SC - earning awards

[Elaine Koogler]

We did this last year at Coronation for  a member of our Barony who was dying of
cancer.  In this case, he received his AoA from the Crowns one weekend, and the
next, at our local event, received the Baronial service award from Phillip and
I.  The gentle involved more than deserved the recognition he received.  He had
only been part of our group for a year, but had done more in that time than
gentles who had been in twice as long.  Plus he was very well loved by folks in
our group.  Now, in all probability, we wouldn't have followed his AoA quite so
quickly with the baronial award if he hadn't been dying.  But he would have
received it within six months or so, so I believe we did the right thing!

Kiri

Philip & Susan Troy wrote:

> "R. Del Boccio" wrote:
> >
> > Greetings Balthazar and list,
> > I do not know the people in question regarding fighting.  I
> > can speak only to myself and people I know who have
> > disabilities.  I do recall reading that some of the fighters
> > with disabilities got their rank/awards long after their
> > disabilities.  I know that for me, I received a Kingdom
> > level arts award primarily for my singing, and I certainly
> > did not have any impression that I received it because of
> > some feeling of "oh look, there's a blind person, let's give
> > her an award."  I was in the Society quite awhile before
> > getting an AoA (lots of people thought I already had one).
> > I am a bit dumbfounded that the merit of an award recipient
> > should be questioned simply because he or she has a
> > disability.  I know you said you meant no disrespect, but
> > it's like saying you wonder if someone with black hair
> > really deserved their rank or award, or maybe was pitied
> > because their hair wasn't the more respectable blond.  You
> > may not have thought about it in that way before.  Black
> > hair certainly does not require compensation as does a
> > disability, but our disabilities are just a part of us like
> > hair or eye color, or body type is.  At least one fifth of
> > the population has some sort of disability, visible or
> > hidden.  There are also plenty of people who struggle with
> > their skills because of fatigue or asthma or less obvious
> > conditions.
> >
> > I do not mean my comments as a slam at all, so I hope
> > neither you nor anyone else will perceive it so.
>
> I think I can understand Balthazar's question, although I am not much of
> an active fighter myself, and not especially handicapped in any
> recognizable way unless you count a famously limited intellect. I know
> I've been asked, on occasion, to respond to various Orders' polling
> letters (they do that in the East) for candidates that are deceased, so
> that an award would be given posthumously. Ultimately I have to wonder
> if the candidate would even be under consideration had they been alive,
> and occasionally I would say to myself something famously uncharitable
> like, "If this person didn't deserve this award alive, why do they
> deserve it dead?" Sometimes the person did deserve, in my opinion, the
> award in life, but I then have to ask if it makes much difference at
> this point.
>
> I suppose the ultimate point is that we can't _really_ know how hard
> such a physically challenged person worked, what they had to overcome,
> and what represents to them a huge victory over unlucky circumstance.
> Bearing that in mind, along with the fact that often awards are given to
> those without such physical challenges, who sometimes seem not to
> deserve them, it's probably not something to worry overmuch about. If
> the Crown wants to do it, and people want to cheer, and more
> importantly, be inspired by it, then so be it. And if everybody knows it
> is undeserved, they have a way of letting that show, and it ends up
> being as if the award never happened.
>
> I can't think of a better way to remind ourselves that this is a game
> we're playing, and that there's room for a wide interpretation of the
> rules.
>
> Adamantius
> --
> Phil & Susan Troy
>
> troy at asan.com
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