SHHHHH!

Some people can be so rude, as blog buddy Black Belt Mama found out today.

Some years ago, I was Cody's cub scout den leader. We were having our monthly pack meeting, which despite intentions to the contrary, were usually very unorganized and boring as [insert descriptor of your choice here]. During a lull in the activity (probably while the cubmaster was trying to decide what she wanted to do next), I was sitting beside the dad of one of the boys in my den, and we were talking quietly about plans and ideas for activities. Another mom, not a den leader or anything, just another mom, turned around and looked straight at us and went SHHHHH! The dad and I both stared at her and he said in a rather loud voice, "I know she didn't just shush us!"

This wasn't the last time that woman and I butted heads. We were on a camp out not too long after that. The pack was camping at the archery range out at the lake, and there was an elevated platform there. It was for archers to practice shooting from tree stands. It wasn't but about 10' high and all the boys wanted to play on it. I told Cody he could, as soon as he finished helping me set up the tent and stuff. About 30 minutes later, several boys were happily playing on and around the platform when this woman arrives, gets out of her car and literally screams all the way across the campsite, "All you boys get down from there NOW!!!"

"Who does she think she is trying to boss other people's kids around?" we all asked ourselves, and each other. I told Cody not to worry about what she said. "Your mother told you could play over there, just be careful of the little kids." Apparently the other kids cleared it with their own parents as well, because soon they were all happily playing on the platform again. The same woman actually had the nerve to scream at them again.

It was her own little boy I felt so sorry for. He was 8, and went by the nick name of J.W., and the poor kid wasn't allowed to do anything. On another camping trip, Spring Camporee out at the Camp McCain army post, the army guys always had lots of big equipment--tanks, helicopters, earth movers, other various and sundry things boys find fascinating--there on the campgrounds. Now, the spring camporee was a big thing, with Cub Scout packs and Boy Scout troops from all over our council attending. Naturally the campground was rather large. The tanks and such were all at one end of it. It was quite a ways from our campsite.

Some of the boys from our pack were going to go look at the equipment, so J.W. asked if he could go, too. His mother, surprisingly, said yes he could. But about 2 minutes later, she decided she was ready to go home. Poor JW probably hadn't even had time to get over there to the stuff yet, when she stands in the middle of our campsite and starts screaming his name. Now, that stuff was a long ways away, and there was no way the kid could have heard her, but she stands there for about 5 minutes screaming and screaming at him, getting madder and madder, with her face turning redder and her head looking like it was about to explode.

She finally stops a total stranger and asks him to go find JW. The man didn't even know who the kid was, and wouldn't have recognized him if he saw him--not to mention how potentially risky sending a total stranger to pick up your kid is--but he went off with a vague description to try to find a red headed boy. He eventually finds the boy and sends him back to our campsite. As he is walking through, another dad asks him if he saw his son over there. JW slowed down just a bit, he didn't stop walking, but he slowed enough to turn to the man and answer his question. Upon seeing his hesitation, JW's mother screams at him, "J--- W----- (using his full name) I SAID COME HERE, NOW!!!!" Right there in front of everybody.

I don't see them any more since Cody got too old for Cub Scouts, and decided not to do Boy Scouts. I often wonder how that poor kid is.

This mom did provide at least one comic moment for us though. There was a near total lunar eclipse during the first campout, with coverage reaching its peak at 7:00 PM. The eclipse really started around 4:30 or 5:00. This was in November, so it was dark by then. We were all watching it. As we gathered for our campfire activities, this woman announced that there would be an eclipse at 7. Several people spoke up and informed her that it had already started.

"Well, it's supposed to get worse at seven!" she answered.
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