SC - I am So Ashamed! (long)
Hupman, Laurie
LHupman at kenyon.com
Wed Oct 25 10:27:11 PDT 2000
Dear Phlip,
I am emailing you personally because I strongly feel the need to address what
is happening right now. I have met you only at Coronation and had a few
minutes to talk at Pennsic and had little time to get to know you, so
unfortunately I'm working with the impression you have given me through your
persona (for lack of a better word) on email.
I am trying to see your point about this, but it gets to be a difficult task
when you post things like this:
Subject: OOPS!!!!!- Re: SC - Fwd: RE: Worst Critique Ever
My deepest apologies to the List. The previous message was intended to be a
private response. Didn't read the to line first- I'm very sorry, Gunthar,
Adamantius, and all.
In a message dated 10/24/00 10:20:56 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
owner-sca-cooks at ansteorra.org writes:
> Well, since you insist on publicizing private comments....
>
Please, don't use the excuse that this was an accident. I have seen you have
performed this "accident" on numerous occasions when you are flaming someone
and I am wondering if it is really an accident. Something that I teach my
children is that if you keep doing something over and over because you are
not being careful, it is no longer an accident. It is intentional. The phrase
"accidentally-on purpose" comes to mind.
What myself and others are trying to point out to you is that if you post
unfair critiqes, you are going to be called on the carpet to explain them.
You could not have been so naive to think that your posting to the SCA list
would not have become general knowledge eventually.
The original critique did not have to be inflammatory, it could have been
done by just a comment about the feast on the MK cook's list, asking what the
cooks or others attending thought and allowed them the opportunity to self
critique first. We could have worked out our opinions and solutions in a
positive manner. It seems you felt the need to go for the jugular and that
was uncalled for. I am not going to debate if the food was good, bad or
indifferent. My issue is with what you said and how you said it.
We (MK cooks) are striving to improve the state of medieval cooking on a
regular basis. One way is to be supportive of other cooks. This ideal was
reinforced by the Coronation feast of which you took part. Imagine if things
went wrong . Do you think that feast was perfect? Do you think it would have
made the situation any better if they went to another list and picked it
apart in the most denigrating way they could? No, it wouldn't have. So what
makes you think it is OK for you to do so? Take some time to reflect on why
you had to be so cutting.
Another way we are beginning to improve the state of medieval cooking is by
reaching out to the general populace with our work and by offering our hands
and knowledge to those who are attempting to cook. We did this at Crown last
weekend by having demo's and displays and talking to people, providing
samples and showing our research. Not by trashing each others work, but by
supporting it. It would have been nice to see you there. Maybe it would have
given you a better sense of community and camaraderie with the other people
cooking in the midrealm. Its harder to be harsh when you have met the people
you are about to criticise, when you see just how hard they are working to do
the best job they can. Do you see me as taking this personal? Well, if so,
maybe that's because the people you were critiquing worked very hard at what
they did, regardless of your opinion and you stripped them down in a public
forum without a chance in hell of defending themselves.I felt that was
unfair. If it was your feast and another person posted the things that you
did, you can bet my reaction would have been the same.
I expect that I will get lots of ripping from you over this, but you know
what, that's OK, because I went in knowing what to expect. I invited your
comments and have the understanding of the basis of the conversation. The
people that cooked that feast had no way to respond to your critique and even
if they did, they were automatically put in a position of defending their
work, they were backed into a corner from the start, I can't blame them for
being incensed.
If you cannot in anyway see that your original post was inflammatory, snide,
or in the least unfair, then I am afraid that my opinion of you has been
lowered considerably. Do you care? That is up to you. I perceived you to be
a tough but fair person. I hope I am not wrong.
If your intent was to improve the cooking in the Middle Kingdom, then you
have failed . I for one will try hard to turn this into a positive learning
experience. We will be having a cook's symposium in December. If you think
you might like to try to turn things around, that might be a good place to
start. I hope I see you there.
I am hoping that some of this will sit with you and that you will take time
to think really hard about how to resolve this positively.
Sincerely,
Hauviette
More information about the Sca-cooks
mailing list