Silly Since Solomon
Silly Since Solomon
Sheila's Constitution:
1. The activities of the Sheila and her Dog Society are
its roughly weekly meetings of two hours or so, and the organization thereof. The meeting itself
shall be bracketed by Dropping a Penguin or a suitable surrogate.
2. During these defined activities, all participants
shall be civilized and well disposed to all others. This includes abstaining from bad language and
from talking about bad, insensitive or inappropriate things. Sheila shall behave inclusively*
toward whoever wishes to join Sheila
3. The nature of the defined activities:
a) The meeting will contain a reading of a children's
book in silly voices; accompanied by the enactment of any suitable pictures therein, unless all
people present wish the Meeting to proceed without.
b) The meeting shall have an interlude for the
consumption of cocoa, soft drinks and other suitable beverages for six year olds and the sharing
of such things as cake, sweets or chocolate.
c) The meeting shall then contain one of a wide variety
of extra strange and wonderful activities. All Sheila people are welcome to dreamily or humorously
suggest what these should be. Suitable examples are Penguin Sacrifice, Summoning the Grey Dragon,
Combustion of Tyrannical `Eat Your Greens' Vegetable Types, After-Dark Kite Flying, Caricature
Versions of Sport, Fluffy Toy Fights, Vegetable Art, Construction of Party Toys, and Hide And Seek
In or Exploration Of the Strangest Corners in Cambridge.
d) Moreover all activities (c) will be realized in such
a way that they abide the law and the rules of the University and any relevant College, shall be
safe and in good taste to all the participants, and not be a disturbance or an obstruction to
onlookers, passers-by or neighbours. e.g. we will not be noisy after 10 pm, or ever be noisy near
places of study, or completely block the pavement. It is the duty of the people running the
society to always be receptive of opinions about how proposed activities can be made to comply
with (d).
4. Sheila can only work if all participants are open to
compromise, to voicing and listening to all manner of opinions, with three exceptions. These being
the opinion that it is fine to disregard others' opinions, the opinion that participants should be
uncivilized or unkind to one another, or an opinion which contravenes these rules.
5. Sheila will be pluralistic. Sheila's activities will
be intended to appeal to a wide range of different people. Sheila will be friendly as default
toward other societies, both in a `live and let live' way and in sometimes holding joint
activities with other societies. In these Sheila people will behave in accord with the Sheila
rules. If we find people from the other society behaving in a manner violating the Sheila rules
during a joint activity, we will politely refuse further joint activities with that
society.
6. Sheila has its own character, morally in accord with
2), 3d), 4) and 5), and occupationally in accord with 1), 3) and 5). Sheila will not be hijacked
by groups of people with something other than Sheila in common [e.g. from past experience People
from a Particular College, Goths, Assassins, Harry Potter Fans]. While such people are welcome and
welcome to suggest Sheila carries out some activities in tune with their external tastes, Sheila
should never risk being transformed or absorbed by external cultures. Whoever is in the majority
at a given time, the society should sufficiently cater for the minorities and find alternative
members so as to redress any imbalance.
Footnotes
Most societies say
"this society is open to all Members of the University". Certain societies then use this in
practice to mean that their society is closed to ex-members and non-members. We in Sheila think that
this is a disgusting way to behave, on two counts :
1. It ostracizes good
people on grounds of age and occupation.
2. It is spineless toward
the problem that there are a few bad apples within the University itself.
In Sheila, we welcome all who sincerely try to abide by the above rules.
Contact Sheila: sheila {at} srcf.ucam.org
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