Ornery Joe

In our troop, we had an ornery scout we’ll call “Joe”. He was shorter than many of the other scouts, but not the shortest. He felt he had something to prove to the rest of us. He was nasty to the youngers, mean to the olders, and rude to most others. One weekend campout, he did something highly unsafe to himself and others, and was about to be expelled from the troop. The committee meeting to decide his fate happened to take place at my parents house, and while we were downstairs in the basement, the voices carried through the heating ducts very clearly. We NEVER gossiped what we may have over-heard, but I remember one of the ASM’s stating very clearly, that Joe should NOT be expelled. “This is the reason this institution was founded! We are here to show them the better path! Discipline, yes, within the rules of Scouting; but do not expel, because then you doom him to the lesser path, and how does that help society?” I think of “Whitey” from “Follow Me Boys” when I think of “Ornery Joe”. I like to think he walked the better path later in life because of Scouting.

Submitted by: Kevin Lentsch of Chicago, IL