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It ain’t ignorance that causes all the trouble in this world. It’s the things people know that ain’t so.
Edwin Armstrong , electrical engineer and inventor of FM radio.
Sometimes in Scouting tradition and long practice usurp the way things ought to be. We tend to accept things unquestioningly as they are given to us.
I am reminded of the story of the fellow who always cut the ends off a ham before he put it in the oven. When someone asked him why he did this he replied that his mother had always baked ham this way. When he next saw his mother he asked her why she cut the ends off of the ham before she put it in the oven. She told him that she had to cut the end off the ham because her oven was too small.
We really ought to know why we are doing what we are doing. Question every policy, procedure and practice – if the answer is ‘we’ve always done things that way’ you may be cutting the ends off the ham.
Yes, yes, yes. Stand back. Look at your Troop. Then question everything that you and the other adults are doing.
Ask yourself this: Are the Scouts totally in charge of the Scouting program within the Troop? Totally?
Reminds me of a story years ago in Yankee Magazine. A young wife was attempting to cook a pot roast according to great-ma’s recipe; which stated to “cut the roast in three pieces.” She couldn’t understand why so started asking and was told, “That’s the way great grand-ma said to do it.” So upon further investigation she found that grand aunt Mabel had the answer: “Great grand-ma’s pot was too small.”