[SCA-BMDL] courtesy

[Douglas Wade Needham]

Quoting Ben Cogan (donnghaile at gmail.com):
> It's a sign, and signs are useful things.  I don't find it rude.  The
> sign says that I'm here as a passive participant.  In our set of
> constraints I find it to mean that the person is there because they
> want to be, they want the social interaction and camaraderie, but they
> are not intending to actively participate in the meeting.

I would actually say that depending upon the person, that
participation could be passive, or it could be active.  I have seen
many a SCAdian sitting there, taking an active part in a discussion,
all the while doing their craft.

> I suppose I would find this rude in a professional setting, where it's
> even more blatant than just day dreaming and doodling in your note pad
> through a meeting.

Gee... you should attend a weekly staff meeting at the PDL. I would
guess that about a third of us are actively on laptops, all the while,
actively participating in the meeting.  Right along with this, there
are "snacks" being consumed.  And those there without laptops
generally have no laptop.  Our director is included in the laptop
group... working throughout the meeting on his laptop, and eating the
plate of fruit he got at the start of the meeting.  Of course, we are
also a whole bunch of engineers/scientists. :)

- Cinn

-- 
Douglas Wade Needham - KA8ZRT        UN*X Consultant & UW/BSD kernel programmer
Email:  cinnion @ ka8zrt . com       http://www.ka8zrt.com
Disclaimer: My opinions are my own.  Since I don't want them, why
            should my employer, or anybody else for that matter!