Am I missing something here?

[Scoutfish]

Having had an hour or two for something to roll around in my head, I have to wonder if I I am missing something here?

 

And it's not just any one thing in particular, but an overall consensus of what scouter post:

 

It seems that alot of us don't like the way council or BSA does trhis or that, we think they have no clue, and maybe they are just out of touch.......

 

Yet it seems to be that we ( who think we are doing everything right) might just have biggers issues.

 

For example - but not in any partricular order:

 

We think it's too rude to say something to a healthy person who abuses handicapped parking spots, but yet, we will give a scout the 3rd degree for not wearing 100% of his uniform right down to wether a patch is 1/4" our of spec.

 

WE argue that if scout doesn't meet every single requirement for rank to a degree that NASA scientists could put a micrometer on - that the scouts is a slacker and should fail...yet we ignore rule or regulations if we don't like them.

 

WE expect scouts ( who are under the age of legal adulthood) to act like adults with 20 years of adulthood experience, but then we argue and start name calling and insulting if somebody doesn't agree with us over the worth of a particular idea.

 

We expect scouts to follow the scout law and ideals...especially being hoest and trustworthy, yet we decide on a daily or weekly basis if we want to bother follwing protocal.

 

 

WE expect scouts to follow through and accept their actions( voting for PL or whatnot) then turn around and post left and right why we were justified in lying about what we did, why we did it and who is actually in charge.

 

Look, It's not everybody doing it, and it's not every day, but come on....let's stop and look back at ourselves and compare us to them:

 

WE fuss about National and BSDA screwing things up, but taking a minute to look deeper...maybe it's just us not doing alot of what we should be.

 

Maybe we are just skewered about what really counts and what doesn't/

 

WE think it's okat to lie about somebody and slander them because we don't like them politically, yet we will try to suspend a Tiger Cub for not saying the Cub Scout Law correctly.

 

 

Just venting!

[packsaddle]

WARNING!!! In case anyone has ever wondered, I now have convincing evidence that Scoutfish is, in fact, an alien from outer space. I offer in evidence this quote from a historical document called, 'Alien Nation', made by an actual alien among us, Detective Samuel 'George' Francisco:

 

"You humans are very curious to us. You invite us to live among you in an atmosphere of equality that we've never known before. You give us ownership of our own lives for the first time and you ask no more of us than you do of yourselves. I hope you understand how special your world is, how unique a people you humans are. Which is why it is all the more painful and confusing to us that so few of you seem capable of living up to the ideals you set for yourselves."

 

I believe it is not 'just' a coincidence that Scoutfish has made an almost identical observation. Of course I could be wrong. Perhaps we ('you humans' to you, Scoutfish;)) just don't like being told what to do...you know, that 'local option' thing again.

[Venividi]

Wow, Scoutfish. I hope that you are trying to be sarcastic, because I have never seen anyone hold scouts to the levels that you are describing (or even expect it). More often I see the opposite - scouts that dont know first aid skills. Scouts that get two merit badges in a day by sitting in a merit badge university.

Caring adults are mentors that help scouts to achieve more than otherwise would have on their own. To encourage them to do just that little bit more. To advise them to strive for their best, rather than to accept mediocrity.

 

I like the quote from Robert Browning: Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?

[Scoutfish]

Pack: SHHHHHHH! Are you trying to blow my cover?

 

Oh , by the way, would you happen to have a spare Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator by any chance? I can't see Venus!

[Scoutfish]

Venividi, I say 1 out of every 20 adults acts this way over 50 % of the stuff.

 

[packsaddle]

Oops...sorry 'bout that - I guess the cat's out of the bag now. (also, sorry, loaned out my last one a while back to Trevorum)

 

Another perspective on this might help. If as good as we all have it in reality, we nevertheless grouse and complain like we do now, just think about the whining and complaints if suddenly living conditions became similar to Darfur or something.

 

Seriously, Scoutfish, whenever I have tried to ponder why people do the things people do, I find it helpful to visit and spend some time in the primate building at a good zoo to remind myself that basically, we are monkeys. It helps. Really.

[pchadbo]

As a fan of the late great George Carlin, someone who works with the public all day long and part-time cynic, I have always enjooed his theory on the public at-large:

 

 

Think about and get a good picture in your mind of how smart the "average American" is . . .when you have that picture clear in your mind, realize that by definition:

 

 

Half the population is dumber than that

 

just a bit of perspective when dealing with this type of issue

[Basementdweller]

We come from the 4 corners of the country and every possible culture and economic bracket.

 

What is acceptable and the norm is different for all of us.

 

I am not the moral or ethic police, I can live my life to the fullest and try to set the example for my scouts by making the right choices.

 

You are correct that people all have hot buttons

 

Some on the board view their role in scouting as protectors of the vaunted Eagle.

 

Me, I just want the guys to have fun and if they learn something a long the way then great.

[OldGreyEagle]

"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it. Fifteen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll know tomorrow."

 

Kay

 

Typically the worst reactions occur when the Change monster comes about. Most people don't mind change when it doesnt effect them, but effect them and they panic. Because if you change how they have lived, or done their job that must mean they have been doing it wrong all this time and if they have been doing things wrong, well then, they just aren't as good as they think they are and if they arent as good as they think they are then somebody has to be wrong and its the people responsible for the change

[Eamonn]

"Am I missing something here?"

 

Scoutfish,

I think a big part of it is because you are "Here".

Other than the odd twit. Most Scouter's are people who do what they do, because they enjoy kids and enjoy Scouting.

 

Some years back there was a Forum Member who really did know his stuff. He came off seeming like a real book thumper and was very argumentative.

He was around for a good number of years and it seemed like he was always at it with someone.

He quoted from every book that was ever written on BSA policy.

I keep most of my books and Scouting material in book cases and file cabinets down in an empty bay of the garage.

I wore myself out running up and down the stairs checking to see if what he posted was on the up and up.

He never failed me.

Still at times it wasn't so much what he said it was more about the way he said it.

I finally met up with this fellow at the 2005 Jamboree.

He is a super nice guy and we got on like a house on fire.

 

I feel sure if you were to meet the people who come off sounding stern and harsh that you would find that they really are OK and don't very often eat small children for breakfast.

Ea

 

 

[packsaddle]

Not too long after my wife and I moved into the gingerbread house, we resolved always to keep them in cages and fatten them up before we eat them...yum! Hansel was good but Gretel was just deeelicious!

 

But about that "we got on like a house on fire" euphemism: Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

[Oak Tree]

Let me give a big round of support for Eamonn.

 

This forum is the only place many of these arguments happen. Sometimes I wish people here could get along as well as Scouters do in all of the in-person get-togethers I've ever been a part of. But other times I can think that this is just what the forum is - a place for lively debate.

 

And really, it's pretty good here now.

 

Back when I first starting reading the forum, the poster that Eamonn refers to, who shall not be named, was just awful. There were a significant number of posters who stopped participating just because of him. He got himself suspended from the forum. At times I thought he was a troll or a parody of what a hard-line book-thumper would say. At yet Eamonn met him in person and reported him to be a very nice guy.

 

I do think there are a few times when people could be a bit nicer to new posters. Nobody wants to post how they're doing things just to have others tear them down. That is one thing I do find about the forum - it's much harder to share any ideas about how your unit varies from the BSA policy, whereas in small in-person groups in classes or whatever, those conversations go on all the time.

 

It's just a bunch of bits on a computer screen. Go ahead and vent, get it out of your system. I've actually never met anyone from the forum in real life - I think things might be better if we did know each other. (Well, technically there was one poster that I could identify in real life, but I knew him in person before he posted.)

 

(Oh, and P.S., I think you may have exaggerated just a wee bit in making your point... :-)

 

And don't mind Packsaddle - it takes awhile to fatten them up, so he doesn't get to feast all that often.

[desertrat77]

Lots of wisdom in the posts above.

 

I did alot of reading at scouter.com before I posted regularly.

 

There will be times here when things get heated, people stray from the original topic, we re-hash the same things over and over again, tilt at windmills, etc.....

 

I think that's okay. That's the wonderful thing about scouter.com.

 

I too remember the unnamed forum member who was, shall we say, a bit "spirited" in his discussions, and loved to quote chapter/verse. Yet it does not surprise me in the least that he is a decent fellow.

 

If it will help someone in "real" life, as opposed to this virtual one, to take me to task for a position I take on any given topic, I see that as a good thing...it may help us both in the long run.

[Monkey Tamer]

"Seriously, Scoutfish, whenever I have tried to ponder why people do the things people do, I find it helpful to visit and spend some time in the primate building at a good zoo to remind myself that basically, we are monkeys. It helps. Really."

 

This looks like my cue!

 

Yes. They (and we) ARE monkeys. parents and boys alike. and If you've been to said primate house, you'll notice that sometimes they throw..., well, stuff. So what to do? I guess you could stay out of the monkey house. OR, you just learn to try and avoid the flying "stuff" and go about your buisness. I think that those of us In scouting have chosen the latter.

 

I've read the posts for a long time. And have held my present position for longer than is probably sane. You know, I think there are two basic types of participant here. The fledgling scouter who is earnestly trying to learn their craft and improve what/how they do, and the grisled veteran who is pretty sure of himself.

 

Often, somebody asks for advice or relates a situation and they are greatly helped by the replies. Sometimes it sets off a firestorm of debate. Those cases still help the newby because they get to see differing approaches to common problems. Sometimes, those debates change the minds of the veterans, or at least make us check our facts, which is a good thing too.

 

I figure anybody getting hacked off or being overbearing is just another monkey flinging something I don't want to get on me.

 

My $.02

 

[packsaddle]

Since I'm the one who summoned this demon I'll add that I just loooove the moniker!