Being a part of the A&S Community

A few years ago, I was knitting and spinning for my own entertainment.  I wasn’t interested in participating in the A&S community beyond the occasional class.

However, there was an experience I had that showed me 1) what not to do and 2) if I was to actively participate (ie teaching, competing) in the A&S community, the type of participant I wanted to be.

Here's the story:

A few years ago, I attended an event that had a “Spinners’ meetup”.  It was early in the event, so I attended without wearing any of my awards.  At that point, I had my court baronetcy and my Silver Brooch.  I made my way to the meetup and introduced myself to the first person who was there.  We both started spinning and chatting.

Another person came over who knew the first spinner.  I introduced myself and the three of us continued spinning and talking.  This third person asked to look at my work.  I tend to spin very fine on my dropspindle and am confident on the quality of my spinning.

So I handed over my spindle and this individual said “oh, that’s nice.  But mine is so much better.”

I was pretty shocked to hear this, especially from someone who had introduced themselves as a Laurel.  The peers I knew at this time and since would never say something like this to a random person.

I ended up leaving the meeting shortly after this interaction because it put such a bad taste in my mouth.

As I was walking back to my tent, it occurred to me that I’m glad this person said this to me, when I didn’t care what their opinion was.  However, what if they had said that same thing to someone new who wanted to get involved in the A&S community?  This could potentially crush a newcomer to A&S and forever taint their SCA experience.

I decided at that point that regardless of what I chose to do, I would always encourage whoever I encountered in the A&S community.  And I've tried to do that ever since.  

Everyone has different skills and outlooks to bring to the community.  We should celebrate that.