SCA: badly-behaving peers

[cellio]

A question has come up among some SCA folks, and I'm interested in hearing a broader perspective. Particularly because I've been a peer for a while and have become less active in recent years, it's possible I'm a bit out of touch.

Non-peers: to what extent do you look up to peers (define "look up" however you like)? Are you negatively affected (again, define how you like) if a peer does something bad?

Peers and non-peers: if a peer does something bad, is that significantly worse to you than if a non-peer did it? To what extent does the behavior of an individual peer reflect on his order or on the peerage in general? Does the answer vary based on what the peer did?

I'll post my own thoughts later; I want to hear others' first.

Clarification: "bad" = "behaves badly", not "produces substandard work". Sorry I didn't make that more clear.

Comments

[lady-louie.livejournal.com]

Hello (I am NOT a peer):

I can't give you all the fine details of this (kingdom, group, circumstances etc.) as it's quite possible that someone will figure out who I am talking about.

When I first joined the SCA, I was present at a meeting where two very rude men shouted down a couple of sweet young women who had been unexpectedly dumped with a office they were trying to handle but knew little about. These woman ended up in tears. After the meeting was over, I found out that these two guys were knights and I walked away from that meeting in shock and thinking that the SCA was definitely NOT for me. Where was the chivalry in that behavior? I loved the idea of the peerage--good, committed people living the SCAdian life and being recognized for that commitment and hard work--but if I hadn't promised to fulfill the job I HAD taken on, I would have been "outta there" after that meeting.

Luckily, one of the very next peers I had any dealings with was one of the most friendly, knowledgeable, un-tiring people I have ever met--in the SCA or out. AND since then, I have met a LOT more of those type of people in the SCA than the rude mean types.

I think I am just wise enough to realize that there will be a few "bad apples" no matter what I'm involved in. The trick is to stay away from them and enjoy my involvement in the group(s).

Does it tarnish my idea of the SCA???? NO, hopefully most of us are working towards our ideals and that's what makes it fun and challenging and worthwhile.

Does it tarnish my idea of the peerage???? Well, every once in a while, I meet someone who's a little full of themselves and think "What the heck were the Knights/Pelicans/Laurels thinking that time?" But I love the SCA enough to trust that THEIR "peers" know something about those people that I don't. And anyway, I like to live my life like that--looking for the good in people and trusting that someone else sees it, even when I don't.

As a peer, are you concerned that others don't respect or understand your fellows or the IDEA of the Peerage, maybe? That might just be an individual personality thing--I'm still not sure we'll all playing the same game, sometimes.

I'm really interested in hearing other opinions.

Thanks for listening to mine.

[cellio]

Thanks for commenting, and welcome to my journal.

I think I am just wise enough to realize that there will be a few "bad apples" no matter what I'm involved in. The trick is to stay away from them and enjoy my involvement in the group(s).

In an ideal world there wouldn't be bad apples. In a slightly-less-ideal world, the bad apples wouldn't encounter newcomers. Sadly, we live in the moderately-less-ideal world. :-(

Well, every once in a while, I meet someone who's a little full of themselves and think "What the heck were the Knights/Pelicans/Laurels thinking that time?"

One possibility, of course, is "it looked like a good idea at the time" -- the person later turned out to be less peerly, or the order misjudged. Not an excuse; just an observation.

As a peer, are you concerned that others don't respect or understand your fellows or the IDEA of the Peerage, maybe?

I'm trying to figure out how concerned I should be about bad behavior from another order member reflecting badly on the whole order. More in a followup post coming soon.

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

"What the heck were the Knights/Pelicans/Laurels thinking that time?"

Usually they are thinking "Yes, Your Majesties". :-)