No Lunch or Dinner on campout?

[noname]

Breakfast, ceral and pop tarts, Scouts did not have lunch after 'somebody' forgot to bring hot dogs & buns. O well. Town is less than a mile away but no one would go. Poor planning was the excuse given by SM. So Dinner was a fish fry where freinds and families are invited with a price. No french fries for the scouts, the SM didnt want to get more poatoes. Only the paying public could have the fries. Do I complain, bite my tongue or just say let them eat cake!!!

[Basementdweller]

I vote lesson for the boys.

 

It isn't a matter of biting your tongue. I would hope the boys that were unhappy with the food would speak up at the next grub planning session and I hope they rib the grub master who forgot lunch.

 

 

 

[DLChris71]

So the only thing they had planned for lunch was hot dogs and buns? No chips, fruit, vegetables? And the SM didn't let the scouts have fries because he didn't want to get more potatoes. Well that sounds like mashed turnips all around.

[Engineer61]

I vote find a new troop. Sounds like the SM's a {oouch!...bit my tongue}.

[Stosh]

Is this troop transitioning from adult-led to boy-led? If that is the case, then the boy's better get on task pretty quick.

 

If it is an adult-led troop, it's time for the boys to take over and run their own show.

 

It it is a boy-led troop, then it's a lesson they needed to learn the hard way. Next time they need to select leadership that actually takes responsibility for the job needed to be done.

 

PL's need to step up and take care of their boys! That's servant leadership. If they don't, then it's time to get a new PL who will. They wear that POR for a reason and that reason isn't for prestige, it's to indicate a position in the troop that has responsibilities that need to be met to validate advancement. I for one wouldn't follow a "leader" that doesn't lead anywhere. And I'm going to seriously question the validity of any scout's idea that poptarts and hot dogs have anything to do with a nutritious meal. How did they get through T-FC with that idea? I don't see that anywhere in the advancement requirements that a scout should have to put up with that.

 

Stosh

 

 

[SeattlePioneer]

I recall a classic rowboat outing in Washington State's San Juan Islands when I was Scoutmaster thirty years ago.

 

This was about the third day of the trip, and boys woke up being pretty fatigued, too tired and hungry to make breakfast for themselves.

 

Of course they "weren't hungry."

 

One Patrol Leader had enough gumption to have made a small fire and was roasting a pathetic hot dog on a stick for himself.

 

 

I figured it was time to kick a little ***!

 

I tossed the hot dog in the fire and told the Patrol leaders that I could guarantee them that their Patrol Members would be hungry when breakfast was ready, and their job was to get breakfast organized and cooking.

 

They did, and needless to say everyone perked up after they had some breakfast. I seem to recall we had a jellyfish catching contest from the twelve foot aluminum rowboats we had a few hours later.

[Eamonn]

I like food, I love to eat.

But Breakfast?

As a rule other than just coffee I don't eat breakfast.

When our son was younger he might woof down a bowl of cereal, but that was about it.

While I of course understand that being at camp might mean for some that they are more active than maybe they are at home. But for most kids the big breakfast doesn't happen at home

Ea.

[qwazse]

These are the type of decisions that need to be balanced with the calorie needs of the adventure.

 

A mile away from home without strenuous activity = lesson via tough love.

 

A high adventure where carb+protien-loading could make the difference in completing that last strenuous mile = cruel and unusual.

[Beavah]

Yah, noname, no modern American lad will be aught but mildly uncomfortable by skippin' a meal or two. Just uncomfortable enough to perhaps learn a good lesson about responsibility.

 

Bite you tongue.

 

If town was really only a mile away, that's just a short walk for the boys. Nobody needs to "go" except them. If they had wanted it enough, they would have made a route plan, grabbed their day packs and gotten it done.

 

B

 

[KC9DDI]

I like Beavah's suggestion: a grocery store within walking distance? Then it's time for a hike!

 

Now, in the event where the kids do in fact need raw caloric intake - in my troop anyway the trailer is usually stocked with some amount of non-perishable goods that are available to patrols on an "as-needed" basis. So, at the very least, cornbread mix or a can of soup or two could be provided, if absolutely necessary.

 

But it sounds like just one meal was missed (lunch). It sounds like dinner was provided, sans french fries (which doesn't seem like a huge problem, really...) I'd say it's a good learning opportunity.

[Venividi]

Reminds me of a similar situation a month after my son joined a troop. A patrol of 3rd year scouts forgot to buy their food (the grubmaster forgot, PL didn't follow up to check on duty roster assignments, rest of patrol didn't think about it). Shortly after breakfast on Saturday morning, after missing cracker barrel and breakfast, the patrol approached the SM, and they arrived at a solution. An ASM took two scouts in to town for grocery shopping.

 

You would think "lesson learned", boys were a hungry for a while, but fessed up to their problem and solved it.

However, at the next committee meeting, parents of those patrol members came to the meeting, and led by one vocal Mom, DEMANDED to know what the SM was going to do to GUARANTEE that no grubmaster ever forgot to purchase food again. She was going to send food with her son from now on, because he was hungry. SM explained patrol method, etc, and that was the PL's job, and he could not guarantee they that would never make similar mistakes in the future.

 

This became troop lore for multiple years. It isn't where everything goes right that scouts remember, it is when they mess up and recover that will make the most remembered moments of a scout's campouts.

 

I say kudo's to the SM. He explained it correctly - it was poor planning by the scouts. And I believe he/she made the correct call in not running out for more potatoes. The best lessons are learned through experience, and the scouts will not likely to forget to check with each other that they have food before heading out on future campouts.

[Stosh]

Nobody can starve to death in 2 days. Yes, it would be uncomfortable, but fessing up to stupidity and having the SM run them to the store isn't solving the problem.

 

Cub Scouts may Do Your Best, but by the time you get to 3rd year scouts Be Prepared should be the norm.

 

If the SM is the one taking care of the patrol, then the real leader is the SM. Time for a patrol election with an emphasis on electing someone who cares about his buddies.

 

Stosh

[Scoutfish]

So let me make sure I understand this correctly:

 

The boys could have went to town, but just didn't want to . The SM didn't stop them from going, they just decided that for themselves.

 

At dinner, the SM just didn't let them have french fries - he didn't prevent them from eating any fish, other sides ( if any) of having bevcerages.

 

So the "no dinner" part of no lunch or didnner is really just " no fries" with dinner.

 

Man! I suprised somebody didn't call child welfare, Geraldo and the National Guard!

 

 

Just kidding with ya.

 

I'd say bite your tounge. There was no harm, no danger and the SM wasn't the one who decided not to go to town. He also didn't tell them no dinner either.

 

He sounds like a SM I'd like to serve with: Let the boys make their own mistakes, let them learn from them, as long as the mistake doesn't involve harm or death.

 

These boys were not hungry. Not by a long shot. Yeah, they wanted food, but were not hungry. A hungry person will go get something to eat. He will find something to eat, He will make an effort.

 

In this case, lazy outpowered hungry.(This message has been edited by scoutfish)

[dg98adams]

Better Scouts than mean have coined:

 

hunger = best teacher

rainy weather, no raincoat = you get wet

solving your own problems = life lesson

 

I would be surprised if this incident doesn't come back as a reason to plan for the Scouts involved.

[T2Eagle]

"Somebody" not "one of the boys" forgot to bring lunch, and "Dinner was a fish fry where freinds and families are invited with a price. No french fries for the scouts, the SM didnt want to get more poatoes" doesn't sound like the scouts had much to do with the planning. Should you complain? You certainly could ask some questions about the processes, including "why not let the scouts hike a mile into town to get some grub". I'll predict the answer to that was there was a schedule or agenda (adult planned) that HAD to be met.