Oh hey there, I’m Jess, a Second Class Scout. I was recently visiting my grandmother’s for a few days, and like most visits, there always seems to be a handful of, “Jess, honey, do you think you could...”
It started with the light bulbs in the ceiling fan. Grandma could probably change them herself, but I really did not like the idea of her climbing a ladder, so up I went. Four bulbs later, the room was bright again and Grandma was happy.
A little while later I was sitting on the couch messing around on my tablet when I heard, “Oh dear, Jess, before I forget, do you think you could put air in my car tires?”
I looked over, smiled, put the tablet down and grabbed the little air compressor. All four tires were low, so I topped them off, put everything away, and went back inside.
Later that evening Grandma was on her computer checking email. I heard the mouse bang against the desk first, followed by a few very non-Scout-like words muttered under her breath. Then came the yell.
“Jess! This blasted box is acting weird again.”
I jumped up, headed toward the computer room, pulled up a chair next to her and started poking around. Turned out nothing was really broken. A setting had changed somewhere along the way, so after a few clicks everything was back where she expected it. Grandma smiled, said thanks, and went right back to her email.
The next morning there was another, “Jess, honey...” from the kitchen. I giggled and yelled back, “What did you break now?”
“Nothing!” There was a pause. “Well... maybe the garbage disposal.”
I grabbed the wrench from the little junk drawer, crawled under the sink, and a minute later the disposal was humming again. Grandma just stood there smiling at me.
“What?” I asked.
“You know,” she said, “when your dad was about your age, he was a Scout too. I seem to remember something about twelve words... trustworthy, loyal, helpful...”
I rolled my eyes a little. “You remember helpful?”
“I remember enough,” she said. “Do you have any idea how helpful you have been to me the last couple days?”
I had not really thought about it that way. None of it felt like a big deal. Change a few bulbs. Put air in some tires. Fix a computer setting. Unjam a garbage disposal. It was just stuff that needed doing.
Grandma reached over and gave me a hug. “Well, it was a big deal to me. When you get to my age, going up a ladder is not so easy, nor is bending over or fussing with tires, and...” She shivered. “Let’s not think how long my joints would lock up if I tried to crawl under a sink.”
She smirked at me, but it struck a special nerve. Like maybe there is more to this Scout Law thing when you really think about it. With that, I stretched my Second Class body and returned to playing on my tablet.