The Grind

Two weeks (nearly) down and six more to go.

Today we had our inspection for national standards. Big Deal! Mostly it's just a lot of bluffing.

Meanwhile children are doing not so bright things with knives.

Oh my!

Today. This poor boy attempted to shave the top of his finger tip off. He now has 8 stitches in that hand. The hard part however was getting him to hold still long enough for me to get it to stop bleeding. He kept moving every time I tried to apply pressure. Blood was spraying everywhere. For a 5'2 kid he was pretty strong. OK now, but rough fighting though.

Also scout masters. Dear God in heaven. Some of them are so cool. Really out to help, but some are just interested in trying to look cool to their scouts or more importantly trying to be, while at camp, the BMOC that they think of themselves as. It really is funny to watch them throw their weight around like they are Trump, Gates or Arnie. Funny, provided you aren't the one they are throwing their weight at.

As a medic, lots of scout masters want to help me, live the whole hero thing. They tend to exaggerate credentials and embellish abilities and experiences. One time a scoutmaster told me he was a paramedic in Miami. He was a actually a volunteer fireman, first responder to a suburb of Boca Raton... That was a long week.

The things people are thankful for. One poor boy on staff has a horrific boil on his, well, his butt. His mother called me and asked me if I would look at it and tell her what I thought. This was not something I wanted to do. But I did it. It looked terrible and painful and plus, looking at other peoples bottoms, especially minors, is not my first choice of a Monday night activity. It had to be worse for this kid than me... He hugged me and thanked me before he went home to see a dermatologist this morning.

It is also funny to me what becomes important up here. Getting to shower in private becomes an undiscovered joy. Knowing that if you leave something in the fridge it will still be there... Being able to find your radio with your stickers on it...

I still love this job...