Once a Scout, Always a Scout

When John, my immediate superior told me Monday he was organising a campfire on Friday, I asked if he was having a belated Bonfire Night. Obviously he wasn't. He explained that he is the Scout Master for one of the troops in Maidenhead and that he was doing it for a fund raising event for the Scouts.

He asked if I was interested to join him on Friday and continued with his next question, if I was a Scout. I paused to think the answer. Don't know why I did that. I guess I wasn't sure and didn't want to embarass myself if the English Scouts didn't believe in the "Once a Scout, always a Scout" thing, as the Scouts in Malaysia were told after their "retirement". It wasn't a long pause. I told John I WAS one before and emphasised the past tense. He looked surprise and insisted I should join him then.

I accepted his invitation. I'd always wanted to see how the Scouts movement here were run. After all, this is where it all started - in England!

Friday came, lots of work as usual. But we left early for Maidenhead. It was a 19-mile journey and took us an hour with the jam. When we reached the site, we met up with other senior Scouts. We unpacked the cooking utensils, brought out the benches, food and set out the lights. It reminded me so much about those campfire days that I had before in Malaysia, only difference was the weather.

John tasked me to make two pots of soup. Since it was a fund raising event, I have to give in the extra effort to make sure customers come back for more. So they have to be good! After the two pots of soup were done, I was "reassigned" to be in-charge of serving fried onions in the Burger Division. This was my first time mass-producing burgers! Soon, I had the nickname, "Onion Man". John was laughing calling me that. The kids liked it. The other crew in the burger division had their fair share of nicknames; Patty Lady and Bread Crumbs. Onion Man wasn't too bad after all, in comparison.

We proceeded to sit around the campfire. The night was cold, so the campfire was great. We sang many scout songs, learnt different types of claps, watched a sketch and did some silly dance. I felt like a 13-year old boy again! I was so happy being able to relive those experiences of being a Scout again.

After the night was over, I was telling John about some of the common songs that we share in Malaysia. I also introduced him to some other lively songs and claps that we sung and clapped previously. He was extremely surprised by the development of the Scouts movement in Malaysia. He obviously didn't know the Scouts in Malaysia speak in English too! I told him that I felt like a Scout again tonight. Then he struck me with a familiar phrase when he replied, "What do you mean you feel like a Scout again? Once you're a Scout, you're always a Scout!"