Explain why this profession might interest you

[meyerc13]

@@Stosh, yes, I might be "overthinking" this:)

 

I'll cease my screeds and finish thusly:

 

If "I'm not interested" is the sum total of the scout's answer, that's unsat.

 

"I'm not interested and here's a thoughtful discussion concerning the reasons why" is slightly better but doesn't meet the requirement.

 

"I might be interested in this profession because of X Y and Z" the scout meets the requirement.

 

"I'm not interested for X reasons, but another person might like this profession for Y reasons" that scout hits the ball out of the park.

 

I think this sums up my thoughts on this issue nicely.  Let me give you an example from my personal life.  My grandpa and my dad both worked in a die casting factory.  My brother went to work for that same factory.  Would I ever work there?  Heck no.  Can I understand why my brother went to work there?  Yes:

• By not going to college, he didn't accumulate student loans.
• If he put in more than 40 hours per week, he got paid overtime.  I work in IT, and only once did I work somewhere where I was paid overtime (although that employer reclassified my position after a year and the overtime dried up).
• When he was done with his shift for the day, he could leave work and focus 100% on his personal life.  Working in IT, I have spent countless hours of my personal time studying to keep my skills sharp.  Not to mention the overtime mentioned above.  Oh, and all of the nights I was oncall, getting paged in the middle of the night to come back to work.  A job in IT is pretty much never 40 hours a week.

So can I list reasons why I might like his job?  Yes.  Yet I wouldn't ever follow that patch because:

• Manufacturing jobs are being offshored or moved from pro-union states to states where the companies don't have to deal with unions.
• The job is hot, dangerous work.  Dealing with molten metal and giant machines that can manipulate metal is safer today than in the past, but one of my dad's coworkers was killed when he reached into his machine to fix some problem, his shirt got stuck in the machine, and the safety mechanism on the machine failed causing it to crush him to death.  My dad also has many burns all over his body from splashes of molten aluminum.
• In an effort to compete with dirt cheap Asian labor, US manufacturers have cut pay so far that it is hard to support a family on a manufacturing salary.  Even with the overtime, it just isn't enough. 

So I can understand why my brother did it, but for me it isn't the right path.

 

That's the kind of answer I would find acceptable to this question... not "It doesn't interest me."

[Krampus]

  And what's that got to do with cooking????

Clearly you've been married too long.

 

The point was to find ground the kid can find a way to actually answer the question appropriately. 

 

I know you know that...am just pointing out the obvious.

[Stosh]

Anyway, if I was a chef in a fancy restaurant I would get fired right away.  All that fantastic food right there in front of me and I have 10 reasons right there to stick into it and taste to see how good I made it!   

 

On a serious note: Your illustration is a good one that I have often used when talking careers with my youth, both scouts and church.  I have bonus daughter that is in her 4th year of medical residency.  I figure she'll be in her 40's maybe 50's before she pays off her student loans.  I have a step son going to tech school under the GI bill who's picking up construction, welding, electrical, plumbing and masonry and after 2 years will be debt free making 3 times as much as I ever did working in the ministry, the IT dept or manufacturing.....   It used to be one HAD to go to college to have a well paying job, but if one wants to build wealth, college isn't always the #1 choice one needs to consider.

[qwazse]

My boys may owe you guys.

 

On my walk to the coffee shop (btw @@Stosh $1.80 for espresso the taste of which is still lingering at lunch), I thought that part of this problem is troops often grab anyone with a pulse to be counselors for required badges. No disrespect to Suzy homemaker, but the best counselors are often the folks who have the topic as a profession.

 

Then I thought of the scouts who I've seen at this shop.

 

So I asked the owner if he'd be willing to sign on as an MBC. He said he'd be glad to. I warned him about the paperwork to get started. Having been a lawyer, he wasn't phased. He does the same for his employees anyway. Moreover, the notion of having boys food-safety trained before they started the job was very appealing.

 

If they could come to the shop, he'd gladly counsel the badge.

[Stosh]

My boys may owe you guys.

 

On my walk to the coffee shop (btw @@Stosh $1.80 for espresso the taste of which is still lingering at lunch),  Tums or Rolaids work for me...   I thought that part of this problem is troops often grab anyone with a pulse to be counselors for required badges. No disrespect to Suzy homemaker, but the best counselors are often the folks who have the topic as a profession.

 

Then I thought of the scouts who I've seen at this shop.

 

So I asked the owner if he'd be willing to sign on as an MBC. He said he'd be glad to. I warned him about the paperwork to get started. Having been a lawyer, he wasn't phased. He does the same for his employees anyway. Moreover, the notion of having boys food-safety trained before they started the job was very appealing.

 

If they could come to the shop, he'd gladly counsel the badge.

[Krampus]

I figure she'll be in her 40's maybe 50's before she pays off her student loans. 

 

50s. My best friend graduated in '90 from med school. He JUST finished paying off college and med school. Granted, it was a VERY expensive southern private school. He's in anesthesia and makes a killing but it STILL took this long to pay everything off.

 

Oddly enough, and back on topic, he didn't want to be a "gas passer" but figured that was the fastest way to pay off school and make good money. He hopes to retire early to be able to enjoy all that cash.

[Stosh]

My bonus daughter is going the ob/gyn route.  But at age 28 her friend now makes more money per year than she ever will, owns his own boat and commercial fishes in Alaska debt free.  He spends his winters in either FL or HI......  He's 28 too.  Just to give you an idea of the money we're talking about here.  Her brother commercial fished a couple of months and graduated from a prestigious eastern college debt free in electrical engineering.  Now with his degree and 3 years of work experience he is looking into buying a boat....

[chrisking0997]

I wanted to inspire some conversation about this, and you guys did not disappoint (I love this board).  I left the details out because I didnt want it to sway the debate.   So heres the deal:  scout was taking the Personal Fitness MB.  He's an active kid and has no problem with physical activity, but has no interest in sports or any career related to fitness.  His first attempt at answering the question (via written correspondence since the MB counselor is rarely available...a pet peeve for another time) was woefully inadequate, and included the "not interested" comment.  Scout was advised to go back and try again.  I advised him similar to some of the feedback here, to expand further on his answers and to pick a career that he could come up with reasons why it might be interesting even if he had no interest.  He did so, but expressed to me that his "im not interested" answer was true so why should he have to expand further.  It got me to thinking as to why that part is even on the requirement (why not just leave it at researching the education and training needed), and why we would require a scout to answer that question differently if we are not supposed to add or subtract to the requirements.

 

My personal take is that the answer was valid, but I would have probably engaged the scout to understand why he gave that answer.  After all, it is basically asking him to give his opinion on the subject.

[Krampus]

Man, I'm not interested in MY profession...but it pays too darn well to stop now.

[CalicoPenn]

First - the answer really is "It's up to the Merit Badge Counselor to decide if it's acceptable"

 

That being said, I would not accept an explanation of why it didn't interest a Scout.  The question asked why might it interest you - not why aren't you interested.  I'm sure we can all find professions that we wouldn't be interested in - but even those professions that we aren't interested in, most of us can name at least three things that might interest us about them, even if they're a bit superficial,  If I got that answer, I'd redirect it as well to ask why were they interested in checking out the profession in the first place.  They may no longer be interested after learning about the profession, but there was something that made them initially interested in it. 

 

Stosh - by the rate of inflation - about $113/hour

 

 

A zoologist's answer to the following questions:

 

A Botanist studies "Lazily" - unlike animals, plants don't move

 so botanists can sit down all day.

 

A Botanist studies "during the day" - there are very few plants that can be called nocturnal

 

A Botanist studies "boring things called plants"

[Stosh]

First - the answer really is "It's up to the Merit Badge Counselor to decide if it's acceptable"

 

That being said, I would not accept an explanation of why it didn't interest a Scout.  The question asked why might it interest you - not why aren't you interested.  I'm sure we can all find professions that we wouldn't be interested in - but even those professions that we aren't interested in, most of us can name at least three things that might interest us about them, even if they're a bit superficial,  If I got that answer, I'd redirect it as well to ask why were they interested in checking out the profession in the first place.  They may no longer be interested after learning about the profession, but there was something that made them initially interested in it. 

 

Stosh - by the rate of inflation - about $113/hour

 

 

A zoologist's answer to the following questions:

 

A Botanist studies "Lazily" - unlike animals, plants don't move

 so botanists can sit down all day.

 

A Botanist studies "during the day" - there are very few plants that can be called nocturnal

 

A Botanist studies "boring things called plants"

 

 

  LOL!  Love it.

 

$113??? OMG, now I feel bad.  I'd have been unemployed, untrained, and probably destitute but I could always say I was making $113 back in the day when my grandkids ask.

 

That was pretty good wages for a master tire builder.  I made a car tire on average every 2 minutes for 8 hours.  And to think people were driving down the road at 70 mph on those babies!  Kinda makes one want to wear a seat belt!

[JoeBob]

For example, the lunch lady job.  

1.  Steady work.  Many of the ladies have worked in the same school for years, decades even.

2.  Impact.  When I retired from the military, I was a substitute teacher for a year.   One thing I learned right away:  for the vast majority of the kids (in the elementary school where I taught), the only balanced meals they consume are at school.   If they are fed at home, it's microwaved crap or fast food.  Some kids received food packs on Friday, no-cook finger foods they could consume at home on Saturday and Sunday because they'd go hungry otherwise.   The kids would stash the pack in their book bag and eat in secret at home over the weekend.

3.  You get holidays and summers off.

 

4- It's a job where it's okay to be fat.  Skinny cooks make people nervous about their cooking!

[qwazse]

...  So heres the deal:  scout was taking the Personal Fitness MB.  ....

Once again, we often flood the pool with too many amateurs teaching the badge. Have the boy talk to his gym instructor, athletic trainer, or sports medicine doctor/nurse/physical therapist or aid, or sports store owner and come back with a better answer.

 

@@chrisking0997, if you are any of the above, pardon the presumption. But, you get the idea. Part of the MBC role is to share your passion with the scouts and give them go-to people who can help you with that.