Saturday, August 1, 2009

I think they're solving the wrong problem

As a veteran camp leader, I've learned to watch out for certain things, particularly when working with younger age groups. One unfortunate characteristic of campers younger than about 12, particularly boys, is that they still haven't fully learned proper personal hygiene. For instance, you need to pay attention to the clothing that the kids wear each day. If you start to see the same shirt being worn for two, three days in a row, alarm bells start to go off. This counts for double if you see the same pair of shorts: same shirt, same shorts, probably means... same underwear.

I had to deal with one such kid in my woodworking activity a few weeks ago. After about the third day I noticed he was always showing up in the same red shirt, red shorts, and green striped socks. When I asked him about this, I got this answer: "Yeah, I was planning to wear the same thing for the whole week, but the other people in my cabin are starting to complain..."

I sent him back up to his cabin to change immediately.

But not to worry, science has the answer: Japanese astronauts are hard at work testing underwear that can be worn for weeks at a time.

I can't wait for these to become available in our tuck shop.

2 comments:

  1. The stories I could tell about some of the guys I've been counselor for. o.O

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  2. I worked at a camp one summer, and I remember one counsellor for the 12-13 year old boys had a strict rule that everyone's hands had to be outside their sleeping bags at all times. I'm sure you can imagine why...

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