Fat Old Guy

"Anchors Away, " That would be "Anchors aweigh" pretty egregious mistake for someone who celebrates "Talk Like A Pirate Day."

" Scouts refrain from running not because of a rule but because each scout has made an ethical decision based on the values of the Oath and Law." Sure they do. One tenet of life in the service is that a suggestion by a superior is an order. When the Cap'n says, "Sailor, that trash can looks pretty full" that really means, "I want that trash can emptied." I doubt that if we polled a dozen of your Scouts about running in Camp, they wouldn't say, "we made an ethical choice based on the Scout law to not run." They'd say, "Bob White says that we shouldn't run in camp." That's a suggestion from an authority figure which translates into a rule.

". . . if someone starts to run we will here another scout shout "hey! No running in the house" So you do have rules, they just are spoken, not written, so they can be changed at a whim. It also seems that you have rule breakers and rule enforcers.

"When you look at the Scoutmaster Handbook you will see that the definition of a Patrol is a group of scouts of the same age and skill level" I recently read the Patrol Leader's Handbook and I found it interesting that all of the Patrol Leaders shown were older scouts and the Scouts that they were leading were the young guys. Go figure.

"Hops, my desire to be in the U.S. Army does not in any way even come close to veteran status" I'm with hopper, you stood up and were willing to go, you just weren't picked. That says much for you. For my part, I've never been comfortable with the term "veteran." Growing up, a "veteran" was guy who had been "in the war" and despite what Congress and the DoD say, I still think of it that way.

"2 -- A tour permit is required for the troop outing" Our tour permits say that one is only needed if the outing is more than 50 miles from home.

Maybe BSA could say to the manufacturer, "Hey, you know those jeans that you sell for $20 in four different colors? Make them for us in ugly green."

Where we go to summer camp they have a rule that is not in the G2SS or in the Scout Law, "no sandals except at the water front." I'm sure they could go without the rule and explain to each Scout that wearing sandals increased the likelyhood of pedal injuries. They have another rule, no running in camp except for authorized activities. Why? Running on uneven paths leads to injuries. I don't see how this could fall under the Scout Law. Maybe running is discourteous because someone has to interrupt their day to take you to sick bay.

"Go Army" Why?

" In fact, I couldn't find enough information in your profile," I've never been able to update my profile, the program gacks (that's a technical term) whenever I try.

"Where are your jeans assembled?" I'm familiar with tags that say, "Assembled in Haiti from US parts." These just say, "Made in the USA."

We thank you for your intent but today is the Marine Corps Birthday (Semper Fi!), tomorrow is Veteran's Day, one of the few Holidays that hasn't been moved to a monday.

"The Scouts are running behind your back because the only thing that stops them is "the rule" and when the rule isn't in their mind, they break it." What part of the Scout law would prevent a Scout from running?

"Why are these things so expensive?" Kilts involve an incredible amount of handwork to do all of the pleats. " An American made, union made, uniform. " Right now I'm wearing a pair of jeans that says "made in the USA." They cost me less than $20 and fit well.

"In fact, when I joined the Presbyterian Church, the pastor mentioned that I would have to agree to live by the Apostle's Creed." Hmmmm . . . interesting since the Creed isn't a statement of conduct but a statement of faith. It would have shocked the heck out of me if that fellow had called me.

I was at camp a couple years ago, having a cuppa Joe and BSing with the Scoutmaster when this fellow wanders into the campsite. He was the Council Camping Director and was visiting every troop. We chatted about things that we liked and things that we didn't like. Much to my surprise, some of the things that we didn't like were fixed the next year. Not really an extra mile but very good customer service.

"Tenderfoot," "First Class," etc. would be too cutesy.

Hopper, knife laws are greatly misunderstood throughout this land. I looked up the Illinois knife laws and at first reading it looks like the prohibition is on carrying a knife for offensive purposes. In fact there is case law that says that carrying a hunting knife is not considered carrying a dangerous weapon unless it is intended to be used in an offensive manner. A Bowie knife is a hunting knife. Now, most knife dealers that I know (I know more than a few) won't sell a knife to a minor just for CYA. I've never stayed in a Holiday Inn Express and I'm not a lawyer but you don't need to be one to read law books.

I go with the "whatever the Scouts want" (within reason). Your adults need to look at what's important. Which activity better fits into the Scouting concept? Merit badges (some parents think that they are important) or an outdoor activty planned and executed by the Scouts? When you say "Troop Committee," do you mean the adults? At the risk of sounding like someone else, your adults need to get some training.

"not eaters of fish." I thought that you meant Roman Catholics.

"First, she is on the Committee, but I dont think she is registerd." To be on the Committee, she must be registered. Otherwise, she has no official standing with BSA. " she will find some way to sneak in. " I skimmed this and couldn't if her son was involved in your session. If he is then she doesn't have to sneak in as no meeting may be closed to parents. This is where the problems start. If you can't keep the parents out, how to you keeps a disruptive parent out? Maybe you need the help of a large adult who can figuratively sit on this person.

"Some posters hear are really twisting the truth" Ah Bob, as many have observed, you do a good job of that. " To think that the BSA By-Laws have anything to do with unit operation is just plain wrong." Now, who is twisting things around? I just pointed out that to look at the sacred text, you need the permission of the SE. If he won't annoint you, you don't get to peek at the blessed words. Interesting, no? I belong to organizations that range in size from over 4 million to around 500 and the only organization that doesn't make all of it's rules and regulations for all levels easily available is BSA. "The resources of the BSA may be printed in Texas, but remember that they are written by committees made up of BSA volunteer members from across the country" And we've all been told how the pros "guide" the volunteers.

I have mixed feelings about professionals. I've gone to them for information that couldn't be provided by volunteers and I never hear back. When I do hear from the professionals, it is usually about boosting membership or raising money which are really the same thing. I often get the impression that quantity is much more important than quality. Not long ago, one of the packs in my area got into membership trouble. What happened was that one pack split into two because it had gotten so large. Both were competing for the same pool of boys and one grew while the other shrank. The committee of the shrinking pack went up the chain of command looking for help. No one gave a hoot until the pack was about to fold then the DE got involved with a frantic last ditch effort to save the pack. Why? We were left with the impression that no one cared about the dying pack because the money was still rolling in from the Scouts who joined the other pack. When it looked like the revenue stream from the pack was about to vanish, then the DE got concerend. The irony is that the pack that folded, up to their penultimate year lead the district in popcorn sales. The other pack doesn't sell popcorn. So the membership numbers stayed good but the council lost a boatload of popcorn money. I was recently at a meeting where the DE's boss came to speak. What was his message? Not provide a quality program. Not get the leaders trained to provide a quality program. Get the membership numbers up.

"Reminds me of the time I asked our Comptroller a question about travel regs" BSA has much like that. For example, if you want to look at the Official By-laws of BSA, you have to get permission from your Scout Executive. Why? "Because regular folk don't need to look at them." Hey! I'm a dues paying member. I don't know of any other organization where dues paying members are prevented from looking at the rules.

"They are unnatural controls that obstruct the natural operation of the scouting program." So rules that come from Texas are natural rules. Hmmmmm . . . interesting concept. So if Texas says, "No sheath knives" that suddenly would become a natual rule. Very interesting.