[Artemisia] Been awfully quiet, pot needs stirring...

[Richard Samul]

On Aug 20, 2004, at 12:38 PM, HL Isabeau de Sevingy wrote:

[snip]

>  Maybe what we should do is add to
>
> the witty comeback list, what do you all think?

[snip]

> Any more ideas?
>
> Isabeau

My 2 pence:

n+1) Excuse me, but don't you have a (chamberpot/stable) to clean, 
somewhere?

> PS. on a more serious note. What precautions do we all take to prevent 
> well-meaning
>
> newbies from learning and regurgitating this kind of garbage?

I have thought long on this today, and I keep coming back to what I 
learned, 11 years gone now, in the Middle Kingdom:

1) Catch them early. Meet and greet all the newcomers you see. Make it 
a point to introduce yourself to every new face you see. Get involved 
with their first exposure to The Dream. Well and properly done, it will 
stay with them their entire time in the Society. Mine did - ask me 
about it sometime. Things you have grown accustomed to seeing with 
jaded eyes take on a new splendor when seen with the wonder of of a 
newcomer.

2) Teach them well. Honor and chivalry are more than mere words, and 
live in places other than the list field. Words AND deeds are the heart 
of this concept. It was a lesson I took well and truly to heart, and it 
changed me in ways I cannot begin to describe.

3) Show them the way. Practice what you preach. Oaths are easily sworn, 
but is your word truly your bond? What of your name? Petty feuds and 
SCA politics should not color your interactions, nor your public 
commentaries. Private opinions should remain so.

4) Hope for the best. In the end, newcomers will act as they are wont. 
If the whole of the Kingdom (and surely, the Society) upholds a 
standard of conduct and the penalties for breaking that code, 
non-conformers will either adapt or fall by the wayside. We should not 
lower that standard to accommodate the lout, or the boor. Ever.

Failing that, strap them into some armor, and use them as pells.

It occurs to me that the practice of championing someone's honor (or 
your own) on the list field may be the key to reducing this sort of 
behavior. After all, if you can't fight, and can't convince a fighter 
to champion you, then perhaps you shouldn't have said/did whatever it 
was, and apology equal to the slight is required. The same holds true 
for those who took insult. Knights, and those who aspire to be knights, 
should be all over this, as defenders of Honor. We are, after all, a 
Society founded on the recreation of the Dream of Honor and Chivalry, 
historical accuracy notwithstanding. Such a practice fits well within 
those confines.

But, perhaps I live a different version of The Dream.

-- 
Earc
Arn Hold

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	"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never 
stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and 
neither do we."

George W. Bush
August 5, 2004