A Tale of Two Commissioners

Yesterday I got promoted.

It wasn't at the office, unfortunately. After all, it happened on a Sunday. And the folks at the agency seem to think I'm doing such a bang-up job staying exactly where I've been for the last 26 years.

It happened in Scouting. I was asked by the local District to be an Assistant District Commissioner.

The role of the Commissioner dates back to the earliest days of Scouting. By the time General Baden-Powell established the Boy Scouts Association headquarters in London in 1908, boys were snapping up copies of his book Scouting for Boys. They were forming patrols all over England, whether on their own, or with the help of church societies or the YMCA. But they had no guidance from the top. So trained leaders called "Commissioners" were sent out in the field to guide the fledgling movement at the grassroots level. Eventually, in countries like the USA, a corps of paid professionals arose in the form of the Executive Service. But the Commissioner Service remains the volunteer component of field workers for the Scouting method.

At the lowest rung is the Unit Commissioner, who is assigned up to three units (Cub packs, Scout troops, and/or Venturing crews) to visit periodically, and anticipate any particular needs. They report to an Assistant District Commissioner, one of several who reports to a District Commissioner.

Now, since I've been in school, I haven't had a lot of time for this. But it seems I was conspicuous enough to be raised a notch. For my money, the ideal Unit Commissioner is a guy who has had some years of experience with a unit, probably with his own sons, until they "age out" of the program, but the guy still wants to continue with Scouting in some capacity. Since my son never was in Scouting -- which is another story for another day -- I never had that going for me, so I had very little sage wisdom to impart. It is just as well, then, that I be able to delegate the task to others.

There could be a lesson here somewhere about the circumstances of my day job.

Any ideas?
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