Den 10, The Bucket of Blood

 

Den 10, The Bucket of Blood

Having lived at 432 Main Street as a small child of 4, I had the "real time" opportunity to observe and study the behavior of "big kids" who were three years my senior (nearly twice my age).

In this case, it was Den 10, "The Bucket of Blood". My Mom was the Den Mother and an orthodox crew, it was not. In fact, the very first den meeting erupted into a brawl when my brother Steve and I arrived home from school and were accosted by these guys who attempted to throw us off the property. I was only 5, Steve was 8. They didn't know we lived there.

As time passed, things continued to deteriorate and Mom auto-managed this motley crew with a liberal hand. You could almost make book on who would get beat up each week at 432 Main Street. She became quite proficient at stopping nose bleeds and for Den 10, the blood stains just became part of the uniform. Our den was generally looked down upon by the Cub Pack as being unregulated and my mother was often chastised by her peers for her lack of military order. In reality, mom was a cutting-edge bra burner who would not be organized by society. She had a philosophy that Cub Scouts existed for kids, not for adults and that the kids should be free to learn problem solving their own way, and....surely, they did. It was a crossroad in time when macho bad-boy behavior converged with my mother's idealism that made this such a special and unforgettable group. At no time in the future, would there ever be a college course in "Practical Bloody Nose". Thanks, Mom for letting those guys settle their own differences. It was a valuable lesson in human relations that would serve them well in preparation for the unfairness of life as they moved forward into maturity.