Cooties

I think that’s what it comes down to: There are a lot of people out there frightened of girls.

Our local newspaper did a feature story on girl troops in the Boy Scouts of America. It was a positive article.

But because they posted the story on the Web, and because Internet comments are a cesspool of toxicity and negativity, that’s the general kind of comments the story is getting.

Which is fine. People are going to complain about anything. And everything. They probably didn’t much care for the Boy Scouts beforehand, so why should they care now? They don’t have to. It’s their right to be bitter.

But I’d still like them to show up at a Scout meeting. With the girls. And have them spew their bitterness to the girls. In person. I’ll bet good money these Internet warriors haven’t got the guts to do it.

Oh, I’ve heard it. We have a girl troop and heard some negativity when we were selling cookie dough as a fundraiser at storefronts in town. But the warriors there weren’t brave enough to complain in the girls’ faces. They had to make their snide remarks when they thought they were out of earshot. They were not.

But they’re not brave enough to say it in front of the girls. To the girls. In front of the girls, exposed to their cooties, these people are gutless wonders.

Because if they said it to the girls, they’d have to listen to the girls’ rebuttal. Not that they’d all be brave. If they said these hurtful things to my daughter, our senior patrol leader and First Class Scout, she’d probably cry. Because my daughter is a tender-heart. And I love her for it.

And as much as I hate the thought of my daughter's feelings being hurt, I'd love to see the naysayers squirm as they sat there watching. Because that's what it comes down to. It's easy to be a Big Man (or Woman) when you don't have to face the consequences of your flippant comments on the Internet. But face real-world consequences? Nah. Not so much. Although some probably would like it. Because they're that dried up inside.

But my daughter can also likely run circles around half of the boys still in Boy Scouts. This isn’t Dad-bragging. She’s that good. She’s been on camp staff for years. She’s lifeguard certified. She hikes like the wind.

And this is what, I think post people are scared of. These girls are flat out better than most of the boys.

Nevermind all of this about past abuse in the BSA, which some of these gutter-snipes bring up because hey, gotta mention something bad. But mention any organization under the sun and you’ll find people willing to bad-mouth it, and they’ll have truth on their side.

What matters is what’s happening now in these organizations. And in the BSA I see an organization that is better prepared than most others out there, simply because of the crap that’s happened in its past.

So I don’t read the comments. Much. I’m choosing to focus a lot more on the positives, because that’s what I see, working with these Scouts on a weekly basis. There’s a lot of good that can be done, naysayers be damned.

But it is amusing to see how many people out there are scared girl cooties are going to get on them.

UPDATE: I don't care if you approve of what Scouting is doing or not. I'm looking at the results for those who are still in Scouting:

What isn't being accomplished here?

I help run a girl troop in Ammon. One of them is my daughter. She loves Scouting. She also loves ballet, and has performed for years.

One of our other scouts raises cattle for 4H. She also wrestles. She loves camping.

Another girl is working on her Catholic confirmation. She's thrilled that Scouting provides additional opportunities for the service hours she needs to fulfill her religious goals.

What is being accomplished here? Girls are being given an opportunity to do what they want to do in a program that fills their needs.