this back to Kevin's message.  Ok, we have "As though
Persons Unnamed were trying to circumvent the Society Seneschal's
investigation?"  Ok, raise your hands, who thought that reads
like
'it looks to me like you-know-who and his cronies have been at it
again'?  Now, I don't know what Kevin meant for sure, only he
can clarify it -- but it only takes one of you to turn around and
say "oh, Kevin says that B's influencing D&L to keep T&S out",
and
spread that as a fact.  That's how rumors are born.

Now, do I really think that B can actually DO that?  Go back and
take
a look at what I said about the rumor about Alton earlier in this
message.  (For ther record, since the rumor will be sprouting any
day
now - no, I'm not a Barn supporter.  I don't know the man, except
to nod
to at events.  As far as I can tell, we don't agree on most
things in the
SCA, but so what?  I don't agree with most people about most
things in
the SCA :)  Yes, he gave me my Iris at his coronation, because
Sigen
asked him to (for reasons that you can ask her about))

But I digress.  In short -- just THINK about what people are
saying
around you, and what you are saying and how it WILL be taken.  It
was
thoughtless knee-jerk responses that got us into this, and it's
not going
to get us out of it (uless you really LIKE politics by reflex).

Marc/Diarmaid