Re: Atlantian problems..... (fwd)

[Michael P Johnson <mjohnso7@osf1.gmu.edu>]

On Wed, 8 Feb 1995, many waters cannot quench love wrote:

> going to get insulted, and someone's going to get ticked, and this list 
> is going to become even less fun than it currently is.  I will freely 


See, that's exactly the problem that Atlantia has.  I'm not intending to 
insult you or anyone else, but you've given a prime example of what's going 
on in this 
kingdom.  You admit that because of the politics of the kingdom, that you 
aren't having fun on the list anymore.  However, you're not willing to 
stand up for what the SCA was supposed to be all about.  Having fun.  
Instead, you accept it for what it is, and turn your back on the whole 
thing.  I say that we stop turning our backs, because it's NOT just on 
this list, it's the entire kingdom.  For the most part I've stopped 
having fun in this kingdom, but I don't turn my back on it.  I try to 
make it fun, especially for new people coming into the SCA.  I know that 
eventually we'll get enough people that are tired of being stepped on, 
and pushed around, and that remember that the SCA isn't a real life 
situation, but a hobby, something which is supposed to be fun.  I must 
admit that I am having fun doing things in the SCA, but how am I able to 
have fun in a kingdom where the majority of people in position of power 
in the SCA 
REALLY believe that I am below them.  As people, know one in the SCA is 
above any other.  Some have titles which give them rank, but that doesn't 
make them a better person than I. I visited the kingdom of Meridies last 
year, for an event in Alabama.  There I saw what the SCA is supposed to 
be.  I was a complete stranger to their Royal Majesties, but they made an 
effort to come over and say hi, and I felt as if I was talking to someone 
I'd known for years.  They didn't make me feel as if I wasn't worth their 
time, or that they were better than me in some way. I think that the 
principalities would provide a better opportunity for some of us peons to get 
noticed and 
recieve the recognition that is deserved, and maybe put us in positions 
where we have a say in the decision making.  If a person is busting their 
proverbial butt to make this a better place for all of us, and doesn't 
get awarded for it or doesn't feel as if they are valuable to the society, 
they're probably not going to stick around for very long.

Again, this is not meant to insult anyone, or put anyone down, but coming 
from someone that is comparitively new to the SCA this is the way that I 
have been treated, and the way that other people have told me they have 
been treated.  And you may want to come back with an argument explaining 
how this kingdom works...., but it doesn't matter.  No matter how this 
kingdom or any other kingdom works is irrelevent.  The simple fact is 
that things that are happening in this kingdom are causing people to lose 
interest real fast, because they're not having fun anymore.