I sometimes forget just how sensitive some people\u2019s ears are. When I\u2019m talking to people my age or younger, they\u2019re used to language that their elders might consider \u201coffensive\u201d\u2014it\u2019s part of our modern culture, much like half-naked models on billboards and beer commercials on TV. But when those elders are in the room\u2026 that can have an unfortunate effect.<\/p>\n
Consider tonight: I used language that some parents consider unbecoming of an Assistant Scoutmaster and they may be right. However, I look at my relationship with the Scouts a little differently than the parents do. I\u2019ve been a member of Troop 261 for years and years and years, both as a Scout and an adult leader. Since I\u2019ve been growing up around these kids just as they\u2019ve grown up around me, I feel like more of a liaison between them and the other adult leaders. Consequently, the way I behave tends to lean closer towards what the Scouts might be doing.<\/p>\n
After the opening ceremony and what not, people broke off into little groups to do various things: some were planning menus for an upcoming campout, some of the younger ones were working on their rank advancements and a bunch of them were getting the cook kits organized. Each one is supposed to have two pots, one frying pan, one spatula, yadda yadda yadda\u2026 So a bunch of people emptied their big plastic tubs onto the floor and someone was listing off the inventory\u2014he\u2019d tell them about the two pots, they\u2019d either put both back in the bucket or tell the quartermaster that they had extra or needed certain supplies.<\/p>\n
Sounds pretty boring, doesn\u2019t it? Well, it was. The person listing off inventory initially said he\u2019d be smiling while he did it. The smile didn\u2019t last very long, so I hopped over, grabbed the list and started doing it myself: \u201cOne small knife and don\u2019t stab anyone with it \u2018cause they\u2019ll bleed to death.\u201d It might not have made things move faster, but at least it held their interest a little longer. Unfortunately, it didn\u2019t last.<\/p>\n
Once the tubs were organized, the kids headed back to the main room and got very bored very quickly. I went up to the front to try and keep them occupied for a while, but the first thing I wanted to do was tell them about a little sign on a door in the hallway where we were working. See, we\u2019ve been meeting in a church for a pretty long time and those people have been good enough to provide us with a meeting place that has a roof on it, plenty of space for everyone to spread out, etc. However, we\u2019re not the only ones to use the church on Monday nights\u2014the sign on the door said that there was a yoga class inside and asked people to please be quiet. Oops\u2026<\/p>\n
So like I said, I told them about the sign, then tried to keep them occupied for a while. I\u2019m not sure exactly how the discussion (read: lecture) came to the point it did\u2014I\u2019ve written in here at previous times that I can go off on a topic and not remember what I said afterwards\u2014but it eventually arrived at my telling them that they shouldn\u2019t be sitting there talking all the time. Even while there are adults and Scout leaders giving announcements or whatever, a lot of kids will just babble to each other as if nothing\u2019s going on. Naturally, while I was telling them about this, they kept talking amongst each other like I wasn\u2019t there.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when I decided to give them a little verbal slap in the face. Obviously, raising my voice wasn\u2019t doing the job, so I slapped on the podium beside me and said, \u201cSometimes you guys gotta know when to shut the hell up<\/i>!\u201d Coming up to that statement, I had a brief moment to decide whether or not to include those two additional words when telling them to shut up. I did. It worked. But some people got hit in the crossfire of that slap.<\/p>\n
Truth be told, I didn\u2019t think about it all that much when I said it (kind of ironic, given that we were in a church and all\u2026). I feel like I\u2019m sitting on that middle ground between Scout and adult leader; since the kids are used to language like that, it wasn\u2019t a big deal. Well, I suppose I knew it would be sort of a big deal, given that it achieved the shock value I was looking for\u2014I had their attention immediately<\/i>. Also immediately, two adults took their kids and left the meeting because they were upset about my \u201cswearing\u201d at the Scouts.<\/p>\n
After the meeting was over, I drove home, called the parent who left (I know, there were two, but I didn\u2019t know about the second until well afterwards) and apologized. I didn\u2019t mean to offend him, it was inappropriate and so on. He accepted my apology and told me that if I ever got upset like that again, just call him up to the front of the room and he could just stand there and glare at them. Given his biker-esque stature, it would work, too. The problem is that even though I was frustrated, telling them to \u201cshut the hell up\u201d wasn\u2019t because I blew off the handle or anything\u2014I knew what I was doing the whole time.<\/p>\n
In retrospect, I feel bad about it, but only because I know it upset some of the adults. If they weren\u2019t around, would the kids have gone home crying to their parents after the meeting? No. Would they have kept listening after I said that? Yes. Sadly, it probably would have had a positive effect, too. Maybe you\u2019ve heard the hypothetical question, \u201cWould you do something if you knew you could get away with it and not get caught?\u201d If you asked me whether or not I\u2019d tell them to shut the hell up again, you know what I\u2019d say? \u201cYou\u2019re damn right I would.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I sometimes forget just how sensitive some people\u2019s ears are. When I\u2019m talking to people my age or younger, they\u2019re used to language that their elders might consider \u201coffensive\u201d\u2014it\u2019s part of our modern culture, much like half-naked models on billboards and beer commercials on TV. But when those elders are in the room\u2026 that can … <\/p>\n