I'm pretty sure lighting will shoot down the sky at some point during this post. I should probably attach a fork or something to my head. But here it is...
I hate Scouts. Not the boys themselves. Well, sometimes. But what I'm referring to is the job of tending the Scouts. It's my church calling. For those of you not familiar with my church, I'm LDS. And our church is entirely run by volunteerism, from the head of the church down to the most menial of jobs. (That would be Scouts in case you are wondering.) The church building is cleaned by members of the congregation, the sermons are given by members of the congregation, the organ music is played by members of the congregation....everything. All on a volunteer basis. And every so often the bishop, who is the head of the congregation, asks a member if they are willing to have a new job, or calling. It's generally understood to be very bad form to say no. 'Cause, you know, someone has to do all those jobs. Well, 6 months ago I got asked to be in charge of the Wolf Scouts. And I said yes. But I hate it.
It's not so much that I don't like the boys. Some boys are better than others. Some days are better than others. But I just have no passion for it at all. I don't care about building bird feeders out of pop bottles or kites out of grocery sacks. I don't even care about collecting can goods for the Food Bank or picking up trash on the side of the road. Because I'm with the Scouts. And stinky, sweaty little boys just isn't really my thing.
I know this is an awful thing to say. I'm sure those boys are learning really valuable life lessons from Scouts, like how to make musical instruments out of toilet paper rolls and dried beans, but I just don't want to be the one to teach them.
There. I said it. Now I'm going to hell.
13 comments:
Rick and I were just talking about Scouting this morning. Our daughter made fun of her dad because he wasn't an Eagle Scout. Boo-hoo, Rachel. (She's a Scout snob. Her husband was an Eagle and he's also an a__hole--with badges.)
I, personally, think nursery is the arm pit of church callings, but Scouts is equally horrible.) I'm just not a very cheerful servant. I hope you don't get struck by lightning but if you do I'll see you in hell. (I know I'll be there too.) I think Scouting is another word for torture...so there.
HA! We were just talking about this last night! I was going through mental anguish last year when I thought they were going to call me to be in Cameron's scout pack, and I was going to say no.
And by the way, the heads of the church are not volunteering. They are paid WELL. Like CEO's of any corporation. And that's a fact. Ask me how I know. ;) (so are any in the Q of the 70, just not as much.)
I'd say no to certain callings.
My dear, saintly mother has been in cub scouts 11 of the last 12.5 years. And she hasn't had a boy in there for 5 years.
The church leaders are paid adequately, but not "well, like CEOs." Nobody in the hierarchy gets millions per year for their 18 to 20 hour days, or even a hundred thou per year, nor extra fancy benefits. They get a stipend that covers what they need to live comfortably, not luxuriously, and do their jobs. The church president rides in Marriott's personal jet, because Dave Marriott owns it, asked him to use it, and pays the gas. Which he can well afford. And some of the G.A.s refuse any stipend because they are already rich, having BEEN CEOs in their former lives.
Ask ME how I know.
I don't blame you--I'd be really out of place at scouts, too.
But extra blessings if you do a calling you don't like, right?
My husband would agree with this 110%.
Love your blog. I saw the link on facebook and you mom has mentioned it a few times.
That is the only calling I have ever turned down in my life.
My former bishop approached me around 2004 (which was, incidentally, the same time as Utah's amendment 3) and asked me if DH and I would be scout leaders as a last ditch attempt to reactivate me. (Scout leader is really one of the only callings you can bestow upon a non-member full tithe paying spouse of an LDS woman). Had my bishop (who I happened to like quite a bit) known how staunchly pro gay rights my husband and I are, I doubt he would have bothered to ask. LOL.
But I remember mumbling something about a car accident I had just been in and I managed to get out of it. Turning down a calling felt weird. It was definitely something I was taught not to do. But at that point, I guess I was in a different place.
I think I actually would have enjoyed the calling. I think boys that age are kind of adorable with their stinky fart jokes and rambunctious ways. This was not always the case for me. But having been surrounded by stinky boys for my entire upbringing, I guess they started to grow on me.
But I digress...
My reasons for not being a "friend of scouting" probably make me more "hell bound" (at least in the eyes of some) than you are. For whatever that's worth.
If they ever removed the faith in God requirement and became gay friendly, I might let my son join some day. He's almost six. Gosh. That time went by fast. I guess those days are closer than I think.
(I hope you're not sorry that you asked what I thought. LOL.)
L: Not to be adversarial, but I AM kind of curious how you know. I thought that information was kept under pretty tight wraps.
I don't much like one of my callings either, and I feel equally bad about it. But I do love being in the nursery. Beats having to go to Sunday school.
I hate Scouts too, and I always though it was kind of unfair that boys in the church don't have any other options. If they don't like Scouting, they're out of luck. And I don't really get the correlation between camping, tying knots, and building fires with spirituality.
BUT Eric loves it. He's the Varsity Scout leader in our ward and he does a great job.
If I got asked to work in Scouts I would probably say no. I figure that since I've done Nursery willingly for as long as I have I get a free pass to say no to something else. :D
I don't blame you at all. I hate scouts (the organization). I think it is ridiculous. Amen.
You're not going to hell, and I completely agree with you about the scouting program. I don't think it should be a "mandatory" part of church activities, either. Personally, I think it's about time that it became separate from church.
When I found out we were having a boy, I immediately began dreading Scouts... that very day. :(
Post a Comment