🚀 go-pugleaf

    Hal Ravn wrote:
 WH> Reply-To: whheydt@PacBell.COM (Wilson Heydt)

 WH> Elevation to the Peerage is *not* a 'merit badge'.

 Indeed. As Lord Melbourne is reputed to have said about the Order of the
 Garter, "There's not a damned shred of merit about it..." (Of course, *he*
 considered that a plus...)

 WH> As Hilary of Serendip is fond of saying, "The SCA doesn't *make*
 WH> Peers, it merely recognizes them."

 Second only to the myth that the SCA attempts to re-create the Middle
 Ages. Actually mileages differ considerably in this area.

 WH> There are many aspects to a Peer besides doing A&/orS for a Laurel,
 WH> Service above and beyond the call of duty for a Pelican, or fighting
 WH> prowess for the Chivalry.

 More important is being connected with the right people -- and MOST
 important is not pissing off the wrong people.

 WH> The other qualifications are all spelled out in Corpora.

 And politely ignored except during Vigils.

 WH> What tends to get really noticed are those folks that really *are*
 WH> Peers, but few people other than the Peers have noticed this, so that
 WH> when the Peerage is announced, there is a great slapping of foreheads
 WH> as people say to themselves and each other--"Wow!  That's right!  She
 WH> really *is* a Peer!  It's so obvious--why didn't I see it before?"

 But what REALLY gets "noticed" are those folks who really *aren't* Peers,
 but get peerages anyway, so that when the Peerage is announced, there is a
 great gnashing of teeth as people say to themselves and each other ---
 "Who? Her? What for? They *can't* be serious!" I have seen it done; it is
 not a pretty sight.

 [This brief moment of cynicism is brought to you by somebody who quit
  believing in the Tooth Fairy a looooooooong time ago...]



 * Origin: Herald's Point * Steppes/Ansteorra * 214-699-0057 (1:124/4229)