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The Invisible Scout


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I don't see how you can run a Troop without forming moral character. I can see how uniforms could be optional, but moral character?

 

 

No, perdicochas, you shouldn't to that because it is, after all, a Scout Troop. :) She has trouble recruiting when she says that Scouting ideals are a part of the package. I hope you didn't think I meant she didn't include that part in the Troop's day-to-day business. We're talking about how to make Scouting visible, so I just wanted to say that advertising Scouting as a place to help train upstanding citizens (I'm talking about to parents here) people sometimes balk at that...Why? I guess it's about how they want to be the ones to do that for their children...Maybe?

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Saving one's field uniform for dress only is a load of bovine excrement. No where is it ever described as a dress uniform and military terminology of class-b for a t-shirt ever acceptable. They are

This is probably too pessimistic a view. While it's true that "bad" stories damage Scouting and undermine any positive effort to some degree, the truth is that most people don't really know anything

You know how Lem wears the First Class pin on his sweet, sweet plaid shirts in Follow Me Boys? Well, I started doing that exact same thing (even with plaid shirts...but not because of Lem...I'm appar

blw2, I do believe that the activity uniform is a specific red polo style shirt sold by the BSA. The class-b designation is any t-shirt that has some BSA reference on it. It should match the athletic workout pants, pajama bottoms, Hawaiian shorts or blue jeans the boy is wearing.

 

Stosh

 

You are no doubt correct, but I'm sure I read that bit someplace about the T-Shirt along with pants, belt, hat, etc.... being the activity uniform. Maybe it was my son's handbook.... maybe it was something un-official and I mistook it....

 

Regardless, i prefer your thinking about the uniform. When camping, I'll normally only come out of the field shirt in the camp site in the evenings, etc... Otherwise, I try to lead it by quiet example....

 

 

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The statement made by one's clothing , in whatever environment/venue, says a lot to the rest of the world about one's attitude, desires, loyalties, faith, skill, experience.... all by what one wears to cover one's nakedness. Hassidic Jew? Amish carpenter? Navy? Wall street banker? All wear uniforms.

I used to like the "image" of the red plaid "lumberjack" shirt and jeans.

 

I think it also says a lot about where society places its values. It wouldn't be too difficult to break uniforms down into those valued by society and those not valued by society. And by society I think I really mean peer groups. All the uniforms you mentioned, religious attire, Wall Street banker, Military, Naval and Air Forces are valued by society and/or peer groups. I think you could also add police, fire department and sports uniforms to that list. In our area a blue corduroy FFA jacket with a giant yellow corn cob cross-section on the back, white shirt and tie are valued and kids wear them to school.

 

We never seem to talk about the other uniforms that aren't valued by society. Do marching band members where their uniforms to school on Friday before the game? My son is on the HS Scholatic Bowl team, I don't believe his team mates wear their uniforms, jeans and a t-shirt, on meet days (Interestingly, the drama club kids do wear their t-shirts to school and celebrate their engagement in that program.) I've never seen a small town parade to celebrate the local debate team winning the championship.

 

And some of it is situational. Your lumberjack uniform would be well received while lumbering in the great northwest. It would be less-well received at a formal dinner party at the White House.

 

I'd also argue that some of the analogy of uniform wear misses the point. While I appreciate folks that wear their uniform doing everything, that doesn't seem to be the norm. Baseball players wear their uniform while playing games but they wear an activity uniform while practicing. People know they are ball players because of what they are doing. Kids involved in FFA don't wear their blue coats when they are farming or selling citrus, but people know them by their actions. Marching band kids don't wear their uniforms to practice, they are recognized by their actions (and the trombones). Even religious folk that wear head gear sometimes have formal and informal head gear, no? Military members have dress uniforms and working uniforms. They all seem to get along ok with options, because their programs are valued.

 

The problem isn't the uniform so much as the value society and their peer groups place on the program. That changed a long time ago. Kids are smart enough to pick up on this stuff.

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Someone said that the red polo shirt which was semi-designated as an activity uniform to be worn with BSA pants, belt, socks, is no longer being sold so that idea must not have gotten much traction. With the "just try it" attitude of the BSA I guess without any official stance, it might have just passed into history. I do remember seeing it touted as an "activity uniform" in some BSA literature, but not for some time now. Because of this there seemed to be some kind of tacit approval that the red polo could then be substituted with a T-shirt. I don't remember seeing anything about that in print.

 

When in camp, the boys can wear whatever they feel is comfortable and I'm thinking the t-shirt (cotton) is more comfortable than the polo weight shirt or even the uniform shirt with all the badges and stuff that is kinda cumbersome. The only thing that is required are hard soled shoes/boots. No sandals or flip-flops or slippers.

 

I have noticed that some of the boys test the limits and wear their uniform shirts back to camp from the waterfront because they didn't want to put their uniform pants on over wet swim trunks. I look the other way on situations like that.

 

It is nice to walk around summer camp during MB sessions to see how the boys are doing. If I don't see a uniform in the group, I know my boys aren't taking that MB. :) The camp we attend has the Welding MB and I counsel the boys to remove their uniforms for that MB in that no amount of Mom's laundry scrubbing is going to get out the burn holes.

 

I once saw a posting about whether or not the OA sash was to be worn during an OA workday where it would get dirty. The discussion went back and forth as to whether looking dirty showed the boy rolled up his sleeves and worked, or to save it for ceremonial purposes only. Well, the uniforms in my troop are kinda like the first option. They are stained and mended and a few have a couple of burn holes from one of the many campfires he sat around. But for the COH's they are cleaned and mended the best they are going to be. I had one boy who's uniform was more than a bit "scruffy" up close at his ECOH. But you couldn't tell from the picture in the paper. After 20+ years on some of my uniform parts, they look a bit more than "scruffy". You know it's scruffy when the patches look better than the shirt or pants. :)

 

Stosh

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Potentially adft question.... what are BSA uniforms made out of? UK uniform shorts are cotton so pretty unsuitable for hiking' date=' canoeing etc. Even if it was, say, nylon based I would have thought standard kit for white water would be a wet suit, splash cag and boyancy aid??[/quote']

 

BSA uniforms can be found of cotton blends, but the usual is nylon or microfiber polyester.

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No, perdicochas, you shouldn't to that because it is, after all, a Scout Troop. :) She has trouble recruiting when she says that Scouting ideals are a part of the package. I hope you didn't think I meant she didn't include that part in the Troop's day-to-day business. We're talking about how to make Scouting visible, so I just wanted to say that advertising Scouting as a place to help train upstanding citizens (I'm talking about to parents here) people sometimes balk at that...Why? I guess it's about how they want to be the ones to do that for their children...Maybe?

 

I can see not using it in the sales pitch. That said, most non-Scout people I talk to kind of assume it as part of Scouting (just like camping).

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Just an interesting quick story...

 

This weekend we had a Patrol doing service to help local homeless families and we were all in field uniform. A man who was present during the project came up to me and asked, "so are the Scoutmaster or a you just wearing that patch?!" It sounded pretty accusatory and I didn't quite know how to react. But we ended up having a conversation about Scouting and it turned out he was a Scout years ago. Perhaps now that he's seen our Patrol out doing service (in uniform) he might go out and spread the word in the community.

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And had you been in blue jeans and a flannel shirt, the subject of Scouting would never have come up.... :) You all could have been a group from the YMCA or Girls and Boys Club or maybe one of the local churches. Being in uniform, answers all those questions. In your case, it was nice to see the boys SHOWING what Scouting means rather than just trying to explain it to someone.

 

Stosh

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Just an interesting quick story...

 

This weekend we had a Patrol doing service to help local homeless families and we were all in field uniform. A man who was present during the project came up to me and asked, "so are the Scoutmaster or a you just wearing that patch?!" It sounded pretty accusatory and I didn't quite know how to react. But we ended up having a conversation about Scouting and it turned out he was a Scout years ago. Perhaps now that he's seen our Patrol out doing service (in uniform) he might go out and spread the word in the community.

 

 

did you ever figure out what he meant by that question though?

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