From: jim.speirs@canrem.com (Jim Speirs)
To: dannys@iis.ee.ethz.ch (Danny Schwendener)
Subject: Conversations I've Almost had with Scouts


Article #R135.
==============

Conversations I've Almost had with Scouts
Colin Wallace
The Leader, May 1991


B.P. explained that the Scout motto "Be Prepared" meant that we
should be ready to deal with amy situation.  I suspect he was
applying the motto to emergency readiness or disaster recovery
techniques or, perhaps, even career development strategies.

I've tried the motto in these situations, and it works.  But, try
as I might, I'm invariably caught off guard in my conversations
with Scouts.  No matter what I expect or prepare for, they always
throw the a curve that takes me completely by surprise.  Not that
I mind surprises, but I hate it when I'm left standing there with
my mouth agape, promising myself that, next time, I'll be ready.

Like the time I invited one of our junior Scouts to close our
troop meeting with a prayer.  The troop stood in silence while
young Arif spoke softly.  He, however, was at one end of the
formation and I was at the other.  When he'd finished speaking, I
said, "Arif, I couldn't hear you over here."

"I wasn't talking to you, Skip," Arif replied.

Then there was the time when I was trying to explain the concept
of the brotherhood of Scouting to young Danny.

Skip: If you had two cars, would you give one of them to a
brother Scout?
Danny: No problem.
Skip: If you had two boats, would you give one of them to a
brother Scout?
Danny: Yeah.
Skip: If you had two houses, would you give one of them to a
brother Scout?
Danny: Sure!
Skip: If you had two dollars, would you give one of them to a
brother Scout?
Danny: No way.
Skip: How come?
Danny: I've got two dollars!

Or how about the time at camp when I asked Lee, the Cobras'
assistant patrol leader, about his fizzled out fire.


Skip: Why don't you light your fire?  
Lee: There's no firewood left.
Skip: Why didn't you get some before you ran out?
Lee: I had some before I ran out.

Some conversations are over before they begin, like the time I
checked out the Mohawks, who were setting off on a patrol weekend
camp.  Instead of having each Scout pay a sum and the patrol
go shopping for groceries together, they each were to bring
specific food items.  I was more than a little surprised when
Jayesh showed up with a huge 3 kg slab of cheddar cheese for only
five Mohawks!

Jayesh saw my amazement and, before I could say a thing, said,
"You told me to bring it!"

I'm long past the stage of worrying about being blamed for
whatever goes wrong in the troop.  It goes with the job, I
suppose.  But I still worry--needlessly I know--that when I'm
blamed, I can never think of a response that at least reduces my
culpability.  At our last camp, for example, when I made a
comment to Michael about the taste of the water he'd disinfected
with bleach, it went something like this.

Skip: How much bleach did you put in the 10 L jug?
Mike: About a capful, like you said, Skip.
Skip: What do you mean about a capful?  
Mike: Well, I didn't want to put bleach in my cap, but I figured
about half a bottle of bleach would fill my cap, so that's what I
poured in the water jug.

And then there was the kit inspection I held just before we left
for home after a weekend camp.  Jason and the uniform he wore
were the worse for wear, but the contents of his backpack were
remarkably neat.  So neat, that I remarked on it.

"What's your secret?" I asked.

Jason was quick to explain: "It's easy, Skip.  I never unpacked
it."

I remember only one occasion when I rallied quickly in a Scout-
Skip conversation, and I'm not proud of it.  A Scout who'd made
himself an early morning cup of tea came to my tent and woke me
to ask what he should do with his used teabag.

Under other circumstances and at other times, I would have seized
on this teachable moment to expand on the merits of resource
management.  But that particular camp had been sorely trying for
a variety of reasons which do not bear recital here.  And gruff,
cranky Skip told sweet, innocent Scout exactly where to put the
soggy teabag.

There were no more Scout-Skip conversations for hours after that
one!
    
Scouter Colin Wallace is ARC Training, Greater Toronto Region,
Ont.