111622d

When I was in junior high school, I briefly joined the boy scouts. My best friend at the time recruited me. The group met monthly in, I guess it was a church. I wasn't really interested in any of the merit badges (I only did the knots), but it was more fun than sitting at home. Aafter the meetings, my Dad was supposed to pick me up. One time he didn't come. The scoutmaster just drove away, something that would probably get you fired nowadays, but I was left by myself standing under a street light. This was before cell phones. There was no payphone in sight, and I didn't have any money anyway. So I just waited. Until my dad apparently slapped himself on the side of the head and said that's why David's not here, I was supposed to go pick him up! Two hours late, there he is in the van. You would think this would have soured me on the idea of going anywhere for any group for any reason, but it didn't. Still, the only thing I really enjoyed about the boy scouts was the jamboree. It rained really hard there, and the floor of the tent was standing in water, but we were only there one night and the sun came out the next day. I don't remember anything we did at the only one I attended, except, we dug up baby sassafras trees and boiled the roots to make sassafras tea. It was so good! All in all, a positive experience. I think it was soon after that that I quit the scouts. I didn't want to stay bored until the next jamboree.