Famous baseball player, coach, and manager Yogi Berra said, "You stand up for your teammates. Your loyalty is to them. You protect them through good and bad, because they'd do the same for you." President Woodrow Wilson stated, "Loyalty means nothing unless it has at its heart the absolute principle of self-sacrifice." Lucas Arts and Double Fine game designer Tim Schafer said, "If you're not loyal to your team, you can get by for a while, but eventually you will need to rely on their loyalty to you, and it just won't be there." We see the concept of loyalty play out in the Patrol Method. Nowhere is this more apparent than a campout. The patrol members must work together to establish the patrol area before focusing on individual tents and gear. Once a patrol member has his tent up, he asks others if he can help. Members of the patrol ask the grubmaster if he needs any help, and pick up discarded packaging and food waste, without being asked, because this is what is best for the patrol. Once a meal is complete, members of the patrol willingly and cheerfully wash dishes so that the patrol can go back to other activities and having fun. Sometimes, the weather and terrain cause great stress, and a new Scout displays pain or discontent. The loyal members of the patrol provide comfort, humor, and first aid if needed, so that the Scout can recover and have a good time. Loyalty is at odds with selfishness. It requires effort and commitment. Just like the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale "The Emperor's New Clothes," loyalty means looking after another's best interests and saying what needs to be said, even if that conflicts with what the other person wants to hear. With every facet of what loyalty is, it means putting another's welfare and interests above one's own. Choose carefully the persons and causes you are loyal to, and be the loyal friend and teammate that commands loyalty from others.
A Scout is Loyal.