I was a scout for some time when I was smaller. Why did I stop being one, you might be asking. Well, there was this kid who was my classmate and friend at the time. Let's call him Preston. Preston was somewhat cool, even if a little rough. He was living in a bad family. I don't now if he was subject to domestic abuse, but he and his dad definitely didn't like each other. Preston and I were good friends, we were hanging out all the time.
I had been a scout for about a year when I had the idea of inviting him to my patrol. Things were going smoothly at first. Like I said, he was a bit rough sometimes, so we would sometimes get in fights, but not something we wouldn't get over quickly.
Then there was this thing in my school. There are some stories from that school I might tell in another blog, but long story short, most people in my class hated me and teachers literally punished me for getting bullied. So, one time Preston and I got in a fight and I punched him. That landed me right in the principal's office. It was something big, because I didn't have to go right away, rather, I was told to wait for my mum to come for me after school and that she would have to come with me in there as well. I told Preston about this (we already made up by then). In the principal's office, the principal recommended me to switch schools. He didn't expel me, he had just recommended me to go away. I was feeling pretty down after that. I got out of the office a couple of minutes before my mum did and started walking around the halls a bit. The school was mostly empty by then, but I did meet Preston as he was packing his stuff and preparing to leave (the principal's office was in viewing distance of our classroom). I walked up to him and greeted him. I'll never forget what he said next. He put a wide grin on his face and asked “Well? Did you get expelled?” I had to process what had just happened for a second, but I immediately got furious, told him to go suck a dick and stormed back into the office. I did catch a glance of his confused face while I was going away. That was the last time I ever saw or talked to him.
My mum and I listened to the principal and left the school for another one. This switch did come conveniently, though, as my family was moving, so I could instead attend a school that was 10 minutes of biking away.
Back to scout stuff. I didn't attend patrol meetings for a couple of weeks, since I was busy with moving and trying to fit into my new school. When I did start attending again, however, I found it strange not to see Preston there at all. What was even weirder is that my fellow patrol members (and leaders) were behaving weirdly towards me. They kept their distance and were unfriendly for some reason. The second meeting it was only me and one other kid. After that, I was given an ultimatum by my patrol leaders via email. I was to either leave the patrol or everyone else would.
I was confused beyond comprehension. Why would they behave like that? What did I do? They cut ties with me and stopped sending emails about meetings, so I didn't really have a choice, either. They forced me to leave.
Some time later, I figured out that Preston was probably talking shit about me while I was gone and was probably too much of a pussy to meet me, so that's why I didn't see him on meetings.
Now, here I am. I've just joined a new patrol in a more local group. Why did I wait this long? I don't know, to be honest. My best guess that this experience must have been so devastating that I didn't want to, but that changed. A big part of that change was me watching (and reading) Yuru Camp. Yeah. An anime got me to be a scout again. It helped me discover how much fun camping and outdoor activities were again. My new patrol is full of good people. I'm happy to be here. Hopefully, history won't repeat itself. I want to stay here for a long time.
I had been a scout for about a year when I had the idea of inviting him to my patrol. Things were going smoothly at first. Like I said, he was a bit rough sometimes, so we would sometimes get in fights, but not something we wouldn't get over quickly.
Then there was this thing in my school. There are some stories from that school I might tell in another blog, but long story short, most people in my class hated me and teachers literally punished me for getting bullied. So, one time Preston and I got in a fight and I punched him. That landed me right in the principal's office. It was something big, because I didn't have to go right away, rather, I was told to wait for my mum to come for me after school and that she would have to come with me in there as well. I told Preston about this (we already made up by then). In the principal's office, the principal recommended me to switch schools. He didn't expel me, he had just recommended me to go away. I was feeling pretty down after that. I got out of the office a couple of minutes before my mum did and started walking around the halls a bit. The school was mostly empty by then, but I did meet Preston as he was packing his stuff and preparing to leave (the principal's office was in viewing distance of our classroom). I walked up to him and greeted him. I'll never forget what he said next. He put a wide grin on his face and asked “Well? Did you get expelled?” I had to process what had just happened for a second, but I immediately got furious, told him to go suck a dick and stormed back into the office. I did catch a glance of his confused face while I was going away. That was the last time I ever saw or talked to him.
My mum and I listened to the principal and left the school for another one. This switch did come conveniently, though, as my family was moving, so I could instead attend a school that was 10 minutes of biking away.
Back to scout stuff. I didn't attend patrol meetings for a couple of weeks, since I was busy with moving and trying to fit into my new school. When I did start attending again, however, I found it strange not to see Preston there at all. What was even weirder is that my fellow patrol members (and leaders) were behaving weirdly towards me. They kept their distance and were unfriendly for some reason. The second meeting it was only me and one other kid. After that, I was given an ultimatum by my patrol leaders via email. I was to either leave the patrol or everyone else would.
I was confused beyond comprehension. Why would they behave like that? What did I do? They cut ties with me and stopped sending emails about meetings, so I didn't really have a choice, either. They forced me to leave.
Some time later, I figured out that Preston was probably talking shit about me while I was gone and was probably too much of a pussy to meet me, so that's why I didn't see him on meetings.
Now, here I am. I've just joined a new patrol in a more local group. Why did I wait this long? I don't know, to be honest. My best guess that this experience must have been so devastating that I didn't want to, but that changed. A big part of that change was me watching (and reading) Yuru Camp. Yeah. An anime got me to be a scout again. It helped me discover how much fun camping and outdoor activities were again. My new patrol is full of good people. I'm happy to be here. Hopefully, history won't repeat itself. I want to stay here for a long time.
