I'm not a 'real' Guider, get over it.

>>  Friday, June 07, 2013

Ok, before you all go running for the hills, or at least to report me, I can assure you I do have a Brownies Guider warrant that means I'm qualified, a CRB and my Ranger warrant pending.  So the girls are relatively safe with me.

I am however, also now regularly hearing the words "ooooh, didn't you learn to do that when you were a Guide?"

We all hit an age where we like to say "In my day...." and "It's not like it used to be." It would appear I am now mixing in that age group.

We are doing pioneering in a few week's time with the Rangers.  In preparation I thought it would be useful to have a knotting and lashing night.  A lovely ex-scouter husband of an ex-scouter-turned-Brownie Guider friend are you following me there? came in to the meeting night to run through reef yes, simples, figure of eight loop on a good day I can do that, bowline ahhhhh okey-dokey struggling now, square lashing oooooooook lost me somewhere in the frapping and diagonal lashing FFS is all I am saying.

The Rangers were doing fine.  But I threw my string over, I crossed it, I came through but my clove was not hitched.  My bunny definitely went up the hole but apparently it did not go around the tree properly so my line was not bowed, it was definitely still a straight line of string.

I was shown, and shown again and then I started to hear it:

"Did you not do this when you were a guide?  When I was a guide we had to ........."

White noise ladies, white noise,  that is all I am saying.

Shall I also mention at this point that the Guider assessing me for my ability to run a Ranger meeting night, to check I am able to talk to the girls at an appropriate level, to basically see that I am fit to be a Ranger leader turned up at this meeting.  So there are the Rangers, Guider in Charge, Ex-Scouter, Ex-Scouter-Guider, Guider assessor and a dog just don't ask all in one small room with canes at all angles becoming shapes of all sorts and me.

Shall I tell you how hard it is to try to hold it together whilst inside I am screaming "I sent my bunny round the f'ing tree and back down it's sodding hole so where is my bloody loop and no, I did not learn to make gadgets as a guide and I am clearly a useless sodding lump of a Guider"  whilst I am actually trying to do a tinkly laugh and say "well done girls, they are really good frames, great work"

So just to prove to myself I am not a useless lump of a guider, I have sat at home with strawberry pencils and laces and clove hitched, lashed and frapped and reefed and to be quite frank, I was consistently rubbish.  I can't do it, I just don't see it, it doesn't matter how much I study the picture.

But I also decided it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter a hoot if I can't do it, I am an enabler.  I got someone in, that can do it, to teach the Rangers.  But what about when you are camping I hear you cry, you have to be able to stand on your own two feet.....nope, clever Guider in Charge can shout the instructions whilst I watch the Rangers set up camp.  That is precisely why I like being a Senior Section leader.  I am not a lazy lump that can't do it....I am an enabler that allows girls the chance to learn to do it for themselves.


Oh and I earn enough money to buy a  plastic washstand. But should I find myself up the Amazon without a Lakeland in sight, I shall improvise with a tree stump, no honestly, it'll be fine.   I am NOT a REAL Guider....get over it.


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