I should have said something

[SR540Beaver 116]

Is smoking an ethical decision? Other than for underage persons, smoking isn't against the law. It is a health decision, but is it an ethical decision? I've seen plenty of Catholic Priests who seemed to have no problem with it when they lit up in full view of anyone. I've been a Southern Baptist since I was born. I've been taught all my life that dancing and drinking alcohol was a sin. Before my time, my mom was taught that playing pool and playing cards (any card game) was a sin. I'm willing to bet that there are a few scouters here that have cut a rug, had a snort and played a game or two of poker down at the pool hall in the past. Why heck, I'll bet there are still some who do it today. Do you think you are being unethical? Where I came from, you are flirting with the Devil and have one foot in Hell and the other on a banana peel.

 

Obviously, tobacco use is not a healthy thing just as overeating is not a healthy thing. We should lead by example to the boys by living a healthy lifestyle. But to call smoking unethical is a bit of a stretch in my mind. It may not be the best personal choice, but it isn't against the law.

[evmori 11]

Ya beat me to the punch SR540Beaver! Smoking has nothing to do with ethics. It's all about health and smoking isn't healthy.

 

Ed Mori

Troop 1

1 Peter 4:10

[Newbie Den Leader 10]

kraut-60,

 

There's really nothing you can do about it. The adult leader will be accountable to G2SS at some point in time. This scout could be a "work-in-progress" and the boy scout program may be just what he needs to develop his character. His cigarette problem may be his last "vice" to overcome and put him on a path to healthier living. If you're a praying man (reverent), then pray for this Scout that he will grow to be an outstanding young man.

 

As for BSA Policy? In my NLE course, adults who must smoke at Scout Events are advised to go to an area that's far away from the boys and out of sight.

 

As a safety issue? It is. Smoking is a potential fire hazard on campouts, especially when there are burn bans. Smoking in a tent is a disaster waiting to happen.

 

In the 1970's, my scoutmaster was a heavy smoker. However, he never smoked in front of the scouts. He always reminded us that his "habit" was a bad example to follow and to never start smoking. That was the 1970's when smoking was more commonplace among adult leaders.

 

 

[Kahuna 172]

Why heck, I'll bet there are still some who do it today.

 

Ya' reckon?

[scoutingagain 20]

Did someone mention the evils of..Pool? Pool halls?

 

Well, I can't help myself..

 

Well, ya got trouble, my friend.

Right here, I say trouble right here in River City

Why, sure, I'm a billiard player

Certainly mighty proud to say,

I'm always mighty proud to say it

I consider the hours I spend with a cue in my hand are golden

Help you cultivate horse sense and a cool head and a keen eye

Didja ever take and try to give an iron clad leave

to yourself from a three-rail billiard shot?

 

But just as I say it takes judgement, brains and maturity

to score in a balk-line game

I say that any boob can take and shove a ball in a pocket

And I call that sloth;

the first big step on the road to the depths of degreda-

I say, first- medicinal wine from a teaspoon, then beer from a bottle

And the next thing you know your son is playin'

for money in a pinchback suit

And listenin' to some big out-o'-town jasper

hear him tell about horserace gamblin'

Not a wholesome trottin' race, no,

but a race where they set down right on the horse

Like to see some stuck up jockey boy sittin' on Dan Patch?

Make your blood boil, well I should say

 

Now, folks, let me show you what I mean

You've got one, two, three, four, five, six pockets in a table

Pockets that mark the difference between a gentleman and a bum

With a capital 'B' and that rhymes with 'P' and that stands for 'pool'

 

And all week long, your River City youth'll be fritterin' away

I say, your young men'll be fritterin'

Fritterin' away their noontime, suppertime, choretime, too

Hit the ball in the pocket

never mind gettin' dandelions pulled

or the screen door patched or the beefsteak pounded

Never mind pumpin' any water 'til your parents are caught

with a cistern empty on a Saturday night and that's trouble

Oh, ya got lots and lotsa trouble

I'm thinkin' of the kids in the knickerbockers,

shirttailed young ones peekin' in the pool hall window after school

Ya got trouble, folks, right here in River City

with a capital 'T' and that rhymes with 'P'

and that stands for 'pool'

 

Now I know all you folks are the right kind of parents

I'm gonna be perfectly frank

Would you like to know what kind of conversation goes on

while they're loafin' around that hall?

They'll be tryin' out Bevo, tryin' out Cubebs,

tryin' out tailor-mades like cigarette fiends

And braggin' all about how they're gonna cover up

a tell-tale breath with Sen-Sen

Now one fine night they leave the pool hall

headin' for the dance at the Armory

Libertine men and scarlet women and ragtime

Shameless music that'll grab your son, your daughter

into the arms of a jungle animal instinct- massteria!

Friends, the idle brain is the devil's playground, trouble!

 

Townspeople: Oh, we got trouble

 

Harold: Right here in River City

 

Townspeople: Right here in River City

 

Harold: With a capital 'T' and that rhymes with 'P'

and that stands for 'pool'

 

Townspeople: That stands for pool

 

Harold: We surely got trouble

 

Townspeople: We surely got trouble

 

Harold: Right here in River City

 

Townspeople: Right here

 

Harold: Gotta figure out a way to keep the young ones

moral after school

 

Townspeople: Trouble, trouble, trouble...

 

Harold: Mothers of River City,

heed this warning before it's too late

Watch for the tell-tale signs of corruption

The minute your son leaves the house

does he rebuckle his knickerbockers below the knee?

Is there a nicotine stain on his index finger?

A dime novel hidden in the corncrib?

Is he starting to memorize jokes

from Cap'n Billy's Whizbang?

Are certain words creeping into his conversation?

Words like- swell?

And- 'so's your old man'?

 

Well if so, my friends

 

Ya got trouble

 

Townspeople: Oh, we got trouble

 

Harold: Right here in River City

 

Townspeople: Right here in River City

 

Harold: With a capital 'T' and that rhymes with 'P'

and that stands for 'pool'

 

Townspeople: That stands for pool

 

Harold: We've surely got trouble

 

Townspeople: We surely got trouble

 

Harold: Right here in River City

 

Townspeople: Right here

 

Harold: Remember the Maine, Plymouth Rock and the Golden Rule?

Oho, we got trouble

We're in terrible, terrible trouble

That game with the fifteen numbered balls is the devil's tool

 

Townspeople: Devil's tool

 

Harold: Yes, we've got trouble, trouble, trouble

 

Townspeople: Oh, yes, we got trouble here, we got big, big trouble

 

Harold: With a 'T'

 

Townspeople: With a capital 'T'

 

Harold: And that rhymes with 'P'

 

Townspeople: That rhymes with 'P'

 

Harold: And that stands for pool

 

Townspeople: That stands for pool

 

 

Forget the band, we need a scout troop! Keep those boys out'a pool halls and the like.

 

SA

[SSScout 1615]

Thoughts as they come...

 

My mom grew up as a "flapper", one of the first "liberated" women. She was one of the first female Journalism degree earners from Boston U. And she smoked like a factory chimney. When I knew her, she had a 3 pack a day habit. Then, when I was, oh, maybe 7 or 8, she announced that she was quitting, got down to 3 cigs a day and then quit all together. She finally died at age 82. Might have lived even longer, the Dr. said, but her emphesema would not allow.

 

News item: Tobacco company memoes reveal plan to add chemicals to tobbacco products to increase their addictive qualities.

 

When the Europeans arrived in the New World, they met folks that used tobacco for ceremonial purposes, even spiritual purposes. They recognized that tobacco had an effect on the person. White man took that and ...

 

Bob Newhart has a wonderful routine in which he is the Queen's agent in England, talking on the phone to Sir Walter Raleigh in Virginia, about this new activity: "It's called tobacco? uh huh. to- back- koe. It's a leaf? Okay, and what do you do with it? uh huh. Umm. What you do is you, you roll it into little cylinders and, and you stick them in your mouth , yeah, okay... and then you set fire to it??? Is that right? Walt, are you pulling my leg?"

It's all down hill from there.

 

"Some times a cigar is just a cigar" ...Sigmund Freud.

 

Not a few years ago,I once met up with an acquaintance of mine who smoked like an old WW1 destroyer. Never saw him without a cig in his mouth. I asked him, "How'd you like to have an extra $100. a month?" he brightened up and said, "sure, how'd I do that?" I said, "quit smoking". I still remember the look of recognition on his face. Back then $100. was a LOT of money. He cut down soon after.

 

When I was running track back in school, I trained with a senior who smoked (big man on campus, had to smoke..). When he trained for the season, he quit. After the season, took it up again. Never understood why the difference. He spoke of how he breathed easier with out the weed, but 'he enjoyed it'.

 

Maybe you should have said something, but then, maybe you did...