Girl Scouts

Mom was our Brownie leader.  She was fair and impartial in her duties.  At the end of my Brownie career, I received wings at my “flying up” ceremony to Girl Scout.  My wings were misplaced on the way home, fate’s hand in my Girl Scout trials.

Our leader was a 300 lb. woman who walked in, and sat in a chair in the middle of the room and sweated.  She had sweat to her elbow and to her waist.  It was evident she did not want to be there.  I decided to go after a sewing badge as Mom knew how to sew and could mentor me.  Whatever it was that I made, I not only failed the badge, our Troop Leader called every girl over to laugh at my work.

Shortly thereafter, we had a test camping lesson, in which we were told to bring a small frying pan and bar of bath soap.  Our Leader, out of her chair but still sweating, told us to soap the pan.  I thought we were cleaning the pan so soaped the inside to rinse it.  She meant for us to soap the outside so the pan wouldn’t burn on the fire.  Once again, she had all the girls laugh at me.

I stayed to sell cookies door-to-door, something that would never be allowed these days, and quit.  At my age, why am I ranting about this?  Because it hurts a growing girl’s self-esteem.

I met a lady yesterday who loved my denim jacket (everyone out here does) and I told her I didn’t do the embellishment but everyone thinks I did, no way because I failed my sewing badge!

She told me her Troop Leader had multiple rings and always rolled a pencil between her hands.  She was given cooking instructions to mix the batter by hand, so that’s what she did.  By hand.  She failed her cooking badge.

The soap incident just resurfaced in my memory so I have to tell her next time I see her.  These are the times that shape our lives.  Luckily I was able to rise above the soap incident, but other than a button or two, I will not sew.

I hope that people like those two women won’t volunteer for Scout service, because they do a disservice to our young girls.  Neither of us would have remembered it decades later unless it was a life-changing incident.  Keep cooking, as a cook’s best tool is his/her hands.  As for soaping a pan, 40 years later I’ve never had to use that technique but do know how to clean a pan properly.  Cheers, Dee.