Here's a simple test. Are you one of those people who:
- knows the difference between a privy and a prithee?
- considers life outside of being at Faire "a pastime"?
- wears parts or all of their Faire wardrobe to school or work?
- can get over the flu easier than lose that silly English accent?
- still answers to their Faire name long after Thanksgiving?
- buys their children such thoughtful gifts as swords, cloaks, leather
jacks, etc? (providing they still remember you...)
- tirelessly searches the supermarkets and liquor stores for Mead?
- carries a picture of yourself in Garb to impress the opposite sex?
- suffers from "bodice tan"?
- is still picking corn and pickle seeds out of your teeth from the
previous summer?
- can't find their socks in the morning but can still tell anyone on the
street how many weeks till the next Faire?
- refers to their annoying neighbors as mundanes or sloats?
- will put off their college loan payment to pay off a pair of suede
moccasins?
- shouts "Huzzah!" at sporting events?
- carries a poniard (or other dagger) in their briefcase or purse?
- expects a "free kiss" card to be accepted anywhere?
- misses "Covington Cross"?
- relaxes by watching "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" with the sound
off and doing all the dialogue yourself?
- plays only Jethro Tull in the car on weekends?
- doesn't mind the feel of damp hay bales?
- feels comfortable in pointed ears, chainmail, raw wool or leathers?
- remembers Soak a Bloke having nothing to do with baseball?
- appreciates a good grovel, giving points for originality?
- needs more pentagram jewlery and pewter figurines of stoic orcs?
- can't figure out how a knife, a fork, and a turkey leg go together?
- spends their Monday complaining of Faire burn-out and how crazy it can
get up there, what with the bees in your soda, the heat and the lines
for the Portasans, only to be watching the clock on Friday, impatiently
waiting till you can pack up your bracers, bloomers, blades, and
what-have-you so you can do it all over again?
If any of these statements sounds vaguely familiar to you, chances are you're
a RENRAT. As a member of the Renrats, you are recognized as much more than
the average tavern slug or Faire Nerd; you are regarded as a true veteran
of the Whole Faire Experience, a connoisseur of the unusual and an educated
consumer of the buzarre, not to be taken lightly unless heavily medicated
first. The Renrat motto says it all: Ars Longa. a Vita Brevis. (Art is
long, life is short.) Or, basically,
Eat, Drink, and be Merry, for tomorrow, we may have to go back to work.
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