Give and Take

In life there are givers, there are takers and there are complainers. I think most people are a combination of all three but some lean stronger one way or the other.

Case in point. We have two sons ages 21 & 17 and both have gone from Tiger Cubs (first grade) in Cub Scouts up through to Eagle Scout in Boy Scouts. My husband was a den leader for both boys and is very active in the Boy Scout troop, over the years holding several committee posoitions. This is all done on a all volunteer basis. Getting other parents to be envolved has always been an ongoing problem. Like any organizations, it's always the same parents that do the volunteering and the same ones that do nothing.

One of the things that hubby and another father have done is plan a spring trip for the boys for the last 6 years. These trips are also open to the family members. They've gone to West Point, Baltimore, Boston, Washington DC, Toronto and New York City. It takes a lot of work to plan these trips from the transportation, chaperones, lodging, meals, attractions and itinery. Being responsible for someone else's kids is more than enough work.

This is the last year that these fathers will be planning the trip as both boys are going to college in September and will be done with scouts. This fact was brought up in several parent meeting and they suggested that some of the younger scout parent's help plan the trip with them so they can do it in the future. No one stepped up to the plate and it has been simmering on the back burner. It came to light that the scouts were bummed that no trip was being planned. The two guys decided that they'd plan one more trip so their boys could enjoy one last hurrah.

Don't forget that going as far back as October they asked for help or ideas of where the trip should be. They now decided that they would take the boys to Ottawa, the capital of Canada. It's a five hour drive and would last three days. Hubby sent out an email the other night to get a headcount as to who might be interested.

He received this email from a parent, word for word;

*Your Poor* planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part. what have you been doing since October when the spring trip was first raised in the parent meeting? why did you not ask for input or at least present a couple of different places to go other than an icebox city with very little to do unless your into shopping of fine arts. What scouting activities do you have planned?

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

WTF. My response, not my husband's.

My husband responded:

Ouch!

XXXX, that's gonna leave a mark in the morning. Do I detect some sarcasm there?? On behalf of John and myself, we do appreciate your comments though.

There is so much more to this as well as more emails. I just get so frustrated with people like him. Sit back and let others do all the work but complain when it's not to your liking. Plus Ottawa is a great place, I've been twice. Being the country's capital it's rich with history, sites to see, things to do. They're staying in a hostel that used to be a jail. How cool is that for a kid?

I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's not the kids that are bad, it's their crazy parents. I'll deal with kids any day over adults.

On another note, I'm off from school for the next week for February recess. Yahooo.