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Taking Candy from Boy Scouts -- Writer's Poke #122

For Writers:

I didn't consider it stealing at the time.

For a brief period in my childhood, I was a boyscout. Being a boyscout never had the same cache as being a cub scout. Cub scouts were cool. We'd make pinewood derby cars and go to summer day camps. Being a boy scout, on the other hand, always felt a bit dorky -- probably because the troop was tied to my church.

Each of us got a box of candy bars, and we were expected to sell them for a fundraiser. As time went by, however, it seemed like the troop leaders had forgotten about the candy bars. And over time, I ended up eating more of them than I sold.

Months later, the troop asked us for the money and any leftover candy bars. Unfortunately, I didn't have any money, and I didn't have any candy bars. I owed the troop around $20, and I didn't have any money of my own to pay for the eaten candy bars.

I told my dad what had happened, and for some reason, he thought this would be a good time for us to go into a private room and pray. It seemed rather silly to me then, and it seems rather silly to me now, but I suppose Dad thought this was my first step down the path of sin, and he wanted to make sure that God and I were still on friendly terms. After all, God doesn't give away His candy bars for free.

Describe a time when you were "guilty" of stealing. Did you feel guilty afterwards? Have you ever felt "justified" when stealing?

"In Scouting, a boy is encouraged to educate himself instead of being instructed." -- Sir Robert Baden-Powell

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