Scout’s Honor
Jul 07, 2009
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Like millions of American boys, I spent a few years in Boy Scouts. I wasn't a fan: I made some friends, but I found many of the adult leaders sanctimonious windbags, I hate the fascist youth uniforms, and disagreed with some of the indoctrination in the Scout handbooks. I admit I use the term "boy scout" as a snide remark for the goody-two-shoe pals of mine in the office that I want to chide. But there's one Boy Scout mantra that has stayed with me: care for the earth.The many weekend scout camping trips taught me valuable lessons. I think that the most important one was to leave a place in better shape than when you found it. However, there were other things I learned: pack only what you need; conserve the resources available to you; become self-sufficient;and minimize your impact on the earth. Oh, and learn to work on tasks in groups.
I've also realized that scouting connected me with my surroundings that life in the early 21st century often can't: we forget about the stars because we live in areas where pollution and street lights obscure them; we waste water because we don't think about its source or how far it has to travel before it reaches our tap; and we're disconnected from our food because it's so hyper-processed that we forget it comes from a tree or the ground.
I haven't gone camping in years, but maybe I should: having to haul your food and water, while working ten times as hard to cook a meal, would make me, or anyone, appreciate our earth even more than we do now.
So perhaps scouting wasn't all that bad. Though those uniforms sure were brutal!
