I recently took office as chief of a lodge which shall go unnamed. Not long after I took office, I went to the local scout shop pick up position patch for my new office. You can imagine my disappointment when I was told national does not have a Lodge or Chapter Chief shoulder patch.
The next day I called the OA office at national to inquire about it. They said that national "wanted the youth to focus on their leadership position within their troop."
To which I replied, "But what about the Lodge and Chapter Advisors? They are usually Scoutmasters or ASMs."
Her response? "Well, they're adults."
I thanked the woman for her time and hung up, and the air around me quickly turned blue (as it often does when national policy comes up in conversation).
All throughout the program, we youth have more patches thrown at us than we possibly know what to do with. Troop position patches, district, council, and lodge event patches, but on this,we get the short end of the hiking stick! Not to mention the fact that if you are being a good lodge chief (ie: making sure everything is happening the way it should) you're not going to have time to be an SPL or a Troop QM! That bit about "Well, they're adults" enraged me even further. A properly dedicated lodge advisor or Scoutmaster (a position I hold in the highest regard) shouldn't be double booked either, nor should they be held to a different standard when it comes to position recognition.