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patgundSaturday Little Bit and I made a quick stop, (in mundanes) at Altavia Anniversary.
It was nice to see friends, but I did see something that bothered me a lot, from a courtesy and safety viewpoint.
One end of the field, (the shady end) was sectioned off and in use by the rapier fighters. I usually enjoy watching them, so I walked over.....
Now normally around the field is a pathway between the outer edge of the fighting field and people's pavilions. This is kept clear for walking. Sometimes you get groups of people standing at the edge to watch, but you normally have people watching in their pavilions, as well as gearing up there as well.
Not this time. One entire corner, for about 10 feet in either direction, was filled with people sitting around, piles of armor, rapiers, etc. The normal space given to walk around the field was gone, replaced by people getting ready to fight, waiting their turn, or talking with their friends.
The choices were:
a) Walk though the group, stepping around the piles of armor and people
b) Walk around, meaning up the hill, around the back of the pavilions set up in that area, and coming back in around the other corner.
c) Go back the way I came.
With a five year old in hand, "a" really wasn't an option.
The way people blocked access and basically "took over" that area gave a very strong "we don't care about anyone else, just our group" feeling to the whole thing. And soured my interest in watching. Add to that watching them *ignore* people who came over to watch or ask questions didn't help.
I would like to think this was a one-time thing, and people just forgot their manners for a day.
It was nice to see friends, but I did see something that bothered me a lot, from a courtesy and safety viewpoint.
One end of the field, (the shady end) was sectioned off and in use by the rapier fighters. I usually enjoy watching them, so I walked over.....
Now normally around the field is a pathway between the outer edge of the fighting field and people's pavilions. This is kept clear for walking. Sometimes you get groups of people standing at the edge to watch, but you normally have people watching in their pavilions, as well as gearing up there as well.
Not this time. One entire corner, for about 10 feet in either direction, was filled with people sitting around, piles of armor, rapiers, etc. The normal space given to walk around the field was gone, replaced by people getting ready to fight, waiting their turn, or talking with their friends.
The choices were:
a) Walk though the group, stepping around the piles of armor and people
b) Walk around, meaning up the hill, around the back of the pavilions set up in that area, and coming back in around the other corner.
c) Go back the way I came.
With a five year old in hand, "a" really wasn't an option.
The way people blocked access and basically "took over" that area gave a very strong "we don't care about anyone else, just our group" feeling to the whole thing. And soured my interest in watching. Add to that watching them *ignore* people who came over to watch or ask questions didn't help.
I would like to think this was a one-time thing, and people just forgot their manners for a day.
