Invasion of the Boy Scouts...

I made a few trips into DC this past weekend. Friday night, we went to see the Nationals play the Astros. Our seats were great - thanks to my company spending money that could have been used for bonuses or raises - but alas, the Nats have fallen into a slump and were blown out. There was a whole section on the upper deck that was full of Boy Scouts though.

Sunday I headed to the new Native American museum to meet my friend Leigh for lunch and to catch up. Lunch was great and the museum is chocked full of info from lots of north and south american tribes. Might be a little much to consume in one day though. But the architecture of the building is really cool and the exhibits are very informative and interesting.

After touring around the museum, we sat outside beside a water feature and chatted. Well, apparently the Boy Scouts convention in DC this week decided to invade the museums on Sunday as well. A small UNSUPERVISED group of them sat beside us and started harassing the ducks that were swimming around. They were throwing pennies at the ducks who thought the kids had bread for them to eat. So Leigh yelled at them to stop. Of course, they didn't. So when they started up again, Leigh threw some water on them and yelled at them to stop again. (note - the proper response would have been to call the Park Police and let them know that there were some unsupervised kids at the museum causing problems - that way maybe their troop leader would have gotten in trouble) So, the kids finally stopped and eventually wandered off to another museum.

Then on my way back to the Metro station to head home, I was waiting at one of the larger intersections to cross the street. Well, another UNSUPERVISED group of Boy Scouts walked up beside me. 2 of them thought they would be smart butts and ran into the street with oncoming traffic. They were very lucky that it was a luxury car or they would be roadkill at this point. So I yelled at them that there was a reason that we have the crosswalk signs in the area. It really burns me up that their adult troop leaders would allow 12-14 yr old boys to run wild in a major city - not to mention a major city that is on an elevated alert level! These kids were disrespectful to the animals, authority and couldn't follow basic safety rules - therefore disgracing their BSA organization.

So, guess who's wrote a letter to the BSA on Monday. That's right - ME! I mean really - what if one of these kids got hurt while unsupervised? What if one of them was kidnapped? Or what if they hurt someone/something else (probably unintentionally - but still)? The affected parties would have every right to sue the BSA, and the way people are today - you know they would.

I placed the letter in the mail Monday afternoon at the Post Office, feeling quite confident that I was doing a service to their organization. Well, wouldn't you know it - that night on the news they reported that 4 scout leaders had been killed by electrocution while putting up a tent at their Jamboree site at Fort AP Hill in VA. So now my letter will go completely unnoticed. Don't get me wrong - I feel really bad for these guys and their families - especially the guy with twin boys who saw it happen - ouch! But honestly, if these folks are scout leaders - shouldn't they be more aware of their surroundings than to be putting up tents with tall metal poles so close to power lines? Didn't they 'scout' that location before deciding it was a good spot for a party tent?

I can tell you this - I seriously doubt Baby Brown will be joining the Boy Scouts. At least not until they get their act together. I mean really - if they would allow homosexual scout leaders, those kids wouldn't be sleeping outside anyway. They'd be in a resort hotel learning the finer things in life like the differences between a facial peel and a pedicure ;)