In my short yet interesting twelve years on Earth, there have been many situations where I was stubborn and stood my ground, unbudging. Not many of these situations have ended with me getting applause, but rather more like me getting yelled at by my mom or dad. But in one particular Boy Scout situation I was congratulated for my stubbornness and living up to the Scout motto, “Be Prepared.”
In May, our Boy Scout troop had been working on the Cycling, or Biking Merit Badge. Some of the requirements were riding 5-mile, 10-mile, 25-mile, and 50-mile trips. The Scouts and I had finished most of these requirements, and I had been preparing to go on the 50 miler, from the Azusa mountains above Freeway 605, to Seal Beach.
In the previous troop meeting, our Scoutmaster had told us to bring the full Ten Essentials of pocketknife, first aid kit, flashlight, compass, sunscreen, trail food, rain gear, water, fire starters, and extra clothing. I had gathered all my essentials except for the extra clothing. I was wondering aloud which jacket I should bring for the trip. My mom walked in my room and told me to not bring everything listed, and that I could exclude the jacket. But I knew the jacket was one of the most important items in the Ten Essentials, so I argued back. My mom tried reasoning with me, and said, “It’s May, the weather isn’t that cold!” I told her that there was a real possibility the temperature could suddenly drop, and I could very likely become an “ice statue.” After all, I need to live up to the Scout Motto, “Be Prepared.” Now I had triggered my mom’s incredibly famous and short temper. Her Shanghai dialect started streaming out, rising in volume as she went. Soon her voice was echoing around my room, towering above me like a sinister fortress, with an invisible white hot fire surrounding her as the words shot out at me. Anyone foolish to disagree with her would have a nasty ending (all this description is exaggeration, of course), but I did. After she finished yelling, I calmly went over to the closet, pulled out a jacket and stuffed it in the pack. My mom looked like she was about to burst, but she said nothing.
Around 7am, my mom dropped me off with the rest of the troop. The moment I stepped out of the car , I knew that I had made the correct decision to take the jacket along. Then I saw my mom change her mind as she stepped out of the car as well. As she shivered in her shorts and short sleeve shirt, I walked up to her and said, “I told you it was going to be cold.” She admitted defeat and started to walk in circles to keep herself warm. When all the Scouts had arrived, we started the trip. I was even more grateful for bringing the jacket because the first leg of the journey was downhill, and the cold wind would have whipped at me if I had not brought protection. But the others weren’t so lucky. Most of them didn’t have jackets or sweaters and were shivering uncontrollably. Finally, one of them couldn’t handle the cold anymore, and had to stop. He was right in front of me, so I also stopped to check if everything was all right. Well not everything was OK. This guy’s shivering looked like spasms, so I rummaged in my pack only to find that “one jacket” turned out to be two. Just as I handed my fellow Scout the extra sweater, our Scoutmaster stopped next to us. He congratulated me for “Being Prepared” and for being able “To Help Other People At All times.” My fellow Scout’s spasms died down, so we continued our trip. Apart from exhausting us, the trip was uneventful.
Well, it was worth the risk to stand up to my near-lunatic mom. I learned that sometimes you just have to stand your ground and be stubborn for a successful life. It was quite lucky that I was stubborn, or else my fellow Scout and I could have both ended up as “ice statues."
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