Disasters of week three

Every week here at the training center sees a couple of group leaders with manic smiles in the dining hall; GLs that stagger back to the staff area at the end of the day too exhausted to keep their own heads balanced on the ends of their own necks. This week it happened to be me. I had the sidewinders this week, which is normally a very fun group for me, but... I should probably stop there. I hate to put negative experiences on the internet, and the individuals in the group were not terribly bad - just their collective energy made them challenging in the extreme.

What compounded the problem was that three times this week our schedule was off. On Monday morning we hiked to Zastrow turnaround, only to find that I had to run/walk to Abreu turnaround to retrieve our bus. Thursday I actually snapped at Emily because the bus barn had somehow decided that the Sidewinders and Deputies were one group and our bus driver almost didn't let us on. Then on Friday we arrived at the Villa at precisely 10:15 for what the Villa staff was sure was a 10:30 tour.

Of course, troubles are known to come in threes; an axiom felt all too clearly this week by the celebrity community. The injury added to the insults of this week were the stories. Stories have begun to circulate through the participants this week; stories I recognize, stories I told to other staffers about the long history of the Philmont staff. The problem is that the context has been changed from things that circulated when I first came here to something that happened last year, turning a story of long ago stupidity into a clear and present tragedy. The same staffer has been saying that certain back country camps have been refusing our groups program; a statement that has been refuted by another staff member on the same hike. A phrase used by my favorite author that seems appropriate is that a lie can travel around the world before the truth has got its boots on - the problem here is that a falsehood that is believed true by the teller is stronger and faster than both.

On the upside, last night Jess and Danica did the Captain Campout closing. They skipped my favorite skit, the incredibly long and difficult "Who's First Class" skit, but they did the program in a way I'd never seen before and it worked very well. They nailed almost every line and their costumes were fantastic. It's a little weird to me to be in the audience during closing program, but I'm pretty glad to see a staff where people volunteer- and volunteer quickly- to do a task that needs doing.