Wayfarer Scout

World scout badge and belt

I knew how to cook. I knew how to light a fire, do basic first aid, swim, iron, do the laundry, wash-up oil-soaked frying pans at lightning speed, make a bed, change a fuse, hell, even build a bridge in an emergency. I found out the other day that one of my friends didn’t know what you were supposed to do when you burn yourself. On my first day at university, I met somebody who didn’t know how to to do the washing up. 

People had such a weird view on it when we were kids. They weren’t teaching us to be housewives. They weren’t teaching us how to look after other people, not really. They were teaching us how to take care of ourselves. I kind of wish I could go back and apologise for sulking so much about being made to learn the symbols on laundry labels.