Tampa Turtle

Well the scamp in my (censored) story was so dang cute that it seemed really not that vulgar to me. I may have used some safer euphemisms around the campfire. I hear worse on long backpacking trips for whatever reason. Usually are 'naughty' stories are similar dealing with cat hole mishaps, latrine explosions, or tics/critters affixing themselves to 'extremely inconvenient places') Occasionally they make it to an ECOH and skirt the edge of shocking the moms. Good fun. One change in all that is once you get one mom hanging around the scouts campfire those stories don't get told. Everyone clams up.

Where on L.I.? I was born there. My dad was a Scout at Port Jeff and Selden back in the late 40's. I have his old German POW hat all the cool kids wore.

Have you been talking to my wife? You know some of the best campfire scout stories end up not being PG..I guess you have to go out at an actual campfire to hear them in person. Another benefit of the outdoor program.

...A Girl Boy Scout, a Venturer, and a Sea Scout walk into a bar tent. The Sea Scout is wearing a MAGA hat and says I need a drink dutch oven...

@perdidochas "The camporees have much more problem with this" Amen, amen, amen. I feel like I am camping in a parking lot even when they restrict to only 'needed' trailers. Some troops bring a food truck.

Well I have told the story at a campfire with some older scouts but I get you. Moving on.

The Family Campout is the lazy planning way out. It also cuts out those boys whose folks do not want to come. It is OK for a casual show up and leave when you want gathering--I suppose there is a place for those sometimes--but creates new problems. One us like Eagle 94's. We had a canoe trip once - family campout. About 6 canoes going down river to another campsite. Some boys in some Troop canoes together (want to ditch dads). Going starts getting a little tough and a couple families decide this is not fun anymore and want to turn around. Except now there is not enough canoes to carry the remaining kids and gear who do want to go. And there is a big stop to reload and figure stuff out. An implied rule of the family campout that each family and not the Troop or the Patrol is the primary unit and families can opt in or opt out as they want. I am not sure how BSA can market 'Family Camping' in Boy Scouts (if that is the direction they are going) without drawing in this kind of ambiguity. Besides sitting around and eating car camping cub style outings the only other time I saw it work was when a couple dad's and sons, all accomplished backpackers, went on an independent trip. I am sure if something bad happened

Last year the PLC tried to have a rule that no vehicles but trailer in camp, even tried picking sites where you had to walk in your gear but adults kept violating it. Kudos for trying.

Magical stuff. I am just old enough to have to write a thesis on a typewriter. But it was electric and had an auto-correct tape feature. You have no idea what you missed. In grade school I just loved the smell of the mimeograph machine in the morning. It smelled like victory.

It was deleted/blocked for unwholesome imagery and word choice. A first for me after 3,000 posts! One again Mea Culpa.

OK so we are all living on the same planet. I feel better....I am not crazy. Yes we are experiencing that same blurring of the lines. My son mentioned one cause in our Troop. We used to have a 15 passenger van we shared with our Troop. Could pull a small trailer with the two required adults and 13 boys which sufficed for some trips. Then we had to stop using the van and the church and the troop did not have the funds to replace it so we needed dads (and a few moms) for transport. (we do reimburse for gas and since many are trucks it increased each campers cost more than what you thought) to help transport gear and boys. Most of the dads had trucks than minivans and then we had a lot more vehicles and parents at the campsite. And some of these dads liked to camp like they did on their own...not exactly 'car camping' but more like 'truck camping'...a bit gear heavy. (I never saw so many fit guys 20 years younger than me that insisted that they HAD to have a cot because sleeping on the ground was too hard...which led to bigger tents to hold the cot...which led to the trucks being close to the campsite and they didn't want to carry stuff far. I mean I even try to backpack my gear in even if it is just from parking lot to campsite mostly because I am too lazy to make another trip) Some of these dads dropped out after a couple trips because their kind of camping was enhanced by the BSA verboten beer. And a few mom's stepped in to help out and you know it is kind of a long round trip to not stay the night and if they are staying the night they should bring little sister (and sometimes the dog). And voila! Family Camping. While the parents-not really scouters are camping in the 'adult' area/campsite it GREATLY impacts the experience for the Boys and Scouters. I spend all my time explaining while we are ignoring the boys. The boys and fellow scouter personalities are enough work, throwing in a bunch of parents with time on their hands is a bit much.

@Eagle1993 "Ever since we found out (after the race ceremony) that our winning scouts car was purchased for nearly $100 on eBay". Congrats on your head not exploding. Perhaps you should have a "best procurement" category. Perhaps that is more representative of our culture today. Don't learn or do when the cloud can tell you the answer or ship you the solution. (what a dinosaur I have become. We still shop in person for groceries and cook our own food.)

This is a great site to vent. You have a legitimate right to feel hurt but I wouldn't take it to heart. I always think of the end of East of Eden when Charles Trask laments why he always got the short end of the stick and the story goes back to Cain and Abel and why did God favor Abels gift over Cains? And the answer is maybe God prefers lamb over vegetables. quazse is right, it really is about the boys. I am frustrated with my Troop, give my opinion when asked but try to stay out of the way for a lot of poor decision making. Once I feel the boys don't even care I am there...

Sorry I thought we were PG-13. Hard to tell the story without the actual words. Again, sorry. Too bad it is a good story.

Yeah ART here too...but we are City Slickers.

There are probably other groups of Scouts that need you and that you could connect with.

My family was on vacation in Israel (In Akko/Acre BTW which is beautiful) and a arab muslim boy, probably 9-10 came up to us (we obviously looked american) and yelled in broken english "america I stick my dick up my butt!". Because I was so used to boys in cub scouts I avoided international incident--I figured smart ass boys arise in all cultures. Mrs Turtle was annoyed as I tried to explain in broken Arabic, crude gestures, and basic english that he had his insult all wrong about whose butt, etc and how to improved it. (A Scout is Helpful) At which point his plump mother all swaddled in robes muttering the Arabic equivalent "I'm sorry my son is an idiot" came up and gave him a cartoon style swap to the side of the head. He did stop. Apparently he was coming home from school and was supposed to pick up some bread and meet her at the bus stop. I was able to get across that "all little boys can act like fools", I was a boy scout leader, and mine (who were now teenagers watching) were capable of similar things. She gave me a half smile and a weary nod and waddled on along with her boy pulling him by the ear. I did see them a couple blocks later and they had the arms around each other so I assume all was forgiven. Days later when I ran into a Scout leader in Bethlehem (the Arab Orthodox Troop who have an awesome band) we had a grand time commiserating on working with boys and the Scout program problems. At that point I LOVED Scouting despite my periodic frustrations with National and the Troop. I would hate to walk away and lose that connection though I am tempted and feel an actual sense of grief at the possibility of loss.

@Stosh I think it has been at least a dad and lad thing for a while. I would not let my ADD Tiger use a band saw but he would draw the profile and I would do the cut for him. He would sand and sand and complain and complain. My oldest had very poor eye hand coordination so putting the wheels on straight was always a challenge. He would paint, etc. Even the parts I did looked crude so I suppose they assumed it was all boy made. There were a couple cars (an excellent air craft carrier) that I must confess was more me than him. And I had to learn some boundries. Do I say not do what I do. Mea Culpa. Eventually that son learned enough that by the time he got to Webelos he pretty much designed a sliver car with nothing but weights, He asked other dads he noticed always won to show him how to get his wheels on exact. He mostly just needed me for the spray paint run to Walmart. Younger son designed the wildest, crudest, un-aerodynamic cars ever and had a blast. He loved his big block 'teddy bear caboose' and was sure every car was gonna be a winner even when he used so much hot glue (where did he find a hot glue gun) that he gummed up the tires.. But he had a blast. I liked how our cubmaster had the biggest trophy for best sportsman-like behavior; to the boy who cheered every one and had a good attitude.

Did he stop?

@Stosh "just as valid"...what do you mean. Yes they are an honorific but beyond that do not convey anything but recognition not that they completed any coursework. An honorary degree in law for example will not put you on the road to practice. Maybe I am missing something. I remember when I was at a state university they were usually handed out when the famous speaker came out at commencement and was willing to take a lower speakers fee usually because they had a relative graduating as well that day...was really a pot sweetener.

"In the end, it's just a PWD. " Amen. I remember one ugly parent shouting because his his kid's car beat a Bear Cub. I thought "Congratulations you beat an 8 year old". Some of the boys REALLY got into their design cars. The younger guys would glue all sorts of little bears, army men, legos on them and were so thrilled they could just race.

My non-profit was based at a university so while most of my employs were too part-time to get any benefits we would send them to all the training, seminars, and audit classes they could handle. That included accommodations, travel, and a modest per diem. And if they were working on a thesis or PhD we would let them have off hours access to our tech toys and give them thesis/PhD support. That (and the fact it was a place doing meaningful work while having fun) let me hang onto a lot of folks for a while. I even stopped the office supply closet and just gave everyone a cash amount to buy what they wanted...I actually spent 75% what I used to...they were more careful shoppers.

You'd be better off being a garbage man in my town. You'd get full benefits, a little better pay, tremendous muscles, and you'd be home by 4pm. "Choppers, Colonel! I hear Choppers!"

"phone and video games are the first thing that should go." This is hard and it is painful. But I talked to a counselor the other day and they have LOTs of kids middle to high who are tanking grades because of screen time. The FIRST thing they say is at the very least to sharply curtail it time-wise and make it physically inaccessible the other times. My son now only has internet access in the living room so we know when he is doing it and not. We are fighting the same fight. One son of mine was no great scholar and often was very active in scouts instead of studying. We tolerated that because we knew if he was not scouting he would be looking at his phone or computer. Better than nothing.

Did I miss an installment?