Some of my editors and readers have asked if I was ever in the Scouts or a Scout leader. Much like Carl and his fictional son Parker, I was a Scout and a leader, and my real-life son was an Eagle Scout. I was in various leadership positions for about 15 years and did a lot of camping with the boys. I think the best job in Scouting is Cubmaster. You have one Pack meeting a month, one committee meeting a month, 2-3 short camping trips a year, and a few fundraisers. Very easy, much easier than the weekly Den meetings! I’m pretty lazy!
Of course, the very best job of all involves quality control and taste testing of Girl Scout cookies. Speaking of which, way back when, my daughters were in the Girl Scouts and had to sell cookies. Being the dutiful father, I took a list to the office, and posted a sign saying, “Happy employees eat Girl Scout cookies!” (I was the boss.) By the end of the day, the office joker had taken Wite-Out and eliminated the word ‘cookies’, necessitating the removal of the sign. I made him buy extras!