Flutterby™! : Mike Rowe on Scouting

Mike Rowe Replies To A Slightly Offended, Not Very Enthusiastic Scout, in which he talks to a Boy Scout about his previous recommendation to go for an Eagle Scout or live a life of predictability and mediocrity.

Anyway, the letter that offended you was written because I don’t want to see that sort of mentality creep into Scouting. I don’t want the Eagle standards lowered just to encourage less enthusiastic kids to “go for it,” or satisfy a parents desire to see their precious little snowflakes bring home another “trophy.” And frankly, I don’t think the best way to inspire and motivate kids like you is to blow a bunch of sunshine up your butt.

I'm afraid that Mike's too late, by at least two and a half decades. I was reminded of this because I went camping this last weekend with a boy who's well on his way to Eagle, and, though I love the kid dearly, it brought up a lot of my issues with Boy Scouts, and why I quit and joined an Explorer troop, abandoning my Eagle.

It would be petty for me to harp on specifics, especially since after so many years my memory is fuzzy as to who was responsible for which lowering of standards and there was crap at the troop leader level that I was probably completely unaware of. Maybe, in fact, it was preparation for life and I'm still unwilling to accept that the bullshitters and the responsibility shirkers are indeed the ones who shine.

But, back to Mike's point: yes. Strive. Build great things. Pick a project and see it to completion. But please pick an organization with higher standards and less dysfunction if you're going to look for external validation.