See Beyond – July 2019

38

Having worked with Boy Scouts for over twen-

ty years, I’ve grown to love these young men

and have all kinds of crazy stories about how

their not-quite-developed minds work. Some

are good, some bad, and many teach valuable

lessons.

We had gotten everything ready for our week-

long summer camp. The fundraisers were over;

everything was set. Then, about two weeks

before leaving, Mike crashed his dad’s Volkswa-

gen Bug. His dad was so furious that Mike ran

away from home.

Closer to our departure, I called the family to

ask where Mike was. They didn’t know. Even-

tually, I got a hold of Mike and his parents

and tried to act as an intermediary because I

wanted to make sure Mike would be able to

make it to camp.

We finally agreed to meet at my home on Sun-

day, the night before leaving. Mike had gone

home and packed his backpack before they

came over. He was hoping for the best. Dad said

his son needed to stay home, go to work to pay

for repairs, and should not have a week of fun

and frivolity while Dad had nothing to drive to

Mike and the Bug

By Kelly Smith

July/August 2019

About two weeks before leaving

for summer camp, Mike crashed

his dad’s Volkswagen Bug.

His dad was so furious that

Mike ran away from home.

Photo credit © Giovanni Ribeiro