{"id":2725,"date":"2021-02-23T16:55:35","date_gmt":"2021-02-23T21:55:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/?p=2725"},"modified":"2021-02-23T16:55:37","modified_gmt":"2021-02-23T21:55:37","slug":"february-16-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/2021\/02\/february-16-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"FEBRUARY 16, 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

[ISSUE 667 \u2013 20TH YEAR OF HELPING SCOUTS, SCOUTERS, & PARENTS]<\/strong><\/p>\n

Last week and the week before, I handled some letters about uniforms and flag details. Turns out we have a couple more points to cover, so here we go\u2014<\/em><\/p>\n

Hi Andy,<\/strong><\/p>\n

A “uniform” might even be uniform. But as it is, there\u2019s actually no uniformity and there\u2019s a wide price range among BSA-branded garments. Look at male youth Scout pants\u2014they range from $20 to $45, and today\u2019s teens know who\u2019s in the cheapest version and who\u2019s wearing the most expensive. Wy different price-points? Simple: \u201cchoice drives sales,\u201d and revenue is a primary goal here.<\/strong>
\nThis is why I stopped leading training sessions on \u201cThe Uniform\u2014A Scouting Method.\u201d I found that almost nothing I was saying was saying was true. (Tom Linton)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thanks for pointing this out! So I did some checking at scoutshop.org, and here’s what I found for the Scouts BSA program:<\/p>\n

– Boys’ short-sleeve (the most common) shirts\u2014 There are SIX different styles or fabrics, ranging from $21 to $45. (To me, who grew up and was an adult volunteer in the era of one Scout\u2014one shirt, this borders on silliness.)<\/p>\n

– Girls\u2019 short-sleeve shirt\u2014 Just one, for $35. (Why not a $21 shirt, like the least expensive boys\u2019?)<\/p>\n

– Boys\u2019 long pants\u2014 $35 and $45.<\/p>\n

– Girls\u2019 long (actually half-calf-length [no, I don\u2019t mean from Starbucks], popular in the 50\u2019s\u201360\u2019s, kinda \u201cclam-diggers” style) pants\u2014 $45. (Again, seems pricey to me!)<\/p>\n

Girls\u2019 shorts\u2014 $20. (This makes sense!)<\/p>\n

Knee Socks (w\/red tops)\u2014 $17 (again, top-dollar for a pair o’ socks but, paired with shorts, still the least expensive way to go, compared to pants!)<\/p>\n

Of course, the craziest thing is the variety of Scout shirts for males\u2014pretty much throws \u201cuniform-in-appearance\u201d out the window. So yes, your point is very well taken, and I’m not sure why there’s so much variety and such a big price differential in some of these garments. (In my teens and early 20\u2019s, I ran a “Scout Trading Post” inside a large, prestigious men’s and boys’ clothing store in the Northeast. At the time, there were two shirts for Scouts: long- and short-sleeve, and that was that. And there was just one type of pants and one type of shorts. Simple and economical–the object then was to provide a practical, inexpensive uniform…period!)<\/p>\n

Today, whether teens today pay attention to different uniform parts and their prices, I’m not so sure. But I still get your point.<\/p>\n

Hi Andy,<\/strong><\/p>\n

About flag details and uniforms, I’ve always felt that it’s the American flag and that any ol’ American can honor their flag. While we like to teach good uniforming, \u201cAmerican\u201d is more a value and a state of being. We should teach respect for the flag and what it means, regardless of what we’re wearing. The uniform standard tells Scouts that they don’t qualify to honor their nation\u2019s flag by being part of the ceremony if they aren’t in uniform. (Dave Klein)<\/strong><\/p>\n

I absolutely agree with you about honoring our flag. So does our American “Flag Code”\u2014 We salute whether we’re in uniform or not; it’s simply a question of which salute we employ. But we always salute.<\/p>\n

As for flag details (which is what Scouts are\u2014they’re not “color guards” because they carry neither saber nor rifle), the concept is “uniform” meaning “alike” in appearance. This is because where there’s a flag detail there’s usually an audience, and this is, in part, a “performance” for that audience. Consequently, a sense of decorum is certainly appropriate. And\u2014importantly\u2014it’s not meant to embarrass anyone, because the ideal is that all youth and adult members of the Scouting unit are dressed the same anyway\u2014thus, they are ALWAYS part of the ceremony, as are their parents and all others in attendance. Thanks so much for writing\u2014and thanks for all you do for Scouting and our youth!
\n==========
\nHi Andy,<\/strong><\/p>\n

I continue to enjoy your columns, especially the stumpers you address. Here\u2019s one that\u2019s not really a stumper, but bears a look-see\u2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

For the Collections merit badge, are Scout\/BSA tchotchke collections permitted? Also, if you\u2019ve been given various pins, patches, and other stuff that sort of becomes a collection all by itself, can you count this, or do you have to do your own collecting? Thanks! (Mitch Erickson, Patriots\u2019 Path Council, NJ)<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Collections” MB is interesting… It doesn’t demand that you acquire your collection while working toward completing this merit badge; in fact, its requirements assume that you’ve already done this part! Instead, this is all about doing much more than just the collecting. It’s about describing its history and how you got started, how to preserve and display it, how to calculate its value, and so on. In fact, what the merit badge is actually doing is “connecting” you more intimately with whatever it is you’ve been collecting and encouraging you to continue. So whether it’s Scouting patches and memorabilia, or snake skins, or dried buffalo chips, you’ll have a much closer relationship with your collection when you’ve completed this merit badge, because you’ll be so much more knowledgeable about it!
\n==========
\nHi Andy,<\/strong><\/p>\n

In this Covid environment, my son\u2019s troop still goes hiking and occasionally overnight camping on weekends (we don\u2019t have \u201cbuddies\u201d in tents anymore, so we usually take just one or two patrols overnight, so as to not have to buy a raft of new tents).<\/strong><\/p>\n

The trailheads are often an hour to two hours\u2019 drive away from our home town because we try to find places that don\u2019t get a ton of hikers or campers\u2014this helps keep our Scouts safe. Usually, a pretty good-sized bunch of parents do the driving (we do our level best to \u201ckeep our distance\u201d and keep our face masks on while driving to and from the trailheads), but we\u2019re running low on parents, especially now that gas prices are starting to climb. Plus, a lot of them aren\u2019t really all that interested in camping on the ground and doing \u201ctrail-cooking.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

We do reimburse all drivers for gas, from our troop treasury, but this is depleting our reserves pretty fast. Our Scoutmaster suggested that, while we know this is \u201cfor the Scouts,\u201d maybe we should have a rule for overnights that the patrols should be Courteous and Kind and “Do A Good Turn” by cooking the meals for the adults who did the driving. After all, he pointed out to our committee, the benefit to having so many drivers is that the boys can get to know our assistant Scoutmasters, troop merit badge counselors, and committee members\u2014plus the parents of their troop friends\u2014better. He thinks this isn\u2019t too much to ask, since these parents are giving up their weekends!<\/strong><\/p>\n

On the surface, it all seems sort of okay, but my Patrol Leader son says his Scouts don\u2019t really want to have to cook and also have to clean up after maybe four to five adults in addition to their patrol of six. I tried to explain the concept of \u201cquid quo pro,\u201d but he didn\u2019t buy it\u2014\u201cWe\u2019re Scouts, we\u2019re not a mess crew,\u201d he finally said, and I can\u2019t say I completely disagree. What are your thoughts on what we should advise our Scoutmaster? Thanks. (Lynn Guinne, MC, Florida Panhandle Council)<\/strong><\/p>\n

So I\u2019m taking this to mean that the adult drivers will get free gas, plus free food, free cooking, and no clean-up, all on the backs of their own sons. I\u2019m actually surprised that pitching and packing up the adults\u2019 tents isn\u2019t on the list, too.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with how the BSA describes “Associations With Adults.” Here’s what the Scouting.org website says: “Boys learn a great deal by watching how adults conduct themselves. Scout leaders can be positive role models for the members of the troop. In many cases a Scoutmaster who is willing to listen to boys, encourage them, and take a sincere interest in them can make a profound difference in their lives.”<\/p>\n

Notice that this is all about the Scoutmaster (and it’s a short step to ASMs as well). It’s not about committee members or “troop only” merit badge counselors. Committee members don’t very much interact with Scouts except at boards of review and perhaps marginally in other ways, but committee members receive no training in youth-specific relations and they’re not intended to be “role models” (that’s the Scoutmaster’s province).<\/p>\n

Those two points of the Scout Law are next. “Courteous” means polite. It includes saying thanks; it doesn’t extend to meal prep. “Kind” refers to those in need of help or who are less fortunate than ourselves and is a variation on the Golden Rule; it doesn’t include cooking or cleaning up for adults who should be able to take care of themselves.<\/p>\n

The Scout Slogan is indeed \u201cDo A Good Turn Daily,\u201d but that hardly includes \u201cpay back with your own sweat\u201d when you\u2019re supposed to be learning how to become an adult yourself. Distort this into a \u201cquid pro quo\u201d\u2014”I did this for you, so you owe me\u201d\u2014at your peril.<\/p>\n

So find another way to do get your drivers. How about two pools: One is a pool of \u201cget \u2018em there\u201d drivers and the other is \u201cbring \u2018em back.\u201d Yes, it may take two to four hours\u2014one time\u2014to do this, but that may be better than an entire weekend for those who want to keep their golf foursome intact. But so what? These are their own sons, for goodness sakes! And, as for gas, how about a Covid-safe troop fund-raiser if you want to keep reimbursing drivers. The other way is to observe that in 180 minutes (I took the midpoint) out and back you\u2019ll drive about 150-160 miles and at 20 MPG and average gas price at $3 a gallon (I\u2019m figuring premium), the cost is about $23. So ask yourself, are your son and his Scout friends worth less than two burgers at Chili\u2019s?<\/p>\n

Stay safe, stay healthy, and stay positive!<\/em><\/strong><\/span>
\nHappy Scouting!<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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

I personally answer every message I receive. There\u2019s no \u201cwriting staff\u201d\u2014just me. When writing, please include your name & council. If you\u2019d rather be anonymous\u2014if published\u2014just tell me and I\u2019ll honor that. Although these columns are copyrighted, you have my okay to quote or reproduce any column or part, so long as it\u2019s attributed: \u201cAsk Andy\u201d by Andy McCommish.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

[No. 667\u2013 2\/23\/2021 \u2013 Copyright \u00a9 2021 Andy McCommish]<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[ISSUE 667 \u2013 20TH YEAR OF HELPING SCOUTS, SCOUTERS, & PARENTS] Last week and the week before, I handled some letters about uniforms and flag details. Turns out we have a couple more points to cover, so here we go\u2014 Hi Andy, A “uniform” might even be uniform. But as it is, there\u2019s actually no […]<\/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-2725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2725","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=2725"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2725\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2729,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2725\/revisions\/2729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/netcommissioner.com\/askandy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}