OldGreyEagle 5 Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 hey BasementDweller, how many times do you have to be told that your Wood Badge experience is not the typical experience? You ask if your course was bad, how many times and by how many people do you have to be told that yes, your course was bad? From what you have told us here on the Forum, your Council/District are as a bizzarre collection of numskulls as there is, why would anything they do not reflect that? I remember my "last review" when I took Wood Badge, I handed off my three ring binder to my Ticket Counselor at a District COmmittee meeting and at the next month's meeting, I got it back with a paper to sign. There were no cartwheels, no marching band, what is it you wanted? A big hooplah that you would have then poohed poohed? Your stories frustrate and irritate me because you are not having the same experience in scouting that I enjoy. I liked Wood Badge, I thought it was a great course. Yes, it was material I had seen before in varying forms but I thought the idea of WOod Badge was to give everyone the same information in the same format. Not everyone in the room had seen that information before. Not everyone has the advantage of going to "Management Seminars" that so many complain Wood Badge is "just like", well, if you have never been, you wouldnt know that and I do not think it wise of the BSA to assume that everyone who goes to Wood Badge has management experience because that would be wrong. I thank you for the service you provide to the youth of your community. I am glad you kept at it, I am sorry your experience with District and Council level people is so heinous and am proud to be a member of an organization that inlcudes you Link to post Share on other sites
Eagle92 110 Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 Base, 1) CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2) While I am not a WBer, I did go through BA22 and staffed JLTC. My BA22 patrol sucked, and sucked royally. We were not a patrol, but a group of kids thrown together basically for the entire week. Despite the hardship and challenges of the course, i learned something, and these 20+ years later, it is a positive expereince. When I did JLTC staff, a lot of time and energy went into the course by everyone who staffed. If anyone would be called a "slacker" on staff, it would be me as I joined the staff about 90 days prior to the course and missed some staff training. From what you describe of your course, it appears that the staff did not put in the time and energy to do the course justice. Try to take these negatives in mind when you conduct training courses. 3)Please do the beading ceremony, BUT get folks who are important to you to do it: your SM and your Cubs. Let's face it, you did the course for THEM. You expected to learn and grow for THEM. Even if the beading ceremony is not important to you, and the Cubs may not understand the significance now, your SM will appreciate it, when the parents see the ceremony and what you did for YOUR Cubs, they will appreciate how much they mean to you, and eventually your Cubs will also realize the significance of the ceremony and appreciate it better. True story, my SM growing up was an Arrowman, and very active in the OA. He was one of those quiet hardworking individuals who was not pretentious.By the time I got reinvolved with the OA, he was out of scouting. I never realized he was a Vigil Honor member until after my Vigil. made me appreciate what he did for me and my troop even more. Again CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Link to post Share on other sites
Basementdweller 608 Posted February 2, 2012 Author Share Posted February 2, 2012 OGE I understand and appreciate you don't care for me much. Honestly it is irrelevant and I could care less. Your ticket councilor took your binder home and may or may not have actually looked at it. Far as marching bands and party, really????? That was an adult reply????? No, but I expected the ticket councilor to actually show a bit of interest in my ticket and whether or not I actually did it. I guess my expectations were too high. Link to post Share on other sites
SeattlePioneer 144 Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 Hello Basement, Congratulations on completing Wood Badge! Sorry you didn't have a positive experience. In my own case I had the final review and approval of my ticket and then.... nothing. That was circa 1987. In 2007 or so, I bestirred myself to contact a person in my district who had staffed on the course, and he was nice enough to process the completion of the course and arrange a beading ceremony. So if your luck holds, you may be able to look forward to having your beading ceremony sometime in 2032! Link to post Share on other sites
SR540Beaver 116 Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 Speaking of "adult" replies.... Basement: "I have come to the conclusion that those who have the mountaintop experience are very shallow people who have never experienced adversity or difficulty......" Oh really? Seriously? Like OGE said, we are all very well aware of your disdain for WB and all very well aware that your experience is not typical. Just because YOU didn't have a mountaintop experience doesn't make everyone else "shallow". That's insulting and uncalled for. I personally know two men who will tell you how WB was a life changing experience for them. One is a homicide detective and the other is a business owner. In fact, the business owner closed his previous business and started a new business because of the servant leadership lessons he learned at WB. Both had tons of management seminar experiences, but WB was a different experience for them. I'm honestly sorry that you didn't get to experience what so many others have. Does everyone experience a life changing experience? No. Does WB make a difference for most people who attend? Yes. Did it for you? No. Because you had a bad experience and thousands of other people didn't, should you pooh pooh the course to everyone you meet? No. Question, did every participant on your course feel the same way about it that you did? That would be interesting to know. Link to post Share on other sites
OldGreyEagle 5 Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 Time to quit because I wasn't trying to insult you and I apparently did. I was tying to express how I felt and it did not come across as well as I wanted it to Link to post Share on other sites
SSScout 1615 Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 "Well it ends" No, it doesn't. Even from the postings on this thread, I know it will not end for you. Scouting isn't about the beads (contrary to what you might observe). Or the patches (bumper sticker: "Will work for colorful scraps of cloth"). Or the singing with folks we've met along the way. It is for the boys, and you know that. This is just a bump on the road, and not a major historic marker to stop and read. I join with the others here and bemoan the lack of Scout spirit your WB staff seem to have exhibited. My WB TG was anything but non-supportive. When I thought I had most of my stuff completed, he emailed and phoned me many times to fine tune the result. When I didn't think I had finished the final ticket, he assured me that I had, that I had done all I could, and what I thought was a lack of finality was only a lack of appreciation by the rest of my District. Strange to tell, I signed no final papers, only received the certificate (wallet card, really) and arranged for beading at an upcoming Troop CoH. Use your talents, have fun, and wash your hands before meals.... Link to post Share on other sites
ScoutBox 11 Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 Base, congrates.. now continue scouting. I loved my course, and loved staffing last year. I was asked to staff again this year and can't wait. I had a great experience. But I have two patrol mates that didn't. n fact, one has now backed out of his Pro Scouting job. He was beaded, but didn't invite anyone to it. The other never finished, and I along with our TG, and CD have e-mailed called, and asked about him monthly. I hope you try to look past what ever negative experience you had. I would like to know like i read above, how it was for others in your Patrol, and Course. How the Staff saw it?? I don't live even in the same country as my Patrol mates. Our distance hasn't been a factor against the time I had, and my relationship with my Patrol and course mates. We talk via Facebook, and we work together on different Council and District Projects, and camps. I know many like to throw stones at WB or the new WB course. Well, I say take the course, and learn from it. If you think you know it all, then your either already a fool or your just waiting for the wool to be pulled out from over your eyes.. I came from a military background, and business. But WB has opened my eyes to many things. I learned even more when I staffed last year. People here can't wait to go to the course, and many more only wish to get to Staff. Those who do go and staff are some good people. Some are bad but many are great.. and the great ones keep coming back for training, events, camping etc.. and their boys usually do the same here. Again congrates, I know your making a difference in your Unit. Keep making that difference, and use this as a learning experience. If you get the chance to Staff, take it.. Your the future for the program, and you can make it better for others.. COuld you tell us which Council your in. I am interested is knowing.. Your story althougt not finished has been interesting to read. Link to post Share on other sites
packsaddle 753 Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 I have never burned a bridge when I left a job for a better position. And in the uncountable times I've been dumped by women, I've never offered anything but best wishes for them in the future. In some cases I even tried to affirm that they made a really good decision (and then they got mad, go figure). Sometimes it's best to just keep thoughts to self and move on. Link to post Share on other sites
Basementdweller 608 Posted February 2, 2012 Author Share Posted February 2, 2012 Pack your right, should have sent desert a PM with my thoughts. Seattle your probably right about when I will receive them....2032... It's over Link to post Share on other sites
KC9DDI 11 Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 I have come to the conclusion that those who have the mountaintop experience are very shallow people who have never experienced adversity or difficulty Aside from the unnecessarily degrading choice of words, there may in fact be some truth to this sentiment. Like most here, I have known several Scouters who have attended and staffed Wood Badge. Most of these Scouters have a positive impression of the program, and generally consider it to have been a worthwhile use of their time. But very very few of these Scouters have described it as any kind of "mountaintop experience." And of the vocal minority that has... Well, I do have to question their background a little bit if the material presented at WB is viewed as a mind-blowing, life-changing revelation. And, having the benefit of knowing a bit of these Scouters' background... there may be some connection between this attitude and a background that doesn't include significant difficulty or adversity. Just my observation. Link to post Share on other sites
desertrat77 1144 Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 Basement, my apologies...I should have sent a PM first. Link to post Share on other sites
Lisabob 13 Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 Another way to look at it: "it ends well" (perspective makes a difference - just sayin') Link to post Share on other sites
JMHawkins 15 Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Another way to look at it: "it ends well" (perspective makes a difference - just sayin') Wait. Win all you can... Can you all win... Have you just come up with a replacement for TGOL? Link to post Share on other sites
Scoutfish 16 Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Basement< OGE wasn't insulting you..or at least he wasn't trying. He is simply stating your ccouncil/district, area is full of people doing the wrong things for the wrong reason. If I understand you correctly, they see scouting a a paycheck only: They collect money, they get paid, and they do not actually do anything in return for it. No work or effort on their part to provide a program, and they are all pretty much pissed at you because you call them out on it and expect them to dop what they are getting paid to do. I think most of us see that. So, what OGE is saying is simple as this: You got the candy that had the sugar left out, but that doesn't mean all the other candy makers are teh same. That candy you got was horrible and nasty and left a bad taste in your mouth. But if you had gotten your candy in another council or even region..You'd be thinking to yourself : "Damn! That was a great piece of candy!" OGE is simply saying that he wants you to realize that even though your district/ council pros are real asses, and do a pitiful job of most things - do not let those por's actions speak for or represent everybody. My thoughts? Personally, I say if WB helps what you do for your boys ( even the slightest bit), and even if it only gives you a bit of credential to what you already did anyways ....then it's a good thing. WB is for you, not your council paycheck jockeys. Link to post Share on other sites
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