SC - After feast

[Philip & Susan Troy]

kat wrote:
> 
> Hate to burst bubbles for you good gentles, but you are very fortunate in
> where you are located.  Here in the Central West I have been attending
> feasting events for ten years (and cooked for not a few!) and have yet to
> hear those magic, wonderful words:  "Okay, all the cooks out of the
> kitchen, now!"  It is (sadly) a very common practice out here for the head
> cook to be the person pushing the mop at 1 AM.
> 
> In a way I can see there is a sort of logic behind this:  Out here, feasts
> are the only indoor events we hold (besides 12th night).  Therefore, feasts
> are the only events (besides 12th night) where one gets to wear one's
> *reallly* good garb.  They are also better events to bring one's families
> to (i.e., small children).
> 
> But logic or no, it still sucks.  ;-)

Yup. Also the logic escapes me. I have frequently sent my lady wife and
son home while I stayed on site to clean, or have found them a place on
site to sack out until cleanup is done. I also am not much of a
clotheshorse, but I know enough to bring a change of garb for scutwork.
Basically the biggest obstacle really seems to be that people won't
change their habits to pitch in. I vaguely recall some actress who
specializes in the fatuous (Lisa Kudrow???) saying somewhere, "I really
_wish_ I could help you, but...I don't want to." 
 
> I've been on several event planning committees (and autocratted a few
> myself) and this subject is always brought up, clucked over ("what a pity,
> the cooks shouldn't have to clean up") and the idea of a "clean-up
> committee" is always brought forth.  Inevitably, either nothing is done, or
> the people who volunteer for the committee have "other commitments" and you
> get one or two folks who sweep or wash dishes for about an hour and then
> have to go home.

Perhaps if the cooks did the same, and the event went all to blazes,
they would be more appreciated by their neighbors. (Logic dicates that
they would be, but I suspect they'd just be smeared and castigated for
irresponsibility.) Seriously, I mean that. I've never done anything
quite like that, but I have occasionally had to ask, at business
meetings, "Just how badly do you guys want this event to happen? Do you
want it badly enough to form a good cleanup crew in advance? Yes? Fine,
then I'll work my butt off for it too. If not, tell me now."
 
> Does anyone have any suggestions on getting such a wonderful, noble
> tradition as yours started out here?  Any suggestions would be greatly
> appreciated.

Yes. As long as you allow people to walk all over you, they will assume
it is the right thing to do. It isn't, so you shouldn't. You a) can't,
and b) shouldn't, be expected to do all that work alone. Stay and sit in
a chair with a cool drink and supervise, or collect up your own personal
tools, if you must, but don't act as if you have to offer up the pain in
your feet to the Event god or something, and don't let anyone else tell
you you should, either.

If your group really is so small that there simply aren't enough hands
to do the work (which should really only be the case if your group
consists of less than ten people or so, including event attendees, and
that seems unlikely) then your seneschal should probably get out the
event calendar and a thick black pencil and start striking lines through
event dates.   

Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com
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