boy scout

When my soon-to-be husband told me that he was an Eagle Scout, I blanked. Shoot... does that mean he's a cub scout? A tree-hugger? A bird-watcher? I didn't grow up around boy scouts, and the only thing I knew about them was that people called them in to do nasty jobs like clean out gross, garbage-filled basements in condemned houses. They wore goofy-looking neckerchiefs and uniforms with weird patches sewn on the front. I also knew that boy scouts pulled out tree stumps behind VFW's and held pancake breakfasts on Saturday mornings. Whoopie.

My opinion quickly changed, however, when Marty patiently explained to me what being a boy scout is all about: character, respect, discipline, leadership, and honesty. Marty and his two brothers are all Eagle Scouts, the highest and most prestigious rank that a boy scout can achieve. I still don't really understand the amount of work that goes into something like that, but I'm told they spend years and years working towards it. Years and years. Crazy.

Here are a few statistics that blew my suspender-wearing, nerd-glasses-toting stereotype out of the water: boy scouts make up 64% of Air Force Academey graduates, 72% of Rhodes Scholars, 26% of astronauts, and 85% of FBI Agents. For real? Eighty-five percent of FBI agents were BOY SCOUTS? I was shocked. Boy scouts rock, apparently.

So this past weekend, when we went to a Court of Honor that recognized my two brother-in-laws' achievements as Eagle Scouts, I proudly sat in the front row. A sweet lady read letters of congratulations, sent from police departments, firefighters, senators, congressmen, and past presidents. And although I had absolutely no idea what was going on at times (Wait--what are the roses for? Why the crazy-looking pins? And why the heck are they burning that neckerchief?), I got the gist of it.

And I was proud of the boy scouts... Neckerchiefs and all ;)