Nothing Like a Bunch of Scouts Together for a Camp

This last weekend, my oldest son and I went to a scout camp together. He was there to learn about the difference between the Cub Scout and Boy Scout program. I'm not sure how much he learned, but we did have fun. (My back later disagreed with that assessment.)

The most interesting thing to me was the whole idea of preparedness. The Scout motto after all is Be Prepared. Well, the leaders did a pretty good job of preparing, but there was an oversight on immediate preparedness that was poignant.

Each group of Cub Scouts was assigned a Boy Scout to be a Patrol Leader. Some were better scouts than others. My son's leader was a bit disinterested in the boys. So at one point he was minding only his own business and whittling while the boys almost listened to the instructor. As he was doing so, he sliced his finger with his knife. With blood gushing nicely from the wound and trying to be inconspicuous, he put pressure on the wound and then was directed to the pavilion where there were some leaders free to attend to him.

In all this mayhem, my son realizes that he had packed his first aid kit and retrieves it from his day pack and offers it to the instructor. He was then sent off with the kit to the pavilion. His was the only kit readily available at the camp.

How important will it be to you to be preparedness minded? Will you hope for a young scout to save your skin, or will you Be Prepared?

- Mark

Value is based on perception.