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So, there you are pumping gas or standing in a check-out line or waiting for a table at Denny's in your medieval clothing and you feel the inevitable crawl of eyes boring into the back of your neck. What do you do?
You've ducked off site because you cannot last another minute without a frou frou designer coffee from The Evil Overlords On The Corner and someone clears their throat and says, "Excuse me, but are you in a play?" Quick, what's the answer?
It's not what you think it is.
You've joined an organization that purports to value such qualities as courtesy and honor, and you've just been rude to a total stranger. Why? Is it the safe anonymity of an assumed name and persona? Is it defensive belligerence? Is it how you get your jollies? It certainly seemed to be this afternoon on Tribe.net when someone proudly related an incident at a grocery store near Pennsic where she gave some dumb hick what for.
Come on, people. Did NONE of you watch Babylon Five and get that Bester was evil and that "mundane" is a derogatory slur? Was there not a time in your pathetic lives that you were not of the SCA and therefore "mundane" yourself? Do you not remember that first moment when you made contact with something new and different and felt legitimately curious and wanted to know more? If you stuck around - and you must have if you're reading this - I'm pretty sure it was because you didn't get a snotty answer from some condescending git who thinks he/she's cooler than you.
If you go out in public wearing anything that the average member of the public is not used to seeing, you have forfeited your right not to be stared at. Period. The End. Suck it up and deal with it graciously. Don't snarl, "Take a picture, it'll last longer." Either ignore the stares or smile back politely. A smile will either make the starer back off or smile back. Your other option is to change your clothes at the event site and avoid the problem entirely.
If you go out in public in unusual dress as a member of an organization, you are representing that organization. I don't care if you're just picking up a latte or gassing up on your way. I don't care if you're an officer or have nine hundred jinglies and danglies or whether you've even applied for membership yet. It does not matter. Perception is all. If you ran into someone off duty wearing a name badge from a major business and they behaved like a jerk, what would that make you think of the business they work for?
That's right. You're making me look bad. You're making my friends look bad. You may have just driven away a future member and deprived us all of a new friend. You've just committed high treason. Off with your head.
The answer is easy. It is so very, very easy. "No, actually, I'm in a living history group." Full Stop. That's all you need to say. A friendly smile and a simple, nonchalant, unembarrassed answer - now THAT will make you look cool. That's usually all the person needs to know. If they ask you to elaborate, then you can. Don't talk their ear off. Don't turn into Weird Scary Cult Person. Keep it short, sweet, pleasant. Direct them to www.sca.org or the local kingdom website if they seem genuinely interested in checking things out, but don't make a production out of it.
You've ducked off site because you cannot last another minute without a frou frou designer coffee from The Evil Overlords On The Corner and someone clears their throat and says, "Excuse me, but are you in a play?" Quick, what's the answer?
It's not what you think it is.
You've joined an organization that purports to value such qualities as courtesy and honor, and you've just been rude to a total stranger. Why? Is it the safe anonymity of an assumed name and persona? Is it defensive belligerence? Is it how you get your jollies? It certainly seemed to be this afternoon on Tribe.net when someone proudly related an incident at a grocery store near Pennsic where she gave some dumb hick what for.
Come on, people. Did NONE of you watch Babylon Five and get that Bester was evil and that "mundane" is a derogatory slur? Was there not a time in your pathetic lives that you were not of the SCA and therefore "mundane" yourself? Do you not remember that first moment when you made contact with something new and different and felt legitimately curious and wanted to know more? If you stuck around - and you must have if you're reading this - I'm pretty sure it was because you didn't get a snotty answer from some condescending git who thinks he/she's cooler than you.
If you go out in public wearing anything that the average member of the public is not used to seeing, you have forfeited your right not to be stared at. Period. The End. Suck it up and deal with it graciously. Don't snarl, "Take a picture, it'll last longer." Either ignore the stares or smile back politely. A smile will either make the starer back off or smile back. Your other option is to change your clothes at the event site and avoid the problem entirely.
If you go out in public in unusual dress as a member of an organization, you are representing that organization. I don't care if you're just picking up a latte or gassing up on your way. I don't care if you're an officer or have nine hundred jinglies and danglies or whether you've even applied for membership yet. It does not matter. Perception is all. If you ran into someone off duty wearing a name badge from a major business and they behaved like a jerk, what would that make you think of the business they work for?
That's right. You're making me look bad. You're making my friends look bad. You may have just driven away a future member and deprived us all of a new friend. You've just committed high treason. Off with your head.
The answer is easy. It is so very, very easy. "No, actually, I'm in a living history group." Full Stop. That's all you need to say. A friendly smile and a simple, nonchalant, unembarrassed answer - now THAT will make you look cool. That's usually all the person needs to know. If they ask you to elaborate, then you can. Don't talk their ear off. Don't turn into Weird Scary Cult Person. Keep it short, sweet, pleasant. Direct them to www.sca.org or the local kingdom website if they seem genuinely interested in checking things out, but don't make a production out of it.
