[Philmont]: RE:BTDT

Sigh.

The message board format has communication limitations. One of them is
people taking comments differently then intended and getting kind of
pissy about it. I'll try not to do that in this reply. But I may have
done so already.

When our ranger was discussing the "Been There, Done That" 'attitude',
he was referring to the bored, cynical,
I-don't-have-to-listen-to-what-you-are-saying-because-I'm-smarter-then-y
ou-mister-philmont-ranger-man" attitude. Sometimes kids act that way,
more often advisors do, according to him, but kids act the way their
advisors act, in many cases.

I went back and looked and I don't recall posting anywhere advice to go
to Philmont un-prepared. "Gee, I thought we were supposed to be
prepared" sure sounds ...well, I'll drop that. I've looked at a lot of
my previous posts and don't see that explicitly or implicitly stated.
In fact, I'd say, with some small pride, that our crew was a little on
the over-prepared side. Our ranger was glad for that and told them they
were a well-prepared crew. But they didn't know everything and were
capable of learning new things. They listened to his teaching and were
able to promptly demonstrate their competence in almost every skill he
taught them. However, they did NOT say roll their eyes and affect a
bored disinterest with his instruction, which he/she is REQUIRED to
impart. They did not sigh and say "We know how to orient a map", "We
know our map symbols", "We know how to hang a bear bag", "We know how to
pitch a dining fly". They had an eagerness to demonstrate their skill
and to learn what ever he had to offer to enhance their competence. As
a result, we moved through the simple teaching some crews might need and
on to more advanced levels of exchange of ideas and learning. Like "4,
which is cosmic", and "You can have pizza, but not calzone"...you had to
be there.

Jeff Knoll understood my point exactly. Been There, Done That is an
ATTITUDE. My crew had pretty much been lots of places and done just
about everything before coming to Philmont. But they did not have the
ATTITUDE.

Okay, so some crew had to get a cherry ranger. I'm sure rangers vary in
their competence, like crews do. I would hope that the crew that got
that cherry ranger would still treat him/her with respect.

I apologize for my bad attitude about bad attitudes. It gives me a bad
attitude.

Dave Parmly
VCA C506
ASM T506
GSMC, Knoxville, TN

-------------------------------------------------------
Scouting E-mail Discussion Lists @ usscouts.org
Subscribe/Unsubscribe at http://usscouts.org/lists/
Listserv Commands at http://usscouts.org/lists/lc.asp
-------------------------------------------------------
Send listserv commands to: listserv@troop47.com
Send postings to: philmont@troop47.com
List FAQ found at: http://usscouts.org/lists/faq.asp
List Administrator: philmont_owner@troop47.com
-------------------------------------------------------
As you gather around this virtual campfire with fellow
Scouts and Scouters, do your best to be trustworthy,
loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient,
cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
-------------------------------------------------------

 
Received on Thu May 5 19:31:11 2005