I am forced to admit that I loved being a Cub Scout. I loved
the crafts we made, the uniform, the advancement, the recognition, and most of
all, I loved my Den Mothers. But when a Cub Scout turns 10, it is time to leave
the Den and become a member of the Weblos.
What in the world is the Weblos? Well, it comes from the combination
of the phrase: “We’ll be loyal scouts.” Up until today, I thought the acronym
was: “We be loyal scouts.” But a quick
check in the web corrected my decade’s long journey in Ebonics.
While Cub Scouting was maternally based, Weblos was male
dominated, well at least it was for me. I think that was the first great shock
to my strong Cub Scout spirit. I can’t recall for sure the name of my Weblos
leader, but I think it was Br. Larsen.
Br. Larsen was a gruff individual. I am not, to this day,
sure he was active in the Church. He was far from being kind. Now, he wasn't
abusive, he was just scary for a 10 year old boy. He was tall and over-powering.
He had a huge tufts of greying hair and had a beard and mustache. The corners of
his mouth were always caked with a white film which baffled me. Whenever I saw him talk, my eyes were instantly drawn towards the white film on his mouth. Okay, so I was 10....
What was once an event I looked forward to, even yearned
for, now became a chore. I hated going to Weblos. I dreaded it. This truly suprised me as I loved den meetings so much. Because I was
so unimpressed with my leader, I had little ambition to earn the awards that
are part of the program.
These awards were less craft-based and more activity-based.
Athletics played a significant role in Weblos and I was not an athlete. So, my
desire dwindled. Sure, I got all the awards and achieved my Arrow of Light, the
highest honor in Cub Scouts, but there was no joy in it. I was simply going
through the motions – a theme that would haunt most of my remaining days in Scouting.
So, now I had a bitter taste of Scouting. Part of it was
because of my unwillingness to work with my leader. Part of it was that
Scouting didn't interest me. But Dad was still the Scout master and once I left
the Weblos’ Den and Cub Scouts altogether, I was just one year away from being
a real scout in Dad’s troop.
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