Grown man in a Boy Scout uniform .....rant

[local1400]

Yeah, I'm with Stosh on GS cookies. I will still buy them but I have never had a GS knock on my door. As for 98acm, I think the 9/11 attacks WERE staged but have no opinion on moon landings as I was born in 1970, so I can't really be persuaded either way. If the leaders don't wear uniforms, then kids won't, then where are we then? A Scout is brave. Wear your uniform man.

[GernBlansten]

Ok, I can/will wear the shirt and the switch backs into a restaurant when I'm traveling with the boys, but no way are you gonna get me to wear the shorts with the dorky socks. In my council, we rarely/never see adults wearing the shorts/socks combo.

There are limits to my fashion tolerance.

 

At Philmont this year, we saw several adults doing so and had to try valiantly to keep from snickering. Sorry guys, but it really looks cartoonish. But if it works for you, all the power.

[mtm25653]

Leaders in our unit, and boys, regularly wear scout shorts and knee socks in public, including a leader and 17 yo scout who wore them flying back from Philmont to NC last week. (I'm pretty sure a couple other boys also were wearing shorts, and I think 1 other leder from the other crew as well).

 

Aren't we trying to teach boys to resist negative peer pressure, to do the right thing regardless of what others think? Then why are you so afraid to wear the uniform? Why are you succumbing to the negative peer pressure that the boy scout uniform is dorky/bad/silly/etc.?

 

[Gunny2862]

I'll wear the Switchback shorts and the socks but, no one wants to see me in the other ones. It's not always style, some times body shape doesn't work with certain cuts of clothing. Massive Rucksacking built quads don't work with De la renta style shorts...even the leg zippers on the Switchbacks could be a little less constricting.

[local1400]

If the knee length socks are a concern, they have different lengths. I have worn Thor-lo brand socks for years and am glad the BSA now has them. Yeah, 15 bucks, but these things will last you 5 years or more with proper care. Plus, there are the ankle socks which feel good and go great with my mocs.

[yes2man]

There a great many who see scouting as a threat to their agenda because scouting teaches core values and morals, and more importantly, sticks to them. Even worse, scouts learn to be self-reliant and make their own decisions, and that's the last thing anyone on the left wants. I admit it, we do look dorky in our uniforms (especially with shorts and our socks pulled up!) and in my younger days I was a critic too, but then I had sons. Now, we are all active and enjoying it, so don't pay it any mind. Instead, think about all the kids you are influencing in a very positive way, who will have memories to last a lifetime, who are learning skills they can take with them throughout their lives, not to mention the true quality time we all get to spend with our kids. Wear your uniform proudly!

[FScouter]

What is "anyone on the left"?

[Bob T]

I had picked up my son after his annual 10-day Sierra trip. He was in uniform, taking his pack out of my truck in our driveway when "the new kid" across the street (whom he had never met) shouted "Gay Scouts" at my son. My son faced him, paused, and said "I just spent the last ten days hauling this pack 60 miles across the Sierras. You want in on that action?"

[orennoah]

Yes2Man: Please keep your personal politics out of this discussion. There are lots of us "on the left" who are life-long dedicated Scouters, just as there are those "on the right" and "in the middle" and "all over the map." It's not in Scouting's best interests to be pushed or pulled in ANYONE's political corner. We'll all suffer, especially the boys. Comments like yours tend to do both.

 

Bob T: And the "new kid's" reaction was?

[Gunny2862]

Yes Bob, what did the new kid say and or do?

[Bob T]

New kid was not interested. Can't win 'em all.

[troutmaster]

Have to admit, at times I am a bit embarrassed by the uniform; but only because, at 63, it seems to fit differently than it did when I was younger. But, seriously, I have had far more positive responses than negative in over 30 years as an adult. Most recently, earlier this month, we stopped at a McDonalds in Gorman on the way to our local camp, 3-Falls. Got the usual minor complaints about wearing their shirts, but they did. During the 30 minutes we were there, no one said anything negative, and we had at least three people thanking us and telling us the yesteryear stories. This is Southern California.

 

Back in 76, I had an interesting encounter with one of the less wholesome individuals that lived in my apartment complex in Canoga Park. It was in the seedier part of town, and we had this group that sat on steps every weekend drinking, and generally being a bit obnoxious. I had a late Saturday morning meeting and came out of my door in my uniform. The gauntlet of this group was on the steps I had to decend. As I was wending my way through them, one said rather unkindly how he wished he could be a boy scout. Not sure what came over me, but I turned and looked him in the eye and said, "I bet you were never given the chance when you were a boy". He got really quiet, then said, "No, I wasn't". Then apologized and wished me well. The same thing may apply more often than we know today.

[OR Pioneer]

When I put the uniform on I requre myself to try to fill it the way Mr. Crandall (SM Troop 157 Tarzana, Calif 1957) and Bill Beebe (SM Troop 204 Multnomah Village OR 1989) looked to me. I try to stand proud and tall and "pull it in!" for them.

 

I get people telling me stories and I suspect people thinking things I'm just a gald they don't say, but we're not doing it for them. Have a look at your patrols and dens. Think about your Eagles doing life long service projects, because that's what they learned. Think about teaching the joys of self-sufficincey while also teaching the power of working in a group. Think about your own joys of sharing the parenting of millions of young men and boys with thousands of adults who share your values.

 

Think on these things and the uniform fits just fine. Even makes you look good in it.

 

Berk Moss, Newberg OR

Assistant District Commissioner, Pioneer District

Cascade Padific Council, Portland Oregon

[MarkS]

Beavah said,

 

"...Can yeh even name a single adult in the program who wasn't a scout as a youth?...

 

...I don't know of any council anywhere that has a bunch of excess enthusiastic adults around lookin' to start new units...

 

...And as for Gen-X, I count you guys as at least a dozen steps better than da Baby Boomers..."

 

Most of the more active and involved adults in my son's troop were not scouts as a youth.

 

There's at least one adult in each district who is very enthusiastic about starting new units. It's the DE. He'll start as many units as possible. Quality of the program be darned.

 

Yep, Gen-Xers are a credit to their parents.(This message has been edited by MarkS)

[MarkS]

Bob T said, "New kid was not interested. Can't win 'em all."

 

I don't have a problem with the fact that some boys aren't interested in scouting. I really don't. They don't have to be in scouts to have a productive interest. However, the new kid across the street doesn't seem to know how to make friends. Belittling a potential friends' interests does not make for a good first impression. At least your boy took the high road. You can't ask for much more than that.