CAN OR NOT !!!

Some if not all of you would have noticed the refreshing look of the latest newsletter and the compliments made to the new On Sec, Baby Chameleon. Let's hope it's not the case of new broom sweep clean and we look forward to more of these.

This blog shall reserved it's comment for the time being but I'm sure the On Sec have got ideas of her own and let's hope the forth coming ones will be more interesting and something that we look forward to instead of being mere pieces of article that one read and discard immediately or look uninteresting to flip beyond the first page after seeing the Hare Q page.

But I would like to say my piece on 2 subjects.

Firstly, attendance book. This is not the first time that it's being enforced and I'm willing to bet (any takers?) that it won't be the last. Unless I'm proven wrong, every time a new committee has been formed this 'brilliant' idea will be mooted. This have been going on the last couple of years!

Members will be dutifully signing in and out the attendance book for the first couple of weeks. After that amnesia steps in and one of the committee will be tasked to do the job. All will be hunky dory and the circle will start again and no amount of sitting on ice or punishment meted out will remedy this problem.

As you read this, some of you will be thinking, wah this Slow Ass, only know how to write and talk cock. You so clever you go and do lah! Hold your horses, mate !!!

While I don't have the perfect solution, this is my 2 cents. EDUCATE! EDUCATE! EDUCATE! Human nature being such, we are creatures of habit and on the flip side, we also tend to take the easy way out if there are no rewards at hand, so why should I sign in and out, if there are no threatening issues at stake.

Back to the "E" word again, for a start, ensure that members know where to sign in/out every week. You may get 50% of members to do it initially, but doesn't matter. Ensured that those who do remind those who haven't. It may take 3 weeks, 3 months or for that matter 3 years, but once these routine have been ingrained into our grey matter, it become a habit and no one need to be told on what to do next! Voila! Problem solved! 

Right? Wrong? Anyone care to give their 5 cents or dollar worth? 

No one should be tasked to take down the attendance at all and we should continue to EDUCATE instead of delegate. If at the end, these simple tasks cannot be instilled into the members head, we surely are on the way to suffering from mental retardation, for want of a better word and no apologies for sounding so crude. 

To live up to my 2 cents, if yours truly forget to sign the attendance sheet for 3 consecutive weeks, please enroll me into a mental institution, where I heard you can check out anytime you like but you can never leave and serve me recycle beer, where an unpublished study on homo sapiens species has shown that constant consumption of this liquid will help the brain cells to regenerate. Fellow members are most welcome to join me should they feel to need to so the same.

The next piece, Sweeper. 

Again this is not the first time the idea was suggested. Previously this issue died a natural death due to only one cause ...... implementation or shall I say, non implementation and compliance.  While we don't deny the fact that the idea is good, asking the hare to be the sweeper for the next run or requiring the hare to delegate the task is easier said than done. 

If signing the attendance is a chore, can you imagine getting one to be the sweeper! The odds of striking a lottery is anytime higher compare to this. So what's next ? Before I offer my 2 cents, oh no not again, I can hear the riposte. (At least I'm contributing, are you? )

The irony is that you can't insist or demand that this be done. If one choose not to be the sweeper what can the club do? And we know that there are many recalcitrants around! Sack or suspend him? That will be the day! Sit on ice or cold shower? No big deal, compare to being the sweeper. Deny him his golden fluid? Be ready for a verbal confrontation and if cool heads does not prevail, probably fist fights! 

Think for a moment! Why do people get lost in the jungle? Because they don't follow papers! Or they try to short cut and lost their sense of direction! Or coming in late and doing catch up, knowing very well that you may not be able to! Will the sweeper solve these problems? It's a no brainer, right!

If you are hashing long enough, common sense will tell you that if you are amongst the back runner you should stick together, which most if not all the regular LROP's (last runner on paper) in KH4 does anyway. Currently, the 'unofficial sweepers' Battery Rosak and Gold Kuntz and on certain occasions there maybe others, are doing an excellent job. By appointing a sweeper they maybe duplication of tasks and another problem may arise.

Instead of creating a problem, why don't we give recognition or reward those who are already doing the job. Surely it won't burden the club financially if we reward these 'unofficial' sweeper(s) a beer or two after a run for their unselfish acts. It feel good to be appreciated, I'm sure you'll agree with me. 

Having said my piece, members probably have other ideas or suggestions. Throw the questions to them and for all we know we'll be surprise at what they have to offer..

People getting lost in the jungle are mostly through acts of their own making. As we know, the papers are there for a reason and if hashers choose to deviate from the trail, no amount of 'sweeping' can solve this problem. 

 

Last but not least..... hashed smart, don't be a hero, keep a look out for your fellow hashers, you may never know when a favor will be return. We come to the hash to enjoy ourselves and not to create inconveniences or burden others.