Submitted 2 July 1996
We have been asked to write a story about one of our favorite sports, Mundane Freaking and why we like to do it.
We like to make appointments (usually on the spur of the moment) with some of the members of our household, House Grynmoors, to meet at a restaurant for mundane freaking. Everyone arrives at the appointed place in garb, of course, and then the fun begins.
Halfway through dinner several things can happen. People look at us, naturally, and are probably wondering what lunatic asylum we have escaped from. After a while the mundanes overcome their initial shock and the questions start. The usual ones that we have all heard: "Are you in a play?" "Do you always dress like this?" and, the funniest one [Shaymaa] has been asked, "What religion are you?" The shock value of mundane freaking is fun. You can never tell what people will say or do and it's the unknown reaction that is fun.
Then there are the good questions from people who are truly interested in what we do. This is one of the reasons why we like mundane freaking the most. It gives us all a chance to talk to new people about the SCA. We really enjoy the mundanes who are interested in something along the same lines as us. We start talking about the middle-ages, whether be it history, costuming, archery, leather working or anything that you can think of. If we weren't in garb, these people wouldn't have approached us. They learn something new from us and we learn something new from them.
We have learned a lot from people walking up and talking to us. One experience that Alric remembers well is when a woman approached him and started talking about period archery. It turned out that she was part of the Olympic Archery team 40 years ago. Alric learned a lot from her about archery that day.
One time [Shaymaa] was talking to a person that came up to us who was wondering why we where dressed the way we were. After a few minutes of trying to explain, [Shaymaa] got onto the subject of chivalry. This person couldn't understand it although, naturally, we did. Alric realized, then, that after being in the SCA a while, we start to understand things like chivalry and honor. It becomes second nature to us. When we first joined the SCA, it was a concept that had to be learned so, all in all, the learning curve was a lot farther than what we had first thought it would be.
When a person has been in the SCA for a while, it is easy to forget what it was like to be a newbie. It gets to be "old hat." Imagine picking any acquaintance you have that is not in the SCA, never has been, and try to explain what a WOAW or a TWIT is . . . they will think you have lost your mind! Mundane freaking brings us back to our own beginnings.
We enjoy hearing what the other household members have to say to the mundanes, what the SCA is, and what it means, to them. It gives us an insight as to how they feel about the SCA and it helps in our relationship as a whole. Mundane freaking creates a stronger bond between us as friends.
Alric's father used to tell him something the he really believes fits the mundane freaking scenario quite perfectly: "When you stop learning, you'll be in your coffin. How many nails are in the coffin depends on how long you have not learned anything. When the last nail is driven, you are buried."
So, if you want to participate in mundane freaking, too, remember to be nice, no matter how silly the questions many seem. Not only will you learn a lot (not just facts from other people, but from yourself as well) you will also be acting as "ambassadors" to the SCA.
