Fat Old Guy

I probably should keep my yap shut but we get low to no cost usage of parks, includng times that they are "closed," because Scouts this area provide about 20,000 hours of volunteer labor in the parks each year. When the parks people wanted to jack our rates, BSA said, "fine but we won't do any work anymore." The parks people gulped and said, "Okay." 20,000 hours at even $5 an hour is quite a bit of change. These jurisdictions aren't thinking smart. The facilities are being paid for by sweat and we all know that atheists don't do any honest work. Heck, I've never met an atheist that I could trust.

I'd like to know whatever happened to the idea of "looking nice." It is one thing if kids wear a clean pair of Wranglers (that fit) with their Scout shirt but that isn't what I see. What do I see? Sweat pants, not just sweat pants but raggedy sweats. Basketball shorts in any of a zillion colors. We have one Scout who wears basketball shorts when it is 20 degrees outside. Dirty, filthy pants with mud and crud on them. One of the duties that seem to have been abandoned by many parents is teaching their children that different activities have different styles of acceptable dress. Then again, many parents don't seem to understand this. There's a dad involved with my daughter's Girl Scout troop who lives in the standard $500,000 home, drives a $40,000 SUV and goes on a cruise with the wife every spring. What is unusual about this guy is that he shows up at the father-daughter dance in a t-shirt and jeans. Nearly every other dad there is in a suit, some in tuxedeos. Not this guy.

Does any one know how many candidates don't survive the ordeal?

Being a member of the uniform police I have to point out that there is a difference between spats and leggings. I believe that leggings are prohibited by one of the many BSA publications. Unfortunately, my Insignia Guide and G2SS have both grown legs. A for legality of uniform items, with the exception of the has, you cannot mix and match uniform items from different uniforms. So you shouldn't wear your 1960s vintage leggings with your Oscar de la Hoya designed pants. I find it interesting that leggings are banned when they are such a practical item for wear in the woods. Heck, that's why the Army and Marine Corps used them until the combat boot was developed. I read things that say, "tuck your pants into your socks." Why not just wear leggings or gaiters and blouse your pants?

I be happy if the Scouts or their parents would at least make an effort to look like they are wearing a uniform. If not the Scout pants, then go to Old Navy or Burlington Coat Factory or the Surplus store and get a pair of olive green pants that FIT PROPERLY.

"ps: Bob ... I wish that you wouldn't stick a pin on someone's proud baloon like that, but celebrate with him instead. You're correct on the technical part of it ... of course." Do you really think that Bob could ever do that?

I don't have it and I probably won't get it. It's always struck me as a bit tacky.

Maybe it's time to sit down with the SM and see what he has to say in private.

Moi-lyn said that the gummit said, "Taken together, these laws ban discrimination and require Federal contractors and subcontractors to take affirmative action to ensure that all individuals have an equal opportunity for employment, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability or status as a Vietnam era or special disabled veteran." Of course that's what the government is going to claim but that ain't what's happening. When special groups are given preferential treatment without regard for ability, that's discrimination. The idea of affirmative action might sound good to those like you but it doesn't work in the real world.

The travel regs say "time in travel status is not considered hours of work and is not compensated." That's true with most companies as well. That's why when I travelled a bunch, I told my boss that I'd fly out Monday morning but never on a Sunday. Fortunately, I was irreplaceable.

My son was in the old Tiger Cub program and, although, most of his den went on to Wolf I can't say that I was too impressed with the program. In fact I thought that most of it was rather lame, nothing to make it a unique experience. I also viewed the program as somewhat intrusive. I was told that it was designed to get me to spend time with my son. Heck, I already did that. We went to the zoo. We visited the airport to watch planes. We went to museums. We did all of that without Tiger Cubs. I think that many parents look at the program and ask, "what is the purpose?" because their kids do most of that stuff either with family, church or school. I stuck it out because I had enjoyed Cub Scouts and I wanted my son to have the opportunity to enjoy Cub Scouts. I think that others stuck it out because of the forceful personality of the leader.

" I can take off just about any time I need to, but anything greater than 59 minutes is charged to annual leave." However, anything over 40 hours a week is just your donation to the cause. Right?

"I won't bet against you, but I will also bet he deals with ..." So? That's what the rest of us have to deal with as well as the rest of the issues.

The two signature thing can cause obstructions in some cases. Our Scoutmaster has signature power on the checking account because he makes many of the purchases at the Scout Shop. If he supplies receipts to the treasurer, everyone can tell what he's been buying. If the treasurer gets canceled checks back made out to "Sylvia's House of Whoopie" then we have a problem but how likely is that? Serious embezzlement isn't a concern in our case as it might be with a church because we never have more than a couple grand at a time.

"I also was given time off for volunteer scouting activities" Nice perq. I understand the military does the same thing. Too bad we regular folks don't get that sort of benefit. :-(

I'm not sure what sort of checking account we have but I do know that we don't pay any fees for deposits. If a check bounces, the law permits you to pass on those fees to the check writer. Something is a bit fishy. When I was in collge, my checking account would spend much of its time near zero. If a check bounced and was automatically redeposited and cleared the second time, there were never any fees involved on either side.

I'd be willing to bet that neither OGE's or John's Council Guy's troop have any problem getting information from their DE. Probably no problems with paperwork vanishing at the Scout Center. They probably have few of the normal bureaucratic problems.

"then again, reading Beowulf in middle english is a trip without luggage" You should read it in the original Klingon, it loses something in the translation.

Years ago, our PLC decided that candidates for SPL must be 14 and at least 1st Class.(This message has been edited by Fat Old Guy)

My old Cubmaster used to say, "Use the Program Helps! Everything is laid out for you." That seems to be the big thing. If you use the prepared program material, your time can be cut in half. The other thing is to get people out to Roundtables and Pow Wows where they can get ideas and solutions to problems so they don't have to spend so much time thinking about how to do things. BTW, Fotoscout, I live in an ETREMELY LIBERAL county in a very liberal state and I wear my uniform all over the place and I have never heard a negative comment.

What should a BOR do if a Scout shows up with his position of responsibility signed off by the Scoutmaster but everyone knows that the Scout didn't do squat. For example, we have a Scout who was given the job of Troop Photographer. He actually sought out the position and the SM wrote up a job description which included using a digital camera to take pictures at as many troop functions as practical and providing those pictures to the Troop Historian and the Troop Webmaster. However, I can only recall two times in the past year that he's actually been seen with a camera and NO ONE has seen any of the pictures that he's taken, if any. I know that the Webmaster has talked to him, the SPL and an ASM have also spoken with him about the need to do his job. Now, he's coming up for Life and I'm pretty sure that the SM is going to sign off on the POR. Back to the original question, what should the BOR do?

Venture Guy, As much as I would like to see the uniform made a required element just as it is for many sports leagues, the sad truth is that it isn't. I guess the the good thing is that your troop accepted that rule without question. I fight continual battles with parents about what are the important parts of Scouting. To most of them, it is advancement with their eye on Eagle. Fundraising to pay their way? Nah, their son can't be bothered so dad will just write a check. The uniform? Gee, that's too expensive because we spent all of our money at the casino on our last cruise. We have one father who spends more on a bottle of wine than an entire uniform would cost but he bought his son a shirt three sizes too big so he wouldn't have to replace it. One family whines about paying $200 for summer camp but flies to Colorado for Christmas break so they can go skiing. Maybe the problem is that Scouting has lost its importance to many because there is too much emphasis on badges and not enough on growing into a man (oooooo. . . I sound like Wheeler). What do I mean by that? Too many times, I see no penalty for a Scout not doing what he is supposed to do. No, I'm not advocating a public flogging but there are no consequences. When a PL doesn't arrange (or cause arrangements to be made), some adult steps in at the 11th hour and provides the gear (can't let the kids suffer). If the Service Patrol doesn't show up to set up the tables and chairs, the adults do it and shanghai other Scouts who then don't want to show up early. If the Librarian allows the library to fall into disarray, he still advances in rank. How many times have adults been sent scrambling to find advancement records or merit badge cards for an Eagle application because a Scout didn't bother to hang onto them despite being told numerous times to safeguard them?

The Scout Association of Malta can be found at http://www.maltascout.org.mt/

SebCachia said, "i dont know exactly what the bsa uniform is like but the Malta scouts uniform is not what i would wear to much besides a parade or some other ceremony." The BSA uniform is currenly a khaki shirt and olive green pants made out of a polyesther/cotton blend. Neither is made of a heavy fabric and are not very durable. Until the 1970s, the BSA had a very durable uniform that could be worn camping and hiking or for parades. Today, we have the problem that many boys don't want to be seen in their uniforms. One Scout is so embarassed by being a Scout that he lies to his friends about where he goes on meeting nights and on campouts.

" We need to get a life and channel all this energy into things that matter." Last time that I checked, I do have a life and part of that life includes Scouting. "Get a life," is an insult hurled by people who can't attend to details because details get in the way of having fun.