Not Quite Arguments

My opinions on Woodbadge are known and noisy and today they again came up. Councils often run this advanced adult leader training program bi-annually over the course of two three-day weeks and the staffs often spend a lot of time preparing for it, and that’s my problem. I don’t think Woodbadge is bad in any way but is simply inefficient. The staff spends too much time preparing and the training itself is too long. The National Leadership Seminar gets someone 80% there in two days which I consider preferable.

Bill Thompson and I butt heads over this every few months and we did again today. I feel bad bringing up my argument because it’s a “not good enough” argument. In Scouting, we’re often talking “good” vs. “not good” with few programs lying in between. I happen to think that Woodbadge is one of them.

At the end of the discussion, Joe Bell, Chris Crose, and I sat in the Dining Room of Totem and I smiled. Joe probably lost 60 lbs, Chris an impressive 110, and me 190. That’s two people’s worth of mass. Chris and I chatted about weight loss:

Chris: Do you find that you’re…. saggy.
Me: Yep.
Chris: Does it go away?
Me: Not really.
Chris: Someone said I should use it to remember how big I was.
Me: I think that person is talking like an idiot.
Chris: I do too.
Me: Any other changes?
Chris: I have a girlfriend. That’s kind of weird.

Chris, don’t tell her that.