Forum Comments

[ManyIrons]

Testify cousin(s)!!

 

Hunt I think you said it best.

[dan]

(This message has been edited by dan)(This message has been edited by dan)

[Eamonn]

I never ever cease to be amazed at how diverse and how lucky we are to have so many talented and gifted people in our organization. I serve in a small Council and I think most of the adults in the Council know who I am.

I feel sure that we within our Council can get almost anything done, it is just a matter of asking the right person or people.

There are times when people come to me with what be termed problems.

How do you tie a square knot? The answer is easy. Right over left and under and left over right and under. Or the other way round. Left over right....

Then people will have people problems, mostly because people can't play nice together or because someone is upset. We have in a active thread a SM who isn't happy with a ruling made by the Troop Committee and is in a bit of a quandary. It is very easy for me to sit here many miles away from what is going on and add my two cents.

I however at times do question what my responsibility is? In the case I just mentioned I might really feel that the SM has been wronged and he should go to bat for what he thinks is right. But and there always seems to be a but. If every SM who was unhappy with something that came down from the Troop Committee, stood up and stamped his foot, what is the point of having a Troop Committee?

Someone asked in another active thread about Adult knots, patches and medals. We not very long ago had a very similar thread about Adult Eagle Scouts wearing their Eagle Scout Medal. The answer is in the Insignia Guide.

A very long time ago I thought I was ready to murder the very next person who told me to check my resources. Is it better for the person who asked to be pointed to where the correct and official information is? Or should I have stated that the wearing of Eagle Scout medals is a no, no and reopened the debate a debate where many were strongly suggesting that the BSA is wrong and they are right. I believe that we serve at the pleasure of the BSA. I know some people are happy bending or breaking rules, while I don't see the Eagle Scout SM who opts to wear his Eagle Scout medal as being a bad person or in need of criticism from me, at the end of the day he is not right, which does make him in the wrong.

I have had parents who are very unhappy that their son has gone ahead and completed Eagle Scout Leadership projects without completing the needed paperwork. They are unhappy with the Advancement Chair and want me to over rule him because he has said that this just isn't acceptable and the Lad need to start over. I show them the work book, I feel very sad for the Lad. They can see in black and white where they went wrong. Still they remain unhappy, which at times leads to them lashing out.

At times we see very similar things here in the forum. People don't get the answer they like or want so they lash out.

The organization that I belong too is a uniformed organization, the uniform isn't ideal for every activity, every climate and some people just plain don't like it. I don't have all the answers, I do believe that as long as we have the uniform we have that's what we go with.

I happen to believe and agree with the BSA about keeping Duty To God front and center in all that we do. I can't see how an atheist who might be the most gifted person on the planet at outdoor activities and camping can lead our Scouts along their path of duty to God.

As far as the homosexual thing goes, I'm not gay and in my own little way I feel very sorry for those that are, I really like women and enjoy being heterosexual. My religion and my church takes a very dim view of homosexuals and homosexual activities. This organization that I belong too has said that avowed homosexuals are not the role models that we want for our youth. I am happy to go along with that. If at some time the BSA has a change of heart and leaves this choice in the hands of the chartering organization, I would be OK with that, but for now the rule is the rule.

Harsh as it might be or might sound if people are not willing to play by the rules, they have only one option leave.

I would hope that the forum would be a very friendly place. I enjoy reading the reviews of different equipment, heck even some of the bad jokes were funny.

Most of us here do have a great love of Scouting and what we are all working for,many of us are trying to do our best to live by the Oath and Law, some days we do better at it than other days. There are days when we get out of the wrong side of the bed and there are times when another member really gets on that last nerve.

Still it does seem that those who only come to make trouble or be a pain don't stay very long, sad to say while they are doing their thing, they may scare or frighten a lot of good people away.

The backspace key is a powerful tool as it the private message, if I find someone is trying to push my buttons? I drop them a line asking them to quit, then I ignore them!!

Eamonn.

[Kahuna]

Eamonn, I suppose you are correct. I keep thinking about how scouting started in the first place: B-P said, "No one saw the start of it, the blooming thing just started itself . . . [in 1907-1908] boys were writing to me, who were not members of [organizations like YMCA and Church Lads Brigade for whom he had written 'Scouting For Boys'], telling me that they had formed patrols and organized troops and gotten men to be their Scoutmasters." Somewhat the same thing happened in parts of the U.S. As I mentioned on another thread, in 1910, the BSA accepted applications from men who wanted to be Scoutmasters, issued them a commission and expected them to organize a troop and a committee. The first "Handbook For Scoutmasters" didn't come out until 1913. I wonder what those guys would have thought of our current rules and regulations?

 

This is a great program and, as you say, we are lucky to have the talent and enthusiasm in it that we do. Especially when we live in an era when the ACLU is on our tails all the time and when ambulance chasers are lurking in the weeds waiting for us to screw up. Amazing we can still get people to be leaders when you think about it.

[SR540Beaver]

Kahuna: I wonder what those guys would have thought of our current rules and regulations?

 

I'd like to believe that they would appreciate that the brush they cut and the trail they blazed is well marked and followed by many today and many more in the future.

[packsaddle]

Fuzzy, regarding the pollen, etc. How does that old commercial go? "...without mucus, life itself would not be possible" or something like that.

The average person produces daily approximately a quart of such mucus (aka 'snot') and swallows most of it. Have a nice day and bon apetite!

 

Hey, would you just look...it's time for lunch already, and I'm starving...(This message has been edited by packsaddle)

[Eamonn]

Kahuna

I would hope that deep down we all want to see a more loving, more caring society.

God or destiny guides us in what we do and where we do it. Did I find Scouting or did Scouting find me?

At some Eagle Rank BOR's that I sit on, we have a board member who seems to make a big thing about asking the Lad "What will you do to give back to Scouts?"

I think this is wrong. Sure it would be nice if all the people who were once Scouts came back and were banging on the Council Office door yelling "Sign me up!! Please sign me up" But we don't do what we do in the expectation of any kind of repayment.

Many of us who were kids in the program, find ourselves copying things that we seen our leaders do. I was blessed to have a team of great guys who loved kids, loved Scouting and for the most part knew how to play this game. There are others who weren't as lucky. Some belonged to units who had leaders who didn't deliver the program, some may have quit Scouting because of these bad leaders.

At times in an effort to try and be funny I say that people were frightened by a plumber, when they were being potty trained.

I may not see red when a forum member posts that he or she is straying from the program. I see the penalty as being a few raised eye-brows. Again in an effort to be funny I might say that they need twenty lashes with a wet noddle or wet Wood Badge. However there are those who do see red. They see an adult misusing or abusing the program and are reminded about what happened to them when they were Scouts or see the very reason why the quit Scouting. They see youth members quiting and understand the reasons why. They don't see any humor in it what so ever.

Sure maybe they need to tone things down a little. I however admire the passion they have and the love they have not only for Scouting but for the Scouts, who they see are not getting the program they deserve.

"Don't hate me because I'm beautiful" I am sure that if I was good looking no one would hold it against me. We have some very clever and talented people in these forums. I sure as heck hope that we don't hold it against them, that they have studied this game and know how to play by the rules.

Eamonn.

[Kahuna]

I would hope that deep down we all want to see a more loving, more caring society.

 

Amen to that, Eamonn. BTW, my last post was more in the nature of expressing my sadness that we don't have the same uncomplicated society that those pioneers of scouting had than complaining about the rules.