Re: Smoking on the field (fwd)

[blackbow@juno.com (David H Ritterskamp)]

Poster: blackbow@juno.com (David H Ritterskamp)


>Tamar the Gypsy (sharing account dickeney@access.digex.net) wrote: 

>> >But I found that it really detracted from the mood of Crown Tourney 
>
>                              ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>emphasis added
[I can say this much:  if it detracted that much from the mood for you
(collective you, not singular) then I don't know if there's anything I
can say that will make it better.  However, I have gotten quite good at
blocking out screaming children, offensive people, etc., and I would
suggest that you try this method.  

I would also mention that if it bothers you that much, why don't you go
up to His Grace, Majesty, etc., whatever, and mention it to _them_? 
Again, griping at us doesn't do much good.  Go to the source.]
>
>> >when one of the major Peers of the kingdom dropped his cigarette 
>butt 
>> >in the middle of tourney field TWICE.  This when the event flier 
>has 
>> >specifically requested that smokers "self-police".  
><snip>
[snipp-eth]
 until yesterday I didn't even 
>know
>> it was against K. Law.  News to me.
>
>"Glad you finally found out, then," says Tamar.
>

>Consider that His Grace _is_, as you say, a highly visible, high 
>ranking
>offender - is it not likely that others, especially those new to the
>Society, would look to him as 
[I did what you speak of when I first got into the SCA...I had a "role
model" [which is to say that I spent most of my time around this person
and soaked up everything that was said as Gospel.  I would categorically
state to anybody who gets themselves into that situation to STOP DOING
IT!!!  Even if the person in question is well-respected, in good
standing, etc., a person's horizons should be broader than that.  In my
case it cost me dearly; details are unnecessary except to say that it
colored my perception of people, people's perception of me, and basically
made me useless for about four years.]]

> To display disrespect for one of the laws of the kingdom is 
>to
>imply disrespect for all of them.
[Too broad and sweeping a statement; you can see for yourself that His
Grace CAN'T disrespect all of them, or no one would associate with him.]

>> As to whether smoking in public at events is such a big deal -- 
>> if it bothers you that much, pretend it's a cigar or other period 
>> smoking device.
>> -Lord Jonathan Blackbow
>
>It seems to me that the objection in this case is multiple.  First, 
>that
>it is against kingdom law to smoke in the public areas of an event; 
>smoking on the tourney field at Crown Tourney is quite definitely a
>violation; the tourney is the primary focus for the event.  Second, 
>that
>the particular individual had failed to obey the quite reasonable 
>request
>of the hosting group, which had been spelled out in advance in print, 
>not
>to litter the property.  Third, that the particular individual was in 
>a
>position to be a role model.  
[Third point addressed above.  Second point - I could probably go and
find several people that didn't obey every Society or Kingdom rule at any
event I were to attend.  I could probably do that without having to sneak
around.  I could probably find many violations more serious than smoking
on the list field, such as underage alcohol consumption, drug use, etc.,
etc.  The point is, you can do four things about it - 1) gripe and groan
to anyone who will listen, EXCEPT the person involved, (IMO, the worst
choice) 2)decide that  the offense isn't serious enough for you to have
the guts/moxie/whatever to confront the person, in which case you really
should just shut up,  3) make yourself a nuisance in your attempts to
correct it, or 4) politely mention it to the person involved, request
that the situation be corrected, and then chase it as far up the ladder
as you need to.  

Also, consider something else -- His Grace has been in the SCA since
rocks were soft.  It may be nothing more than habit.

Fourth, a cigar or other period smoking
>device is only in period for a certain rather small group of personas. 
[academic in the extreme.  I don't have a specifically defined persona,
nor do I really want one.  If you pin me up against the wall and tickle
me and demand that I come up with one, I have something on the shelf that
will do nicely.  But just as you can't use the excuse of "my persona
hates his persona" to bash an individual or start a gang war or
something, you really can't use the excuse that "his persona wouldn't use
it.." that's absolute nitpicking, and doesn't address the real problem.
>
>Most of our personas would have been deeply perturbed by the sight of
>someone smoking. 
[Who rules you, you or your persona?  Editorial you, naturally...I'm not
even sure who the author of the above is...]

>While we may wince slightly and try to ignore the effect of plastic 
>armor
>duct-taped to blue jeans, the fact remains that there is a cumulative
>effect; the more single items we have to ignore at once, the harder it 
>is
>to maintain the mood.
>
>=Tamar the Gypsy (sharing account dickeney@access.digex.net)
>
[This is true.  However, I have [for example] noticed that many
(overwhelmingly many) of the people in the SCA (Atlantia anyway) don't
really bother to speak forsoothly except possibly in court.  The SCA is a
medieval re-creation society for some, and a medieval re-enactment
society for others, and for a lot of other people, it's a good excuse to
get out and have fun.  There is no single answer, and trying to dictate
how things should be run according to one person's tastes would ruin it
for everyone else.

I have to shut down this email account for awhile...any responses/further
mail can be mailed to dhritter@dpcmail.dukepower.com

Sorry, this discussion was getting quite interesting!  Hopefully I won't
be out for long...

Lord Jonathan Blackbow
House O'Shannon
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