All Alone By The Telephone (Irving Berlin)

[SSScout]

So I MBCounsel Bugling. At a MBDay some months ago (February!) , I met with 5 Scouts. Numbers one

and two did the prerequisites listed and completed their badge that day (one of these played trumpet in the town orchestra. Nice to hear really good technique!). I gave everyone my card and asked them to call me when they had the rest of the requirements done. Number Three needed to play the rest of

the

calls and had the "serve as the Troop Bugler" to fulfill. He called, I met with him at his Troop

meeting , heard his playing, spoke with his SM about the "serve" requirement, congratulated him and

gladly signed off on his card. Number four had his SM email me with the "serve" requirement done.

They phoned me, we met at the Starbucks and I gladly signed off on his card and wished him well.

 

Beginning last month, Number five has emailed me, copied to his SM, who responded that #5 had , indeed, served well as the Troop Bugler the past months. #5 asked (by email, copied to SM) how we might get my signature on his Blue Card? Could he mail it to me? Could his mom drop it by? What are my

"thoughts"?

I emailed him back to PHONE me and we would discuss meeting at his house, or McDonalds or some such

place (his Troop has "finished" for the summer, his SM emailed). I have had the same basic email from #5 three times over the last month, but no phone call. He has had the same response from me,

"Please phone me, so we may discuss where we can meet..."

 

I await his call (or his mom?) .... *sigh*

[Gone]

We ran in to the same issue with our PLC a while back. The SM kept encouraging the PLs to "phone their patrol". The PLs would email. An event went understaffed. Next PLC the SM reminded them to use the phone. SPL did a phone tree exercise to illustrate the effectiveness for the PLs. Even did the game where the SPL calls the PLs Sunday and says "Bring a spoon to the meeting this week, tell your patrol." PLs, rather than call their patrols, sent emails....50% return on the request. The ONE PL that *did* use the phone got a near 90% result with guys bringing spoons that week. Point was made.

 

I think kids these days would rather text and email than call anyone.

[Stosh]

If you want to communicate with me and make sure I hear you need to either talk out loud in my presence or call on the phone and make sure I answer and actually talk to you.  The answering machine isn't me....  

 

If you can't do that much for communicating with me, then you take your chances I won't get the message.

 

There is a feature on cell phones, smart phones and flip phones and land-line phones that is common to all...  Yep you guessed it they all have phones!  If you really, really want to talk with someone use the phone part.

[qwazse]

I'd also accept a handwritten letter. Or typed, courier 12 point, and signed and sealed with your hand-carved letterboxing stamp.