Best Compliment you ever got as a Scouter.

[Tampa Turtle]

The other night I over heard a compliment from a Scout. He was giving advice to a another scout who was confused about some procedure. He flicked a finger at me and said:

 

"You can ask that one. For an adult he is very talk-to-able."

 

Now sometimes I am known as a grumpy PIA Scouter but it is nice to hear the positive. Currency of the Realm.

 

This happens every once in a while and it can keep me going for a while. I know I tend to focus on program problems but things like that snap me back to the big picture. Any of you have had those experiences?

[Eagle92]

I've been around way to long, but this one just sticks out.

 

After I left my old troop and town to be a DE, one of my Scouts waited over 9 months to schedule his ECOH so that I could attend during my vacation. I was standing in a wedding and me taking off was part of my contract when I got the job 15 months earlier ( and I am glad I did too as they tried to cancel my vacation). I show up at my Scout's job the first day I am back in town, and when he sees me he jumps over the counter, screams my name in surprise, and give me a bear hug. At the ECOH a few days later, he talks about how I influenced him and gave a me a thank you gift: a replacement copy of Green Bar Bill's 9th ed. BSHB, the one I earned my Eagle with and my copy is somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico.

 

One other one that may not seem like a big deal to some, but that made me proud me. I was invited to an ECOH at one of the troops I started as a DE 5 or 6 years later when I returned to the area. It was their first Eagle.

[Tampa Turtle]

It is fun with Tigers when they scream out at the grocery store "He's my scout leader!". Now I occasionally get alumni come up to me and say "hi". Mom tells me how he always talks abiut me. Which is nice. Closest I ever got to being a rock star.

 

Boy Scouting seems more like the occasional connection. Sometimes it is a boy troubled over a girl or faith issue that they are hesitant to talk to their folks about.

 

Sometimes the issues are so innocent that they are endearing. I recall that they are still boys. Other times they are pretty serious and you realize that some guys are being shoved early into adulthood. That is sobering.

 

I have told the story here before of an older boy who thanked me for volunteering as he knew without Dads volunteering their would be no campouts. Apparently the campouts were his only refuge from a bad family life and the monthly outings had helped him keep his sanity. He also said scouting showed him how Dad's and Son's should act like--he had no idea.

 

 

[packsaddle]

When I was CM, there were quite a few single moms whose boys were in the pack. One of them was going to have to move to another state. The last time I saw them, her son, in tears, gave me a big hug. The other boys spontaneously joined in as well to say goodbye to him. It was beautiful.

All that other stuff seems less important somehow.

 

Edited to add: Tampa Turtle, you'll always be a rock star to me.(This message has been edited by packsaddle)

[LeCastor]

Sometimes I tend to get caught up in the normal, day-to-day interactions with the boys. However, one of the committee members--who is very observant--occasionally comes to me and points out something that I thought was fairly mundane. But she makes me see how that one little gesture or action changed a boy in a profound way. Just when I am on the cusp of becoming discouraged, she is able to bring me back with just a few words of encouragement like that.

[Brewmeister]

Not from a scout, but this one is my favorite:

 

"You really have your s**t together."

 

Wish I had a warm and fuzzy one for you, but that's the one that really sticks out.

[pchadbo]

From Camp Staff:

 

"We love when your Pack comes, you not only don't need us to help you with your boys, but you make sure to help the other Packs here."

I just thought we were being Scout-like, guess it stood out. Hmmm. . .says something about the other Packs. . .

[IM_Kathy]

one that stands out was a night I brought my son to the church to load up and head off for a campout... my son goes up to one of his buddies and his dad and asks if he could ride with them and I hear his buddy say "what your mom isn't coming? It's more fun when she's there." and he comes up to me and gives me a hug and is asking me to change my mind and come along.

 

I couldn't go on that one as I had a conflict with girl scouts... plus at that time I wasn't SM so I wouldn't go on every campout just so my son could go on some without a parent.

[Stosh]

A little back-handed, but I was removed from the position of SM because I was placing too much emphasis on boy-led leadership in the troop. I was called out of a training session (Green Bar Bill material) with the boys when I was released. The boys were trained in JLT, TLT, NYLT and now GBB. My 18 year old ASM had come up through the ranks and had all that training plus SM fundamentals and Wood Badge as soon as he aged out. He walked out the door with me in tears and never returned to Scouting. He now serves in the US military.

 

Stosh

 

 

[Sentinel947]

my answer is twofold.

 

My best compliment as a Scouter from another Scouter had to be during my IOLs training. Being an 18 year old, and being selected by the Trainer to be the SPL to plan the Interfaith Service was the ultimate compliment.

 

As a Scouter a compliment from the Scouts has to be that they are willing to come to be with questions, concerns or in the case of more Senior Scouts, their willingness to listen to my suggestions.

[eisely]

Probably the best compliment in scouting I ever got was from a divorced mom. She had two daughters and a son who belonged to our troop in Southern California. The mom was an established professional in her field, and they all were doing well and there was no problem in the household that I saw or ever heard about. Nevertheless she commented one time that it was important for her son to be around men since he was growing up in an all female household. I took that as a compliment since I was one of the men she had selected as an influence for her son.

[JoeBob]

"I had fun. Thanks!"

[BDPT00]

My wife is very critical. My father was a public speaker, and died before my family got into Scouting.

A big compliment for me is after a presentation or SM minute when she longingly says, "I wish your dad could have seen that."

Me too.

BDPT00

[Cambridgeskip]

When I was running cubs I had a leaders meeting at my house.

 

Part of the leader team was a 16 year old explorer scout. She came in, helped herself to half the food in my fridge, pinched my favourite hoody and put it on "'cos it looks well cosy" and fell asleep on my sofa.

 

I took that as a compliment!

[Troop185]

My troop is co-sponsor by a Catholic Church. Unless it is impossible, we never miss mass on Saturday evening, or Sunday morning. I am always happy to take them, because I almost always get comments "on how well behave your scouts are!"