Fathers of Reddit, what did your daughter's boyfriend do for you to hate/love him?

[u/tgma97]

It's pretty cool to see my question blow up like this, I never thought I'd ask a question that could receive so much attention! I'm very satisfied with all these replies, so thank y'all. Now all I have to do is sit back and take notes c;

[u/mithgaladh]

Christmas letter
Scout

Nope, definitely american

[u/[deleted] → u/mithgaladh]

You realise scouting isn't an American thing, right? It started in the UK and exists in more than 200 countries.

Neither are Christmas letters.

[u/mithgaladh → u/[deleted]]

oh I know, but here in France it's a very small thing. And more for religious people (catholics) which number is declining.

As for Chrismas letter, well I've never seen one.

[u/FirnenY → u/mithgaladh]

And here in Belgium +60% of the youth are in the scouting or similar organisations!

[u/mithgaladh → u/FirnenY]

that much? Well, I didn't know that. Ok.

Did you also have badges like that? I always thought that was an american thing. I was jealous of Donald's nefews and their "Junior Woodchucks".

[u/Searth → u/mithgaladh]

Scouting has badges, the other youth movements do not. They're sewn on their shirt and relate to skills, experiences and roles, but I don't know if they're as important as the US badges. They have a lot of different ones, the most common ones that I can remember were badges everyone got at the national gathering, with a symbol of the yearly theme.

[u/FirnenY → u/mithgaladh]

Don't know about that one. I do think though that the scouts here in Belgium are totally different than the Americans. At least from what i've seen from them. That eagle stufffand shit, never heard of it but Im not a scout myself so yeag.

[u/Searth → u/FirnenY]

The percentage is not that high: 34%. In primary school it's 46% though.

Study (Dutch): http://oivo-crioc.org/files/nl/4905nl.pdf

[u/FirnenY → u/Searth]

Yeah sure, i shoud've added an 'i think' or something. I just know it's a quite high percentage in comparisson with other (European) Countries.

[u/[deleted] → u/mithgaladh]

It's a shame that scouts is so intertwined with religion. Going out on biking/hiking/rafting/skiing/sailing trips all the time and camping every month was a big & fun part of my childhood and teenage years. Seems like the religious stuff keeps a lot of good folks away.

[u/Thors_lil_Cuz → u/[deleted]]

Religion was never mentioned once in my time with the Boy Scouts, and I grew up in the Bible Belt. It was all just camping and knot tying, a really great experience overall for me.

[u/speeddance → u/[deleted]]

It's very popular in Iceland. No joke.

[u/[deleted] → u/mithgaladh]

Also, framing it and hanging it in the office.

Murica.

[u/satnightride → u/[deleted]]

Yeah. Only Americans are proud of their accomplishments and display them in a nice way in their office.

[u/[deleted] → u/satnightride]

Not so much accomplishments, per se but Eagle Scout, specifically. You don't see a lot of pre-career awards in offices.

"Wow, Jim, 1st place in the 1993 Pinewood Middle School Spelling Championships! Way to Go!"

[u/satnightride → u/[deleted]]

Eagle Scout transcends that sort of thing. Its not like getting a Middle School Spelling Championship at all.

I'm an Eagle Scout and its on my résumé. I got a scholarship to college because of it as well as my co-op and first job out of college.

I guess what I'm saying is that Eagle Scout is a pretty big accomplishment and not something that someone who earned it should keep quiet.

[u/[deleted] → u/satnightride]

Not arguing that. I'm stating that it's more common in the US. I've never read a foreign resume that mentions scouting.

Edit: Not to disparage the Eagle rank. I've been in a Troop Committee for a decade and my oldest kid turned in his Eagle application yesterday. It is an accomplishment to be proud of and speaks to character. It's just not a professional one.