I blame the parents

As per my post below I spent today at a wildlife rescue center and a fascinating day it was as well. As I am sure you can imagine of such a place on an August bank holiday there were plenty of families with children there, and I can't blame them. There was loads to see, touch and learn about and I can't plug the place enough. I did however notice something, I had noticed it before but this time was more pronounced than ever.

There were various talks on, we saw talks about Lemurs, Otters and Wolves and were joined by many others, mostly families. Some groups listened attentively to what they were being told, while others did not, they made loads of noise and simply talked over what the staff were saying and on occasions made it very difficult to here. Now I know that it is an informal setting and perhaps I'm being a bit prudish, but I thought it was bloody rude. If you don't want to listen then naff off and look at something else. The talks are only ten minutes, you can come back when it's over and see the animals then. Alternatively hang around and listen, you never know, you may just learn something. I know I did, and I have a biology degree! (Did you know that in gangs of a dozen or more the short pawed otter in Asia can attack and force into retreat a full grown crocodile, such is the power of their bite? Amazing!)

Anyway, annoying ignorant fools get everywhere these days, but here's the rub, without fail where the parents behaved well and listened the kids did the same, where the parents were rude and made loads of noise, the kids did the same. Coincidence? Probably not.

And I feel nothing but pity for those poor kids.

The Frustration of Being Akela

Sometimes I feel like I don't get paid enough for this. We are taking the cubs away for a week to cubjam, a jamboree organised especially for cubs. It's not cheap but we organised a payment schedule for parents that allows us to pay the money to theorganisers and sort out our own transport and food etc. So far so good.

But there are parents that don't produce the cheque when you ask them to, so you phone them. And then find that it wasn't just being forgetful (these things happen, I've lost count of the number of bills I've paid late) but deliberate. One lot of parents was worried about her child being away the full week. Did she pick up the phone and ask the questions she was worried about in advance so that we could get the cheques paid in and cleared? No. She waited for me to harrass her and would presumably have still been doing so had I not called.

Similarly the other one may actually be on holiday and are still trying to decide what to do. Did they phone me to find out when I had to know and get some idea of what the deal was? No, they wait for me to chase them again before them tell me.

How many more times do I have to say this? When will people get the message? I am doing this for their kids, I am a volunteer, I do this for the love of it in my own time. I don't ask for anything other than a little bit of support now and then. Is asking parents to pick up the bloody phone now and then really too fucking much to ask?

A Quick Moan

One bad thing about last night…. We’d asked for the next instalment for our big camp in May to be paid last night. And as ever it was the usual suspects who failed to do so. Every camp it’s the same, I can tell you without even thinking about it who the parents will be that I will have to chase. I love doing what I do, but it’s the hours spent on the phone harassing parents that really wind me up.

Being a scout leader can be amazing. It can be one of the most fulfilling, most up lifting, most worthwhile things you can do. Anyone that has seen a kid smile the first time they throw themselves off an abseil tower despite being convinced they couldn't do it, or been to a major jamboree will tell you that.

It also has its moments when it is utterly crap.

Right now I have reached the end of my tether with parents who don't support me and my team and what we do. Parents who have to be chased every time, every time with out fail to pay over subs or camp fees or hand over health forms. And its not through lack of cash, half the time it's bone idleness. They simply seem to have no idea, no idea at all about what the hell it is we are actually doing for their kids.

I wrote down today all the different roles that I perform, have a look at these, can you spot anything I've missed?

Chef, accountant, party planner, entertainer, writer, administrator, photographer, janitor, decorator, mechanic, debt collector, surrogate parent, first aider, health and safety officer, navigator, driver, courier, tent errector, fire lighter, artist, diplomat, policeman, public speaker.

I do all this, for other people's kids, every week, in fact most days I do one of those things or another. The kids appreciate it, they are great (ok, one or two don't, but that's part of growing up), but half the parents don't. Half don't say thank you, and is it a surprise that these are the ones I'm always chasing? Every term and every camp? Is it fuck!

I feel like standing on top of a tall building and screaming, very loud, "I'm a volunteer, cut me some fucking slack, for once, you selfish barstards".

I've just asked my GSL and treasurer to send out a very stroppy letter because frankly I've had enough.

I don't want to start saying kids cant come to things but if that is what it takes to get some of them to change then is it how it will have to be.