Callooh! Callay!1428010939

I don't know what the perfect parent's response would be to the "Perfect SM's" instructions. But I can think of a reasonable response (albiet one that departs from the example in assuming that the parent has thought about and learned about the issues at hand more than the parent in the example). So here's what we're told is The Perfect SM's reply: "He's the youth leader of your son's patrol, the Rattlesnakes. The patrol is the building block of the troop, the core group that your son is a part of. Here's his name and number. Have your son call him.")-------- Parent: "The core group th

I'm with the conformists on this one. It's a uniform, not a costume. And here's another thing about custom patrol names/patches.... Creativity is wonderful - and I appreciate acerbic and irreverent humor. But I cringe at jokey patrol names.... -Come on gentlemen, irreverent humor is fun, but in the big picture, a scout is reverent. Your patrol name is not the time and place to display mordant, caustic, or scatological wit. Fun? Yes! But with a sense of decorum and pride. And please - spare me the funny patrol yells - they are not funny after the gazillionth time... oh yea, I forg

Alabama Scouter - The SM in your example sounds like a Helicopter Scouter being cute with a parent. If he had recommended an info source (inside the handbook - online) and then recommend to the mother that she let the boy work it out himself through his PL, that'd be nice - recommended that is - not insisted or directed. On the other hand - let's look at the SM's side of the story and take his tone in describing it.... His interlocutor in your example was "exasperated." This probably ruffled the SM's feathers and he momentarily lost the cool composure and social grace we all know

I agree with the gist of Life-Scout-Ldr's comments above. I'm neither needy nor niggardly, but I don't feel receptive to FOS solicitations. I donate time, energy, and money as it is. The church covers our unit's costs and they told me we don't have to pay anything - not even registration. They've never asked me for a dime. They're even insistent about reimbursing me when I buy materials for scout projects - (but when I let them reimburse, my wife scolds me - so I don't do it much). But I understand money must come from somewhere and assume it comes from tithing to the church. And we

I vote full. But if it must be half, we have an important decision to make... Should we wear the right half so that we keep "Boy Scouts of America" over the pocket? Or should we wear the left half so that we keep the council patch and troop number on the left shoulder? (This message has been edited by Callooh! Callay!)

I have a nice fixed blade knife. It feels like a quality hand tool should... a joy to use... handy size too. But I rarely use it because I find my Leatherman multi-tool more convenient to carry. The Leatherman is with me pretty much every day. Around here, they say fixed blades are forbidden for scouting. They use the term "sheath-knives." But I understand that they don't mean my folding Leatherman even though it does have a sheath. I suppose if someone wanted to be cute they could walk around with a gladius w/o a sheath - "See? No sheath... it's not a sheath knife." I haven't

"Such drama!" Thanks brother. ...and FWIW, I wasn't suggesting that there is an official nationwide system that mandates the discipline the poster was worried about. But it's apparent that in the poster's neck of the woods there is some sort of system be it within policy or without that... oh never mind - I will follow your sage advice: "Here's an idea - get real... go take some boys camping." That is, of course, exactly what you were doing when you posted it from your Blackberry during that brief period when you were hiking through an area with coverage right?

The point I apparently obscured with that apparently fascinating distraction about ROTC, FFA, and 4-H at the end of my post was this: That angst in the thread from which this was spun... angst over the purchase of a merit badge w/o proper authorization and documentation... with words like "defamed," "wrongdoing," "misconduct," and "disciplinary action" employed. Maybe I'm mistaken, but it didn't seem like the OP was using hyperbole promiscuously, being sarcastic or otherwise fooling around with how they presented their ideas or point of view (as some of us are prone to do - I'm guilty a

Helicopter Scouter-ism has harnessed nano-technology and applied it to the old concept of small potatoes. Now we can make federal case over whether or not someone has earned a merit badge they buy. See here: http://www.scouter.com/Forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=321335 and we can have "restricted" blue cards" http://www.scouter.com/Forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=320761&p=3 what's next? witnesses, attorneys, and notaries for the signatures? Military items aren't controlled like this. You can buy and wear nearly any gewgaw you like. But that doesn't make you more accomplished o