{"id":1287,"date":"2012-06-24T16:12:55","date_gmt":"2012-06-24T20:12:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/?p=1287"},"modified":"2012-06-24T16:12:55","modified_gmt":"2012-06-24T20:12:55","slug":"issue-317-june-24-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/2012\/06\/issue-317-june-24-2012\/","title":{"rendered":"Issue 317 \u2013 June 24, 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"

DOING A GOOD TURN\u2026 OR WORKING FOR PAY?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In addition to Scouting, I\u2019m also a Rotarian; been a member of our local Rotary Club for a half-dozen or so years. Our club\u2019s regularly on the lookout for ways we can help our community. Yesterday, I reached out to a local businessman who has organized a major event in town\u2014an annual 5k race-walk that supports a wide range of causes in town\u2014to ask if he could use some help at the event. He was delighted at the idea of our club members showing up to help, and then\u2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cSay, doesn\u2019t your Rotary Club sponsor a couple of Boy Scout troops, too?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, we do,\u201d I confirmed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve wanted to get the Boy Scouts involved in this event for some years. They could help check in runners and walkers, pass out water along the route, and help in other ways, too!\u201d he speculated. \u201cIt would be great to have them there, and it would be great publicity for them!\u201d<\/p>\n

I agreed. \u201cIt sure would, and for something like this they can show up in uniform for some great photo ops!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we can pay them,\u201d he added. \u201cThey could use this as a way to earn money for their troops. We can set aside a portion of the funds we raise and give credits to all Scouts who show up and help!\u201d<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s where the conversation sort of went sideways. \u201cLet\u2019s think about that a bit,\u201d I ventured. \u201cMany of us Rotarians were Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, and the idea of helping others and giving to our community comes from that background. As Rotarians, we\u2019re coming out with no expectations of reward; we\u2019d be there to help. So why would Scouts get paid? Why would we want to invite them to work for pay when everyone else there is a volunteer, helping out for the sole reason of making a positive difference in our community?\u201d<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s the rub.<\/p>\n

Too often, I think, we tell Scouts, \u201cShow up and get paid.\u201d Or, \u201cShow up and earn service hour credit.\u201d Or even, \u201cComplete your project and earn your Eagle rank.\u201d
\nNone of those embodies \u201cHelping other people at all times.\u201d None is \u201cHelpful,\u201d \u201cFriendly,\u201d \u201cKind,\u201d or even \u201cCheerful.\u201d They\u2019re all in the category of teaching our young people how to work for pay.<\/p>\n

Now working for pay is a fine thing; it\u2019s how most all of us have pursued careers and life-work, supported ourselves and our families. But how many Rotarians, or Lions, or Kiwanians, or others\u2014all willing to roll up our sleeves and get dirt under our fingernails with no thought of reward\u2014would there be if all we\u2019d ever been taught in our formative years was how to \u201cwork for pay\u201d?<\/p>\n

Maybe it\u2019s time we stop teaching this. Maybe we need to spend more of our energies imbuing the ethic of helping simply because it\u2019s the right thing to do.<\/p>\n

The next time your troop decides to tackle a service project for your community, your sponsor, or beyond, consider simply telling your Scouts, \u201cLet\u2019s show up and help out because THIS IS WHAT SCOUTS DO.\u201d<\/p>\n

Happy Scouting!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Andy<\/strong><\/em>
\n <\/strong><\/p>\n

Have a question? Facing a dilemma? Wondering where to find a BSA policy or guideline? Write to askandybsa@yahoo.com. Please include your name and council. (If you\u2019d prefer to be anonymous, if published, let me know and that\u2019s what we\u2019ll do.)<\/strong><\/p>\n

[No. 317 \u2013 6\/24\/2012 \u2013 Copyright \u00a9 Andy McCommish 2012]<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DOING A GOOD TURN\u2026 OR WORKING FOR PAY? In addition to Scouting, I\u2019m also a Rotarian; been a member of our local Rotary Club for a half-dozen or so years. Our club\u2019s regularly on the lookout for ways we can help our community. Yesterday, I reached out to a local businessman who has organized a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-18"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1287"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1292,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1287\/revisions\/1292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}