Camp Parsons is blessed to have a multi-talented staff. It is the main reason why we receive good reviews and have become somewhat of a destination camp for troops outside of the Chief Seattle Council. It is my belief that although the location of the camp is a draw in itself, it is secondary to the allure of the applied program by the staff. When we orient new staff, one of the key points that we make is that staff is only as strong as our weakest link. Everyone plays a vital role in the delivery of the program whether you are the potwasher or the aquatics director; scoutcraft crew member or camp director; every job is important, though not every one carries the same skill or responsibility. Outside of the skills of being a good scout, every staff member brings some little uniqueness to the table. Some are good story tellers, some are good singers, some are good actors and some can swing a hammer. Few however, can do it all nor are they expected to. Thirty years ago I was ready to fire a young staff member because he was horrible at his job. No matter what I did or his fellow staff members did to help made a difference. He was so bad that I had to remove him from his job and place him in a program area for at least a week until I was able to hire someone. However during that week.....he began to shine, not only did he shine but he became one of the best staff members of that year and for the following four years that he worked. It dawned on me after that week of change that he was not suited or even had the talents for his previous job. It wasn't that he was a bad guy, he just couldn't do that previous job and when placed where his talents lay, he blossomed. Some of our staff can build things but really do not want to be in front of crowds singing or doing skits. Others are talented on stage but couldn't identify a hammer, saw or crowbar if it were in front of them. All of them bring something to the table and all of them are important. I have always been proud of our staff and have always done my best to support them in their "post-camp" endeavors.
HOWEVER
Despite the fact that I am proud of my staff, they are, for the most part, teenagers. If you can recall Scout Law Physics rule #28; "The IQ of any one staff member is inversely proportional to the number of staff members in the same vicinity." We are talking "group think" here folks, a strange twist on the Lord of the Flies. When left alone to their own devices we quickly find how the saying "idle hands are the devil's workshop" came to be. We go out of our way to make sure our staff are comfortable for their nine week stay at Camp Parsons. Comfortable, heated facilities with electricity. Hot showers, flush toilets and washers/dryers are all readily available. So what happens? Doors kicked in, not only breaking the door but the frame as well; using a roll of toilet paper to "get the job done" and then letting the toilet overflow when you flush; punching holes into the dry wall; bringing food back from the dining hall (particularly milk) then leaving it out in the open in their cabins, after which they complain about mice and the nasty smell. I could go on and on but you get the picture. When I was a teenager, I made some of the same mistakes. I would leave clothes hanging around, garbage bins overflowing but at least at the end of each week my roommates and I would clean it up. How can guys who go to Harvard, MIT, West Point, Tulane, UW, etc live like they are incoherent homeless people that suffer from mental disease? Refer to physics rule #28. It is not only Camp Parsons; Dan Gelis related a similar story from Camp Pigott where staff members were throwing knives into the dry wall of their cabin as a competition. Seriously, if you had friends over to your house and they did that....what would your parents do? Answer that one then substitute Ken and I in the "parents" role.
We have a limited amount of time and money to support a very active program. We need money to keep our limping freezer compressor working so we can store food for the summer, we need to repair boats that live on salt water, we need program equipment, we need to pay our staff a better salary......our resources cannot go into repairing something that never...NEVER should be broken. I loved being in MBC for several years as a young staff member. I also remember that it was an honor and a privilege to live in that cabin and although it got a little messy, we took care of it. If something broke because of our stupidity, we fixed it. When the Program Director broke down our door in the late seventies....we were the ones to fix it. Not so over the last decade or so......and I apologize to those who have tried hard to take care of that cabin during that time....unfortunately you were outgunned.
So yes, it was a negative blog yesterday.....a reflection of my mood. Nonetheless, camp exists for the scouts only. We are tired of having our energies directed at taking care of fixing the benefits that are there for the staff, particularly when they do not take ownership of their own camp. That said....I have faith that our staff can improve, after all they are some of the best scouts in the nation.
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