SC - Please get some perspective

[ChannonM at aol.com]

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