Before the troop had shown me the door, I texted a co-worker at the shop about "so...who would I talk to about this?" and she pointed me to one of the guys in the back office.  I talked to him yesterday and he was quite anxious and not sure how to help me.  I get it.  At the end of the day, they're corporate guys and their job is to protect the corporation.

Honestly, no matter how much Dennis tells me this is law suit material, what would I even sue for?  

But, I gave him the specs.  Gave him a copy of the letter I got - that was the only documentation that existed for this whole sordid affair and then brought up the lack of leadership that's causing the kids to suffer.  That, I think, might be the only actionable thing that they might be able to do?  I also told said co-worker, look, I already made the decision to leave before they called me, and I'm willing to take the leadership training again, but Sera deserves credit for her work.  I think he was relieved we were going to stay in scouting and directed me at a troop out in Barrington.  Why he didn't direct me at Cate's troop here in Elgin, I don't know, but Jimm says that's indicative of how little council is actually helping scouts in our area.

Imagine my surprise when I get a phone call and I only half-recognize the last name on the caller ID.  Oh shit, its the council president.  I mean, yeah, co-worker in a way - I just sewed all the patches on his new uniform shirt in time for a big Scout Corporate Presentation(tm), but not like we hob nob in the hallways or anything.

But I guess the report had gotten to him and he was calling to get more details and to make sure Sera was okay.  That was touching - even if in a cynical moment you have to accept that maybe that was emotional staging.  And, despite Cynical Husband reminding me that his first priority is to protect Scouts, not the troop and not me/Sera, I don't know that the Council President is normally calling parents of any scout that got sent home from camp, accusations of "self harm" or not.  So I clarified that for him - "Wishing I was dead" might be splitting hairs on "I'm actively planning on hurting myself/others" - and the year long isolating and bullying that's been going on, the fact I've not been read into any of it or included in any sort of plan to help.  

Then I detailed for him the lack of leadership and Lord of the Flies scenarios that were going on.  Mr. President says he's well acquainted with the leadership of that troop and will talk to them - Anonymously of course - but not like they couldn't figure out who the fuck he's talking about.  Some of that old guard are the same ones that dismissed my concerns with the kids floundering with "this troop is Scout Led".  Scout led is all well and good, Mr. President, but when you have whole patrols who have been in three years and none of them are first class yet, they're not being mentored.

He assured me my training will be signed off on and so will Sera's badges and I told him we were thinking of going to Cate's troop - I've known her from way back and she was connected to Troop 2 where both my boys Eagled out of (I was very deliberate in mentioning that, letting him know I'm not just some flash in the pan parent, I've been Scouting for a while and am committed) and feel she probably runs a tighter ship.  He agreed, also knowing Cate for forever (her dad founded Troop 2 and Cate's gotta be getting close to 90).

So, I don't think much will come of it - but I feel better knowing that Sera will get her badges signed off on and it was my big middle finger to Beverly to have her sign off on my training, so maybe I got at least that much.  The biggest problem children in that troop are probably only there for four more years max, and it makes me wonder how bad it'll get if they fall into classic bullying where they'll just find a new target to pick on or if Sera was indeed the catalyst that created the storm.  I wonder how many parents will be frustrated or just resignedly accept that its basically a social club and unless the kid is Driven Type A, they'll be lucky to age out at First Class.  Part of me wants to watch it explode, horribly.  But that would be unfair to the kids that are innocent bystanders to the drama.

I don't think this makes Sera feel any better - the way she described it, it sounds like that last fight you have with a significant other where you're sad its over, you miss them terribly, but at the same time there's a sense of relief that you don't have to do that any more.  I think we'll take off the rest of July - part for her mental health, part for my mental health, part for scheduling - and see if Cate can give us a Scouting home.