BPwannabe@137

"why we fold the flag into a triange" I had to read that at least three times to see my error. Darn it. It has been corrected wherever I found the phraise. (This message has been edited by a staff member.)

I could sit here and fire back some cute answer. Or go to my book shelf and pull down text books and quote names. Its like being back in criminology 400 and argueing why people commit crime. No right or wrong answers. Opinions are like A..H...s We all have one. Enough. My fingers hurt from typing. I say uncle. Oh and buy the way, I do count librian and historian as postion of responcibility.

Bob White, Bob, may I call you Bob, or is it Mr. White?? Judging from one of the posts, I think this might be getting old. I would be happy to discuss this with you further as I think this makes for interesting conversation. I think the rest of the forum is tired of it. Contact me. Its been fun...

Bob White, I feel like we are talking in circles. I am a much better speeker then writer and I think you are looking too much into this. So I don't beat this to death, let me sum up my feelings again. Yes, you can teach people, train them, give them the benefits of how to, but if they don't apply it, they are not going to be leaders. What makes them apply it? Is it a God given talent, is it something that they learned and was hidden in the subconsence, or is it a tramatic event that makes them snap. Don't know. Spent a long time trying to figure it out. I am not saying t

The eagle scout rank does require you to take a leadership role in organizing a project. This is were a scout who may not have been a green bar position but still rises to the occassion as a "leader" and takes control of the project. This requirment was added for a reason. It is here that you must show you are a leader. So is every scout a leader?

Bob White, Nurture vs nature is the base of all arguements. Without getting all religious, I sometimes think that people have skills they are just born with, and it takes something to bring it out; be it a tramatic situation, a golden opportunity, or a well taught training session. So is a born leader "taught or trained", well in that sence of the arguement, I agree. I tend to look at the real world as oppossed to some text books. I have worked with people who by birth right, education, training, social status, are appointed leaders. Yet when it came to taking charge of situation

thanks for the complements. Food for thought... My pack meeting last night was a combination of showing off collections and a salute to veterens. I brought down my collection of American military uniforms (from 17th century new england militia to 21st century) and had a cub model the uniforms (hat jacket and cartiridge box) When we were done, we had a timeline of 11 uniforms representing the major wars of our nations. For each war, I mentioned some small piece of trivia (like the tricorn hat on the continental solider is why we fold the flag in a triangle, the nichname "doughboy" come

PS Bob White, "negate the need for sociologists" Like lawyers...way too many with too many opinions. Present company included. (Insert smiley face...still can't figure out how to do that)

Bob White Maybe I am too quick on the draw. Of course a persons upbringing, schooling, moral and social interactions with both the larger and smaller group will influence his/her overall personality. By the time a person is around middle school, you can begin to see many different personality traits developed. Some can be developed more, others can be changed. However, I believe, and again this is a school of thought, that certain things can't be schooled, they are just born in you. For example, every human can draw a picture. Some might look like a chicken drew it with a pe

"Not every boy is a leader". This statement was made by myself after years of experience and studies (yes, academic-I am a sociologist by training). In groups of men (or in the case of BSA, boys), anyone can be taught to be a supervisor. Supervisors are nothing more then trained workers, who know the job or operation well enough to make sure it runs smoothly and gets the task completed. Good employees generally don't need supervisors; they go about their business and do their job as assigned. A PL or SPL can be trainied to be a supervisor. A person can be trained to be a leader, but

The requirements state position of responcibility, not leadership. There are several things to take in mind, Not everyone is a leader. That is not a bad thing, nor should everyone be a leader. Also, sometimes, the popular boys win elections, and they may not be good leaders. Also, in a large troop, if you hold elections every six months, how can every boy get a chance at a leadership position. Therefor, to qualify for the rank, you must assume a responcibility role in the troop. Without a doubt, SPL is the hardest role. Is ASPL as hard as SPL. No way. Does that make the p

Before I start babbling on someting not relatred to the question, I will cut to the chase: Keep the colors as they are for all programs. Pants can be a little more roomy with large pockets and possibly eveny convertable to shorts. Shirts should have a yoke and real collars. Bring back a uniform necktie (olive or tan) for adult optional wear. Also bring back the flat overseas hat for optional wear. Make a cheap campaign hat for youth optional wear. Keep the ball caps for scouts but get rid of the stupid red front and go all green. Go import to cut down price. Now for my two cen

Very nice. With your permission, I would also like to use that too, abridged, for my cubmaster's minute. Chris

My friend will be heading down south sometime in the next two weeks. Once I have the hats in my possession and I physically inspect and inventory all, I will post my email and will take orders. I want to get a size, description (ie USMC or US Army style), and condition of each hat, I will price them and get you the info. The smaller sizes will be in new condition and the larger ones used but good. Keep in touch. Chris

I have three girls and one son (whom is refered to as "the boy"-sorry too much Simpsons). My good friend is a cubmaster in England. He told me how it is coed and works well. I pondered the thought. Ran through the program. Even ran some "table top" exercises. My results... My daughters are happy in girl scouts. They like socializing with other girls. They like talking to female leaders when they are facing the issues of growing up. Although I offered to be a leader, they don't want Dad around. They wish they could do more cool things like the boy scouts and work with the le

That is a very interesting thought, and one that I need to think of some more. Since election day in NYC in a holiday, my coworkers and I were trying to take a nap (no, really, a nap) when some voters walked in and asked if the polling place is here-my office is in Grant's Tomb (yes-I work with a dead president, laugh, laugh, but he is alot easier to protect then a living one). We redirected them to the apartment house around the corner. They asked why isn't the polling place in government sites and we explained that it would be inappropriate. Anymore appropriate then a school or fire

I have to say that I like alot of the options people are saying for new uniforms. KS-you have the best ideas yet. However, we know that some group of scouters will hire a marketing company to redesign the uniform, talk to kids (non scouts), and come up with some outlandish uniform. Maybe something like... (this is were we start playing time travel sound effects) First-do away with our current logo-to military (remember the spear head arguement made against BP) Replace with a more kid friendly animal like a Pokemon Figure. Hat-tri-colored ball cap, low crown and super long bil

Uncleguinea, I have several 1960's and earily 1970's poly/wool uniforms, complete, with ties, belts and overseas caps (wool with silk lining). I wear them to roundtables, all my cub meetings, and on camping trips (I found two complete uniforms in rough shape and don;t mind wearing them camping). Yes it does look a little WW2ish but other scouters and scouts like it. Its my style, it sends a message of what I am about and the scouting program that I deliver and I am very comfortable. Good for you and don't stop wearing it because you feel out of place. For district dinners and othe

Gasp-I must agree with Eamonn. We will never get it right. Also, half will like it, half will hate it. Just leave it alone. I brought this subject up to my bear scouts. We have pack t shirts, but most boys want to wear their button down shirts-why-because the want to display their patches and awards. Most of my boys cant wiat to get a boy scout uniform. Some (over half) even want campaign hats. However, there are the other half that we are lucky they wear the pack t shirt. Its not the uniform, its the person (and the parents). These are the same people who have no problem go

As a youth, Greater New York Councils ran Spruce Pond Scout Camp in Tuxedo, NY. Since it was upstate, it was almost like an outpost camp (remember, we were all New york City kids and anything north of the the city was an outpost). Camp was situated on top of a huge hill with a pond in the middle of it-always reminded me of a volcano with a lake in the cone. There was a water pump and a troop size lean-to with an army surplus Ben Franklin stove inside. We would buy a bag of coal from the campmaster to burn in the winter. The camp was always a highlight of our year since we always camped th

OK-Looks like we have around 400 campaign hats of various sizes. The smaller ones are new, never worn. The larger sizes are used but in good condition. We are working on getting these shipped to my home and I will announce the sale. Again, around 10.00 each plus shipping. will keep you posted.

Those that I sent private messages from I did recieve and I am keeping. I will check back to this thread and contact you all went we get the hats in hand. thanks for the interest.

One thing that really gets me annoyed is seeing a troop of scouts and no one is wearing the same pants. Jeans, parachute pants, cut offs, old navies, ect. The most common complaint I hear is the cost and construction. Why cant the BSA just develop a simple pair of work jeans. My agency (US National Park Service) has work jeans for us rangers when we are doing dirty work. They look like trousers, are dark green, have pockets and belt loops (even a watch pocket) and are made of denium. They wear like iron and keep their color. Our happen to be forest green but I know that other agenc

I have no problem with this, however, I think by changing the pants/shorts color to tan to match the shirt would resolve the fading problem. I don't like the tan pants idea, but I have a funny feeling thats the next big uniform change. One other thing. Convertable pants/shorts are OK so long as the BSA still carries proper trousers for those of us that are a little more behind the times with fashion.

I too would love to see it. I have been experimenting with army surplus coats (OD and grey no camo) for scout use. They are cheap and adds uniformity during the winter months. Problem is availibility and getting small sizes. I love the wool jack shirt but its cost prevents most boys from owning one. If the BSA could develop a layering jacket system in neutral colors (ie red, green, grey, but please no yellow) that would be great. This way my son woun't go to school on Monday with his heavy coat smelling like smoke.