A question posed to me -- surprising because of who asked the question --
made me think a lot about what the public thinks that Scouting is about
and what little we've told them recently about what we do.

A question posed to me -- surprising because of who asked the question --
made me think a lot about what the public thinks that Scouting is about
and what little we've told them recently about what we do.

I was standing on a platform at the Crystal City, Virginia stop along the
METRO, Washington D.C.'s series of underground trains which run between most of the communities in and around the capitol city of our nation. The
trains run underground and above-ground as well as they snake their way
around. It was a Saturday morning, and many of the people waiting also on the platform were tourists or weekend shoppers like myself. I chose to wear
my Scout uniform shirt -- no, not the one on the cover, but a insignia-impaired version because it was a newer cotton shirt -- because I was on my way to Vienna to attend a morning breakfast meeting.

Mainly for the pancakes and sausage and the warm coffee.

While standing there, an older man tugged at my left shoulder loop and asked me if I was in the military. I turned and answered, "Yes sir, I am but this is a Boy Scout uniform, not a military uniform."

He looked at me as I turned around, showing him the "Boy Scouts of
America" strip and the few other patches I made time the previous week and
a half in sewing onto the shirt.

"You're a Boy Scout leader?" I nodded, as I turned to see if the train
was coming. The marquee sign stated it would be there in four minutes.

"I thought Boy Scouts were gone...I never see them. Guess I didn't know
what to look for. Say, what do Scout do nowadays?"

The question startled me so much, that I made a full turn and faced the
man. I didn't know whether to be offended at his question or to answer it
directly.

"Well, sir, I don't want to bore you, but Scouting is a lot more than you
may have thought it was in the past," I stated, sounding like a 70s-era
Scouting commercial which stated pretty much the same things. I then
smiled a bit because I remembered that commerical.

"I don't see them, like I said. I never hear about them. I think they
were in the news a year ago about something dealing with gay boys or
something...What do your guys do now?"

My head was still swimming with the possible responses I could offer this
guy. Was he trying to really "touque me" with his questions? Was he
really that clueless -- even CNN covered the BSA's decision in the Supreme
Court and it's ramifications. And just a few weeks ago, CBS led off their
popular "Sixty Minutes" program with a 13-minute discussion on the pros
and cons of gays involved in Scouting and the impact it had on the
program. Newspapers and magazines all over the nation have wrote stories
dealing with the Boy Scouts of America.

But then, I thought about something else, something I have have harped
upon volunteers and professionals since I started making public speaking
addresses.

I waited until the train arrived and until we both sat down in the same
section of the train to answer him.

"Well, first, sir, I need to know what you think Scouting is all
about." I sat down, my arms and elbows reaching the tops of my knees as I
looked across at the man.

"Well, I don't know what they're all about now, but they used to be about
helping people. When I was growing up in the midwest, we used to see
Scouts doing everything. They were working at shelters and old-folks
homes, helping people with getting groceries and things, and they did a
lot of camping. They also put up and took down flags all over town. I've
never seen anyone dressed like you since I've moved here to Ballston (a
suburb of Arlington, Virginia). I've seen some of those boys in blue -- bluebirds? -- standing outside a shopping mall giving out flyers, though."

"Cub Scouts. Those boys in blue and yellow -- they are Cub Scouts," I
corrected the man.

"I'm not a bit surprised, sir. For some reason I think most people have
put us out of mind since the 70s. We still camp, although not as much as
we used to. That's because kids today have so much more going on with
their lives." I nodded and the man turned his head to a young Black kid
at the end of the train section, headphones surounding his bobbing head as
he was mouthing silently the words to some song he was listening to, his
eyes closed to imagine perhaps the music video which he may have viewed
earlier.

"A lot of things we used to do we don't do anymore. Many parents have
some idea that while it was okay for them to do those things when they
were younger, that their children would "do better" and won't be subjected
to such work. Some parents demanded that Scouts get paid for doing "good
turns" because otherwise it would become a form of child labor. Other
parents felt that their sons would be used to further the "goals" of some
adult. And we've had our share of bad things which happened to some of our kids which made parents scared to even put their kids in Scouting."

I scooted closer to the man as I continued, "But Scouting really hasn't
changed too much since the days when I was a Scout. The program's become a bit more cautious and we have changed some of our uniforms and badges. But it's the same things. We are still building strong citizens of quality
character." I inserted that last line, a line I've used to tell people in
summary what Scouting is all about, as I looked at the man.

He wasn't convinced.

"So the numbers must be down, then...I don't see how you're getting to
kids today. What, you've got those pocket computers, the online, and the
beepers and the cell phones now. I don't see Scouts hanging out at the
malls, or at the stores. It just seems to me you guys just let it all go
and forgot what you're supposed to be doing."

"Which is?," I asked. I really wanted to hear this but I had to wait
until after we moved away from the Pentagon stop and the stares of some of
the people getting on the train. I overheard one kid tell his dad "He's
in Scouts. You know that, Dad?", as he walked by me and the older man.

"Aren't you guys supposed to care about conservation? Everywhere I go I
see nothing but trash and a bunch of kids playing around it. What about
drugs? Weren't you guys working on a drug prevention program?? Do you
guys have Eagle Scouts any more??"

I smiled at his last question.

"I'm an Eagle Scout."

"Where's your sash at?? Every Eagle Scout I've seen had one of those
sashes that went down in front with all kinds of small round badges on
it..." I don't think the guy really believed me. I went on to answer his
questions.

"Merit badges. Adults don't wear them. And we do still have a very active
conservation and environment program called "Save Our American Resources" and a drug prevention program called "A Dangerous Game" which we loan out to schools and churches all over the nation to use."

I then caught my breath as I stood. "This is my transfer point. I'm on my
way to a Scouting breakfast meeting."

I turned around, shaking hands with the man, "Thanks for your questions. I
am writing a book about the direction Scouting is going in and I would
love to include your words..."

He returned the handshake and stated, "Just tell them that they need to do
more to let us know that you're still around. I'm serious...I didn't know
that Scouts were still going on until I saw you...and I really thought you
were some kind of military guy or something... Just tell them that they
need to do more to tell people like me what you guys are up to."

So, what have you done today to let people know Scouting is still around??