Okay, so I don't know how many have been following me on Twitter or what not, but….  I've been taking blow upon blow on the scout front.  Most recently is the scout presence at the Great NY State Fair.  Our council took lead and put together a booth at the state fair.  We opened it up to ALL units in the state.  We even offered free camping at our local camp.  Well, we didn't have HUGE success with out of council units, but we had more than we had units within the council sign up.  Now, the Fair is the single hugest event in the area of the year.  1 million (plus or minus) people go through the gates.  ALOT of locals mark it on the calendar as soon as they buy it in January.

My part of the Fair experience was the nightly parade.  We just asked that scouts show up to march (or ride as we have a float) in the 25 min parade that goes from one side of the grounds to the other.  I had 1 scout & 2 parents beyond my own family the first day (and they were family friends and did it as a personal favor).  Today it was just me & my Webelos son…. NOT A SINGLE OTHER SCOUT!  During the parade I saw 2 of the families from my OWN Pack!!!  I had personally emailed/contacted each family!!!

This is the same Pack that KNOWS that my husband, the CM, is trying to get his teaching certificate and won't be available this fall to fill his duties as CM and they'd rather "wait for him" than step up and at least take an ACM position!!  The same Pack that when I quit flat out last fall as CC did nothing except accept a parent agreeing to put his name down on paper only just so we could recharter!!!  Left everything up to my husband (the CM) to deal with!!

The district???  They couldn't be bothered to do the Fair either!!!  And as for support of me….I'm ADC & co-Events Chair (for CS) and they (the key 3 or any of the committee for that matter) have NEVER been to any of the events that I've put on!!! (I've done 3 now since Jan 2009 when there hadn't been a CS event in YEARS!)  My current project doesn't even carry the District name as a sponsor!!!  I'm doing it pretty free form & giving the units I'm working with & council the credit (and it isn't my unit either).

At what point do I just tell them all to SCREW IT and bail????  I'm feeling so defeated.  I am tired of being knocked down just to get up and get smacked in the head again.  I'm ready to lay down & play dead.

AND to top it off…. I've gotten myself a job working in the Scout Shop and I have to wonder how long before dealing with the units/district  before I learn to loath the program that I can't even enjoy going to work to help the individual scout/parent?!?!?!

But… (get this Cleary) I did actually say NO to a DE the other day.  It was just when he wanted me to run for watermelon during a popcorn pick-up day, but still… I said NO!!!  He was shocked!  (shame is, he's one of the good one that really doesn't ask much of me)

Thoughts?????

I totally agree with what you're saying Shawn and I'm finally hearing it.  But….. what about the boys???  What about the boys that I might reach by being there the other 10 days of the Fair???  What about the boys that have yet to find cub scouts???  The ones that see the flyer that I've put together to invite them to our Open House Pack Meeting???  I can't just leave them hanging because the parents of the ones already in the program are duds.

I WHOLE HEARTEDLY believe the current Lion/Tiger/Yet to be Lion level parents have it going on.  What if I want to hold out for them???  Is that wrong???  8 of 10 of my Lions crossed over to Tigers and of those 8, 6 families are stepping up, just not taking the BIG (CM) leap.

I have to admit, my October event is….. KILLER!!!  And if nothing else, I'll hold on until then.  But even then, I'm dealing with the Red Cross & a really great Fire Department and not scouters!!!!  Maybe after that I'll say "hasta pasta" to the rest of them!!!

Dear Kris,

I wub you even if your unit and district doesn't!

This is the same stuff we wrestle with here, too.  Not on the pack level, but on the troop level.  The best advice I have for you is the same advice my unit commissioner gave me:

Stop taking it personally.

It isn't personal.  If people are lazy it is because they are lazy. If they are mean or if they are flakes, that's their choice and has no reflection on you personally. 

It's a beautiful thing to care so deeply about an organization that you're willing to make sacrifices to make it work, but in the end, you can't make the only sacrifices and see any difference, you know?  There is power in numbers and if you don't have those numbers, don't sit there banging your head against the wall trying to put a puzzle together with only half the pieces.

Don't think of it as "quitting".  Quitting isn't in the scouting spirit of things.  (Besides, I can't stand a quitter.  *wink*)  Think of it as taking a break, as others have said, or more importantly, protecting your own interests and those of your family. Take a step back. 

Hang in there chicky, it's rough but you're doing your best and no one can ask more than that!