[SCA-BMDL] courtesy

[David Svoboda]

There's a difference with bringing a laptop to a meeting and bringing 
sewing supplies. People who bring laptops to meetings can answer 
technical questions (eg is our website still up?). They also can take 
notes...in other words the laptops are useful tools for meetings. Sewing 
supplies are incidental, do not inherently contribute to the meeting 
like laptops do, and have nothing to do with the meeting (unless the 
meeting is about sewing, of course).

I generally think its a cultural thing...in some gatherings sewing while 
participating is par for the course, and in others its rude. Expecting 
DearAbby to give a single answer for all possible gatherings is really 
not reasonable, as it depends on the venue and the other participants.

~Dave
(AKA Arslan ibn Da'ud)

Douglas Wade Needham wrote:
> 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
>