[Sca-cooks] Some disturbing news about one of the foodmerchantsat Pennsic

[Dan Phelps]

Phlip:

This whole discourse regards Pennsic and the Coopers has recalled for me the
reasons I do not go to Pennsic any longer.  I have not attended for about 10
years.  Why you ask?  After attending Pennsic for about 8 years running I
slowly came to the belief that the relationship between the SCA and the
Coopers had become one I was no longer comfortable in supporting with my
dollars.  Least you think me some wide eyed social reactionary opposed to
capitalism and the profit motive let state right up front that I'm a card
carrying Republican. :-)

Here are three of the personal observations and discoveries that I made over
the years that brought me to this conclusion.

1. I merchanted in those days and while I never ran afoul of any of their
regulations I was able to see how the Coopers and their "blue shirts"
interacted with people attending Pennsic.  It was generally not pretty.  As
an example I vividly recall one particularly offensive "blue shirt" with
dark hair and a beard who over the years could never seem to bother to be
polite to anyone and whose favorite litany was first "PAPERS LET ME SEE YOUR
PAPERS" then later "MEDALLION LET ME SEE YOUR MEDALLION" as he got right up
in people's faces like some nasty East German border guard at "Check Point
Cooper".

2. Rules they made that appeared to be arbitrary and designed to maximize
their profit margin.  As an example one year IIRC it was a surcharge on any
"foreign" bale of hay brought on site, i.e. not purchased from the Coopers
at an inflated price.

3. The belief that Pennsic had become an event run less and less by the SCA
but run more and more for the SCA by people whose motives and goals were
somewhat skew with the Society's.  As an example I can cite a conversation I
had with one of the local Texas people responsible for allowing us to use
the site for 25th Year.  He told me that his non-SCA site committee had been
visited, before they made their decision to allow the event to be held
there, by the "Coopers" who just "happened to be driving by" on their way
"to someplace else" .  The site if you recall was in the middle of rural
Texas.  It is truly in the middle of nowhere.  He told me how they, the
"Coopers", bad mouthed the SCA and how we almost didn't get to hold the
event.  I recall it vividly... it was during the evening of the cleanup
after event.  He started the conversation with "You know you SCA people
aren't what we were lead to expect." i.e. "as bad as were told."  Then he
told me of the "Cooper's" visit.  IIRC there was a movement at the time to
hold the 25th Year Celebration at Cooper's Lake.

Thus you can see some of the reasons why I an profoundly ambivalent about
Pennsic.  On the plus side it is the largest SCA event our calendar year.
It is a lot of fun.  You can see and meet people you may never get a chance
to meet otherwise.  The shopping is excellent.  The classes are great. The
War is a blast even for those of us who do not fight.  On the negative side
are the issues I cited above.  For me the scales have tipped the wrong way.
I'll got to Estrella.  I'll go to Gulf Wars.

Will I ever attend Pennsic again?  Probably once more because my wife has
never been.  It's a bit like living through a bad reign.  I will hold my
nose.  I will try to have fun.  I will not let what I know regards "the man
behind the screen" spoil her experience. :-)

Daniel
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