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When I served as a camp director I got some complaints about our dining hall steward’s attitude towards Scouts setting or clearing the tables.
Scouts rotate the responsibility of serving as a waiter at our camp. They go early to set the table, serve the food during the meal and clear up afterwords. At any given meal there are Scouts who are new to the experience and they make mistakes. My dining hall steward was growing increasingly frustrated with their inexperience and yelled at them making them even more jumpy.
I listened to his complaints and observed that these were not marines taking a beach but boys carrying plates. There would be few times yelling was justified. I asked him to keep his voice down and try to help the waiters instead of barking at them. The result was happier waiters, and a happier dining hall steward.
Scoutmasters have to remind themselves our Scouts are experiencing things for the first time. Scouts want to do well, they want to be well thought of by those in authority. But sometimes they make mistakes, and even willfully disobey. When this happens we have the opportunity to be their older brother and look after them.
