SC - Passage East III - Part 1

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Wanda Pease wrote, in response to me:
> 
> > Did you tell him that smoking in a food-service kitchen is a violation
> > of almost everybody's public health codes? Or was it not lit, in which
> > case it was merely rude?
> >
> Um....  Adamantius, I realize you probably meant this as a safety valve
> comment (ah, yes.  If I had only said ...) but I certainly hope that no one
> ever actually makes it under similar conditions.  As the daughter of a VFW
> former Commander, I can tell you that when some young "snip" (young and snip
> being relative terms, depending on the age of the person being spoken to)
> makes a comment like that to a man who has been married for 42 years to the
> same woman, they had best be prepared to pack their stuff and get out.  The
> VFW has no obligation to let outsiders use their halls, and don't cater to
> the concept of "brotherly love" the way many churches do.  It may also be
> that they have had bad experiences with other groups of (relatively) young
> people.

That may be. I've also used VFW kitchens before, and I've always
approached it from the perspective of someone trying to make life for
the site people easier by being responsible for some of the stuff they
would otherwise have to be involved in. One of those areas of
responsibility has been to hang up my food handler's license in a
conspicuous place, and in general I do a lot to make sure any kitchen I
work in (or rather, am responsible for) is safe and clean. I have indeed
asked that VFW people (even elders who may or may not have been married
for 42 years) to refrain from smoking in "my" (even if for a day)
kitchen, and politely explained why I felt this was necessary. They
thought it was kind of funny, but immediately complied. Of course, they
are under no obligation to let outsiders use their halls, but then I am
under no obligation not to report them to the Board of Health _and_ the
Sanitation Department, should I suddenly find myself unexpectedly
outdoors in the middle of cooking a feast. Let's not even discuss the
implicit breach of contract involved. Again, laws vary from place to
place, but I'd be very surprised to find any site the SCA uses where
there isn't some kind of regulation about smoking in kitchens (rightly
or wrongly, it is the modern trend to keep adding more regulations). My
own experience has been that I've been treated with more respect, not
less, for politely reminding people of the rules, and this has extended
to the club I represent de facto in the eyes of site owners.
 
> Hopefully, John's tact and suffering fools in silence and willingness to
> clean up a mess not of his making has convinced this particular Commander
> Charming, that the SCA is a responsible group that can be trusted not to
> steal the silver, and clean up after themselves.

Agreed. Tact in such cases is all-important, but then if you are going
to cave on everything, lest the All-Powerful Site People not allow you
to use their hall, what good is it? The point of diplomacy is to put you
in a better position than you would otherwise be in; if it all comes
down to submit or be kicked out, then it's probably better not to use
that site. I'm glad John was not faced with that situation.

Yes, the part about the unlit cigarette being rude was a safety-valve
comment. The rest was not. 
 
Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com