Scouting

I don't understand scouting.

Let me clarify. I understand going on little camp outs. I understand sitting down and learning about first aid, and encouraging participation in sports, and community, and learning about a variety of things to make young men well rounded. That's the sort of scouting that I did as a kid. Show up, have fun, play some basketball and call it a day.

But there's a whole other world when it comes to scouting. There are scout committees and paperwork and who knows what else. A few months ago, I had to fill out some sort of form to be some sort of scout leader. It was never explained to me what it was, or why exactly I was filling it out. I left half the fields blank, because I had no idea what the form was talking about. Last night, I was told about a scout meeting I am supposed to attend this weekend. It will be Friday from 7-8:30 and Saturday from 8am to noon. (But there will be refreshments on Saturday.) What on earth are the scout people going to do for five and a half hours? I'm supposed to be there in my full scout uniform or Sunday best (I also don't understand how those are in any way equivalent) and listen to what I imagine will be 5 1/2 hours of "the young mens organization and scouting worth together". I'm sure they'll come up with a few powerpoint presentations to liven it up, but that'll be it. Me and scores of people listening to "scouting can have a great impact in the lives of the youth" for a quarter of a day.