The Tenets of Boy Scout Law

I was walking in to a football game the other day.  On one side was a former football coach.  On the other was the mother of one of the players.  The coach told me "thanks for being here" while the  said Mom said "I always feel better that you're here."

Folks, when that stops being important to me, then I'm going home.  I want to be that person that you trust with the welfare of your children.  That trust is very important to me.

I want to be the person there when they get hurt.   Call it arrogant or whatever you want to but I do believe that I can handle any injury, any crisis.  I want to be trustworthy.

So I was contemplating that word, trustworthy (while riding my bike--this column was actually composed with me on the back of a bicycle) and it made me think back to the Boy Scout Law.

Yes, I was a Boy Scout.  An Eagle Scout actually.  Scouting helped form the person that I am today.

Trustworthy.  Loyal.  Helpful.  Friendly. Courteous. Kind.  Obedient. Cheerful. Thrifty.  Brave.  Clean.  Reverent.

You can read this column any way you want to.  But those words are important to me and many others.  You're in the sports pages so you can make a sports analogy for each of them.  Try it.  It works.

Or you can let them speak to you.  Even today, they speak to me.  I did not need any help remembering those 12 basic tenets of Scouting.

Trustworthy.  OK.  We've already been there.  Worthy of trust.  Says it all.

Loyal.  We are all better people and better citizens when we are part of something bigger than ourselves.  Loyalty to our team.  Loyalty to our family.  Loyalty to our employer.

Helpful.  Sometimes the greatest gift you can give someone is a gift that they have no idea where it came from.  Try it.  And promise to never ever tell them.

Friendly.  Another thing I aspire to is to enter a room and try and make friends of everyone in the room.   Can't always do that but I believe I really try hard to be able to say that I've never met a stranger.

Courteous.  My mom used to have a plaque in her kitchen that said "put sugar in what you say and salt in what you hear."  If you want to diffuse a tense situation, try being polite.  And respectful.

Kind.  I remember another cliché:  Kill 'em with kindness.  Don't forget the Golden Rule.

Obedient.  We all struggle with this one from time to time.  There's a time and place for everything (sorry...another cliché).

Cheerful.  Away from my work, I'm a big hugger.  I can be goofy.   On my bike, I wave at everyone.  My humor runs toward the self-deprecating kind.  I don't smile enough but I do try and have a positive outlook on everything.  Isn't that a better way to spend your day?

Thrifty.  Goodness, wouldn't the federal government benefit from following this one?

Brave.  This one takes many faces.  Brave in the face of adversity.  Brave in the face of disease.  Brave in the face of hardships.  Brave in the face of a worthy opponent.

Clean.  Respect yourself.  Take pride in yourself.

Reverent.  I told the story once before about how my Senior Superlative in high school was Most Dignified.  For most of my life, I wished it had been one of the cool Senior Superlatives like Most Athletic or Best Looking or even Funniest. 

I've grown to be proud of exhibiting dignity and reverence when they are called for. 

I carry these with me every day and have taken all to heart, but the greatest of these for me is probably Trustworthy.