{"id":2494,"date":"2019-08-13T16:39:01","date_gmt":"2019-08-13T20:39:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/?p=2494"},"modified":"2019-08-13T16:39:01","modified_gmt":"2019-08-13T20:39:01","slug":"issue-611-august-13-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/2019\/08\/issue-611-august-13-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Issue 611 \u2013 August 13, 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE LAZIEST SCOUTMASTER<\/strong><\/p>\n

Charlie, with his wife and 12 year-old son, moved in next door just two weeks ago. Charlie Junior is a Scout, and Charlie Senior\u2014who\u2019s been reading my columns off and on since his son was a Tiger\u2014asked me about a week ago if I knew anything about Scout troops in town that he might check out for Charlie Junior. You bet! I told him about three local troops, including where and when they met, and encouraged him to visit all three. Yesterday, while we were mowing our lawns side-by-side, we took a break and I asked him about his visits.<\/p>\n

\u201cYup, Andy. I visited all three. Two of them look pretty good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo out of three is pretty good, Charlie. But what was the problem with number three?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell first let me tell you about the first two\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re both a good size. Big enough so that they feel like real troops, but not so big that a new kid like my son will get lost in them. The third troop\u2019s about the same, so no problems in that area. But what a huge difference in their Scoutmasters!<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first two Scoutmasters I met\u2014one\u2019s a man and the other\u2019s a woman, by the way\u2014were really involved with the kids. They both made all the announcements at the beginning of the meeting, so all the kids would know what\u2019s coming up in the next couple of weeks. One of them even told the kids what kind of meals the other troop adults would be cooking for them. The other one stressed to the kids how the troop\u2019s \u2018transportation director\u2019\u2014cool title, huh!\u2014would be arranging for any kid who signs up for their troop campout to have an assigned seat in one of the cars.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen each of these Scoutmasters really went to work! In both troops, they divided the boys up into \u2018learning groups,\u2019 where they taught different skills, like knot-tying, lashings, how to pitch a tent, and so on\u2014all good stuff!<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the game-time in each troop meeting, they each had a whistle, that they used to start and end each game, and of course for any infractions of the rules.<\/p>\n

\u201cFinally, at the end, each one had a \u2018Scoutmaster\u2019s Minute\u2026well, not a minute, actually…<\/p>\n

“In one of the troops, the Scoutmaster told the kids about the importance of good citizenship and how, next week, there would be a class on the Citizenship in the Community badge, where they\u2019d all get \u2018partial’ credit for the requirements they completed in the class.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe other Scoutmaster had something really special\u2014it was a sort of \u2018pop quiz\u2019 on what each point of the Scout Law meant to them and what they\u2019d done in the past week to live up to that point. Boy, that really drove home the values of Scouting!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow long did that last?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, maybe twenty minutes. Maybe a bit longer\u2014I really wasn\u2019t looking at my watch, but I could see that some of the kids were getting tired of standing there at \u2018attention\u2019,\u201d Charlie told me.<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay, so that\u2019s two troops,\u201d I said. \u201cWhat about the third one?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, that one started off a little weirdly,\u201d Charlie said. \u201cIn the first place, that Scoutmaster invited me to sit down with him in the back of the room, instead of standing up in front of the troop. And when I asked him how many kids were in the troop, he told me, \u2018None\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cNone?\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s right, Andy. He said they don\u2019t have \u2018kids\u2019 in his troop; they have Scouts. I guess I\u2019m a little dense, \u2018cause I’m still not sure what he meant.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd when we sat down, I asked him why he wasn\u2019t making any announcements for the boys.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat did he tell you, Charlie?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said there’s a Scout who does that\u2014the Senior Patrol Leader. Boy, talk about passing the buck!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe same thing happened with skills instruction, Andy. When I asked him when he was gonna start teaching, he told me that he doesn\u2019t do that\u2026that there are designated Scouts who do this. Sometimes it\u2019s an Instructor if it\u2019s a specialty area. But mostly it\u2019s the Patrol Leaders who teach skills to their own patrol members.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd when I asked him about hikes and campouts, and how the troop committee and other parents help out with meals and transportation, he told me the same thing!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh?\u201d I said. \u201cWhat about meals and transportation and such? What does the Scoutmaster do?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing!\u201d Charlie said, and I could see his face starting to get red as his voice went up.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know what this guy does!\u201d Charlie continued. \u201cHe does absolutely nothing<\/em> to organize anything. He tells me that this is what the Senior Patrol Leader and the Patrol Leaders do, if you can believe that! How lazy can you get!<\/p>\n

\u201cHe also told me that everything that can be done at the patrol level is done there, and the troop committee only gets involved if things like permits or special funds for admissions or stuff like that is needed. They don\u2019t cook. They don\u2019t drive. They don\u2019t set up the room for the kids before the troop meetings. They do this other stuff, which looks like mostly paper-shuffling, and that lazy Scoutmaster allows this!<\/p>\n

\u201cHe made a big point that the patrols take care of themselves. They have their own duty rosters, they do their own menu-planning and even food-shopping, and they arrange their own transportation with their parents in terms of which Scouts\u2019 dads or moms will do the driving and which Scouts whose parent isn\u2019t driving this weekend will be picked up by what driver.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are only two troop-related items he makes certain he takes with him to all activities, he told me. He takes the medical forms for the whole troop and any adult who will be driving or hiking or staying overnight. And he takes parents\u2019 permission-to-treat forms for each Scout. He doesn’t even bring a big first aid kit like I’ve seen others do because each patrol has one, he said.<\/p>\n

Sitting down on the grass and cracking a bottle of water, which I handed to Charlie, I asked, \u201cSo what happened at the end of the meeting?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, that! Well, I\u2019ll give him one for being brief. He actually took just one minute! It was a story about \u2018sticking to the job till it\u2019s done\u2019 and he used a postage stamp on an envelope as an example. That stamp may seem insignificant, he said, but unless it sticks to its job, that envelope just doesn\u2019t get delivered, and who knows\u2014it could contain a birth announcement, or acceptance at a college or for a job, or even a court appearance, or a notice that you\u2019ve won a state lottery! So the next time you get something like that in the mail, be sure to thank that stamp for sticking to it till the job\u2019s done.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSounds like that small minute means something to you, Charlie,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I guess it does,\u201d he admitted. \u201cI guess, for teen-aged boys\u2014or girls, too, for that matter\u2014it\u2019s a pretty good message. I\u2019m gonna try to remember it for Charlie Junior.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI get the felling you\u2019ll remember it just fine,\u201d I said. \u201cC\u2019mon in the house with me for a second, Charlie. I have something you might want to read.\u201d<\/p>\n

And I gave him a copy of a short book that updated Baden-Powell\u2019s original points-of-view, with Post-It tabs on some of the pages–the ones where Charlie would find insights like\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cScouting is [an adult\u2019s] job cut down to boy- [or girl-] size.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Patrol Method\u201d isn\u2019t \u201ca\u201d way to organize Scouts. It\u2019s the only way. Without The Patrol Method, it isn\u2019t Scouting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNever do for a boy [or girl] what [they] can do for [themselves].\u201d<\/p>\n

I hope Charlie visits that third troop again, but next time with his son (in uniform!). And yes, they should both visit the other two troops again, too. Why? Simple. This is a decision for Charlie Junior\u2014and no one else!\u2014to make. After all\u2019s said and done, this is all about a Scout\u2019s life!<\/p>\n

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

Andy<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/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. 611 \u2013 8\/13\/2019 \u2013 Copyright \u00a9 Andy McCommish 2019]<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE LAZIEST SCOUTMASTER Charlie, with his wife and 12 year-old son, moved in next door just two weeks ago. Charlie Junior is a Scout, and Charlie Senior\u2014who\u2019s been reading my columns off and on since his son was a Tiger\u2014asked me about a week ago if I knew anything about Scout troops in town that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2494","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=2494"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2494\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2497,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2494\/revisions\/2497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}