We can push on through till morning; [OTA | MINGLE POST]

[markwatney]

WHO: Mark & Anyone
WHERE: The Town Hall
WHEN: Feb 16, afternoon through evening
OPEN TO: EVERYONE! This is a mingle post!
WARNINGS: N/A - Please warn in thread subject lines if needed
STATUS: Open

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When we all get together and have our town meetings, the truth is that a lot of times we don't come up with the sort of solutions we're looking for. I'm not trying to say we're complacent -- Or at least not all of us, not the people speaking up in the meetings -- but just that the nature of living here, such as it is, means that answers aren't exactly forthcoming.

But the latest meeting, the one about organizing, creating some kind of formal entity to oversee the group of us, it threw something into sharp relief for me: I've been talking for a long time about how we all need to be sharing our knowledge as a safeguard, but I haven't been doing much to make this happen beyond sharing my own personal knowledge. And that's really just not acceptable -- Not here, not when we've apparently got an entire section of the population asking for active leadership and another section who might just be too shy or apathetic to admit it.

So, I've been trying to figure out a way to kickstart this project. A way for people to even put out there the sort of knowledge they have to share. You have to start somewhere.

I've never had a problem getting people together to help with the field, but somehow we've been neglecting the town hall building right next to it this entire time. It's one of the biggest buildings in town, but it's still coated in dust and cobwebs, piles of leaves drifted into corners. The inn is starting to get a little crowded during meetings; it might be nice to have a little more room, a place where people come to share.

Regardless of how you feel about community leadership, I think most of us can get behind that.

A couple days before, I put out the call: A cleaning party. We get together, clean out the town hall, and afterward we have a little potluck. People can bring premade dishes, or we can cook out back over a bonfire. We can just be around each other, in a relatively safe space, just having a moment to relax and say hello. Meet someone new, find out where to begin.

After everything that's happened recently, I really think we could use it. I'm just hoping I'm not the only one who shows up.

[CLEANING PARTY & MIXER! Threads can take place during the CLEANING portion, after during the MIXER or BOTH. They can be indoors, upstairs, in the attic, out back by the bonfire, chowing down, whatever -- It's 100% cool to improvise! Mark will have expressly told folks this is about getting to know each other and what they can each do, too. There are some additional OOC notes here.]

Comments

[pretendtoneedme]

"Most of 'em could do the basics." The people that were here all seemed to be a competent lot. Maybe they didn't all have the skills to build a house, but some of them were medical professionals, some of them could take care of animals, while others could hunt. Together, the village seemed to have a decent amount of the necessary skills to be self-sufficient, even if they lacked a lot of the basic materials and tools. The biggest thing he'd noticed missing, really, was a way of producing more fabric to make clothes, sheets, towels, and other things like that. "Hang a picture or put up a bracket or something like that. People know how a hammer works pretty much anywhere."

[ad_dicendum]

Gaius' head tilts a little in consideration as Clint speaks. He's not used to thinking in this way: the son of a senator has no need for this sort of manual labor, and nor does anyone with whom he socializes. It is for tradesmen, slaves, even. But Gaius knows how to learn from the people around him, both for the political advantage of being seen to identify with people, and also because what they have to offer is something worth learning.

"I suppose that is true. Even so far removed from the way things are done here as I am, even I have seen hammers used before."

He's worked with masons, with carpenters. It was hardly possible not to, with the projects he'd worked on for Rome: roads, grain supply, the foundation of Junonia.

"I would have thought there was more specialized knowledge required." It's said with a light query in the tone, inviting Clint to speak more if he wishes, but also indicating that Gracchus will believe what he's told.

Clint, as the craftsman in this situation, should know, and the information will be important if he wishes to restore the storehouse and granary.