Stripped Shirts
Deirdre LaRock (butterbuns@EARTHLINK.COM)
Sat, 4 Jan 1997 01:42:06 -0500
Well, I missed the beginning of this thread, so I hope I don't jump on any
toes.
Stripped shirts are not something that is just a scouting event. The army
does it, too. They don't do it for all the army schools, but it is
something that is done for Ranger Training. (One of the toughest army
schools around.) The reason I've been told is to level the playing field,
and to build a sense of team loyalty. In Ranger School, everyone has the
same rank...none. Everyone has the same history, awards, etc...none.
Doesn't mean you don't realize soon who has been doing it longer, etc. But,
you have to rely on your partner and teammates to get you through. You
can't let rank and awards get in the way of survival.
More to the point, if stripped shirts are the rule...we should follow it.
If you want to know your teammates history, ask them. If you want to know
how many years, etc, ask. If you are proud of your many awards, good for
you. We all know how hard you had to work to get them. But, that is not
why you are at WoodBadge. You are at WoodBadge to learn something. And,
wearing stripped shirts is part of the experience. If you are a person with
a lot of awards, and a lot of experience, the rest of us will figure it out.
And, we'll come to rely on you for help and advice. Many times, people with
few or no badges can get intimidated by people with a shirtful. It is nice
for us all to start out with clean shirts and become friends. As to whether
or not buying another one or two shirts just for the course is a financial
burden...that's another story. I figure every part of scouting is going to
cost me money, that way I'm never shocked. Sometimes pleasantly surprised,
but usually prepared when the bill comes my way.
As to whether people with lots of badges, ranks, experience, titles etc.
have big egos, I don't necessarily see that connection. Sure, some of us
have long tag lines. And, some of us always sign our WB critter. I don't
consider that an ego problem. I consider the person with many different
addresses to be busy, and just wants to make it easier for us to find
him/her. The one who signs his WB critter is just friendly, and looking for
new friends. The one who lists every position is looking for new ideas from
other people who might hold a similar position. I hardly ever sign anything
(not even my name), does that make me anti-social? Gee, I hope not. I'm
just very busy, anyone who knows me well will tell you that. No, I don't
hold a paid position, but I sure am difficult to find.
So, this is just plain ole Dee signing off, still trying to recuperate from
her vacation.
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City |
