[Sca-cooks] seating charts for feassts

[Stefan li Rous]

Euriol mentioned:
<<< There was one feast I did end up walking out on... and it had  
nothing to do
with the cook. When I arrived at the event there was no seating chart
available to secure a seat for me, my lord and my two sons. At no time
during the event did I ever hear that one was made available (i.e. no
annoucement). An annoucement was made for people to take their seats and
the food was starting to go out... I had no seats. There was no two  
seats
available together. (It was at this time that I discovered a seating  
chart
and come out sometime during the event). I wasn't about to disrupt
everything as food was already being served just so I could get  
seated with
my children. My children were quite hungry... so we all left and had  
dinner
at a restaurant. Part of the irony of that day was my eldest son  
helped to
cook in the kitchen.>>>

How common is it to have seating charts for feast? How are the charts  
handled?

Recently at our big, inside winter feast, Candlemas, we have been  
doing seating charts.  These are usually available as soon as the  
hall is opened and it is first-come, first-served, and while you can  
sign up for more people than yourself, you have to have the names of  
each of your eating companions. For our other events, done outside,  
it is more hit and miss and often people are encouraged to bring  
their own tables as there are only a dozen or two picnic type tables  
available at the site.

In the past, before we went to a seating chart arrangement, people  
would stake out an area sometime during the day. Or if the hall was  
to be re-arranged for the feast, there would be a sudden time when  
the tables had gotten set up that would turn into a cattle car  
stampede to the tables. In either case, the best seats went to those  
in organized households which would have a few people who could go  
grab multiple tables. Often the households didn't end up using all of  
the spots. Such exclusiveness and us/them thinking is one of the  
reasons I'm not generally fond of households in the SCA. For a single  
couple, especially if both were off working during the rush for  
tables, say in the kitchen or doing other needed chores at the event,  
they would often find themselves off in a back corner, even if they  
could get two seats together.

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas           
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****