I just watched one of those "Because of camp..." commercials on Hulu talking about how going to camp molded them.
I never went to an outdoorsy type camp. I did something called "Creative Scholars" where you took Art, Music, Writing, and Science classes and put on talent shows. It was a blast. Never went to traditional camp even though I enjoyed swimming, hiking, and those kinds of activities. I was always afraid of getting stuck with a really freaky roommate, and I grew up with horror stories about sadistic camp counselors. Too bad... nowadays I think it would have been fun.
Uh. I enjoyed computer camp and whatnot but didn't spend a whole helluva lot of time at overnight camps. Unless you count the occasional Cub Scout thing.
Yeah the girl tracked me down on MSN and started talking to me like a LOT. I didn't think much of it until she was very blunt with me. I was in my emo phase at the time you see, and how could anyone love me!?
Cheer cheer for Camp Mazinaw!
There's always sunshine, it's never raw!
We go there to swim and fish,
Long range canoe trips are our dish.
Raw raw raw!
We never falter, we never fall,
Climbing Ol'Walt as steep as a wall!
And when summer comes again,
At Camp Mazinaw we'll be,
RAW RAW RAW!
Went to 2 Christian camps when I was younger (10-12). One was like an old west town setup. There was a bunch of archery, swimming, horseback riding, etc. - not a whole lot of religious stuff. It was fun, but my folks moved while I was at camp. I come back after 2 weeks, and we live in a new town and a new school. Sucked. The counselor for our bunk set up pillow fights every night. He made playoff brackets and everything. There was this mean kid that thought he was tough shit. When it was my turn to go up against him, I rolled my pillow up and tied the pillow case into a knot to keep the pillow compact. I caught him square in the nose, and the blood poured. He screamed like a little girl. He whined and cried and caused so much commotion that other counselors started showing up, and they all glared at me like I was an asshole bully. Our counselor was switched with another dude that was all business. We had to be quiet and read or write while we were in the bunk house. I was a hero amongst my bunk mates for taking down the little jerk.
There's a lot of bonkin' going on at band camp. Or any camp where the kids are over 14.[/QUOTE]
Ooooooh let me tell you a story, boy.
The year was 2006. It was summer. North Carolina was the place. The south. Where values are conservative and you can get sued for farting in the wrong direction. I was a counselor for the Carolinas' Music and Arts program with the Salvation Army.
Now ... you would think perhaps, that a religious organization like the Salvation Army wouldn't have trouble with boys and girls and the relations thereof. I would like to live in that world. But it was not so.
For four weeks we had the same kids, aged 12-18. Some were difficult. Others were better to get along with. Most of them had camp girlfriends. We had to watch them like hawks. For those four weeks, there was never a second where the boys and girls were together without at least two counselors present.
On the third last night, one of the office guys came to the cabin, with a few of the instructors in tow. He said that the instructors would look after the kids that night because there was an urgent matter to discuss with the counselors. We got into the golf carts and drove to the camp manager's house. There was a feeling of gravity about the situation. Something serious had clearly happened, and all that we were told was that it happened at the pool that day. I was on to watch the kids at the pool. I wracked my brain, trying to figure out what had happened. Once or twice during that longest golf-cart ride in my life, I considered throwing myself off the cart, battering and bruising my body on the pavement, to hopefully garner some pity.
We got to the boss' cabin, and were led into the living room (it was a beautiful cabin). We were instructed to wait. My boss was putting her daughter to sleep, so the office guy and his wife (also working at the camp) sat with us four counselors. Nobody spoke.
My boss eventually finished putting her daughter to sleep, and she came and sat in an easy chair. The office guy then presented the case. There had been 'an incident' between two campers at the pool: a boy and a girl. The lifeguard had seen them getting cozy in the corner of the pool and had asked them to separate. As he explained some more details, he stood and walked around the room dramatically. He paused the narrative to reassure us: a counselor at another camp elsewhere in the country had been sued for an issue similar to this, but he didn't think the parents of either of the campers involved would want to take us counselors to court. As he continued his story, starting to relate the more grievous parts of the 'incident' he stepped into the kitchen to retrieve 'evidence.'
He returned with a pile of pizza boxes. In talking with my co-counselor afterward, we had apparently had the same thought: "What the hell kind of 'evidence' could there be? Who's job was it to retrieve it? And did they have nothing better to store it in than a Pizza box?!"
But no. It was just Pizza. The office guys laughed their asses off, and my boss cracked up too. One by one us counselors joined in, and I surreptitiously checked to see if I had crapped myself. It was allegedly "counselor appreciation night" where the rest of the staff looked after the kids and we got to relax, since we spent basically 24/7 on guard over these kids. I have to admit, I didn't feel very appreciated. But after a few minutes of laughing, all was good.
In hindsight, I'm not sure if the nationality of everyone involved might have played a role in how quickly they were forgiven. My co-counselor, the two office people (the husband and wife), and myself were all from Newfoundland where practical jokes are pretty much a matter of pride. My boss was a Floridan, but had married a Newfoundlander who had apparently tried very hard to be present for the joke, but was away for work elsewhere in the state for that night. Of the two female counselors, one was from New Brunswick, and the other was from Ohio.
I just thought I'd share the story. I've got a hundred more from when I was a camper, and a few dozen others from that summer I was a counselor, but that one stuck with me. It probably has to do with the terror I was feeling at the time.
I never did a sumer camp thing, but through my school there were two or three weekend camp things. Also I was involved in Scouts Canada from last year of Beavers to first year of Venturers (That's 8 years) so I feel like I got a similar experience. Except for the "whole lotta boinking" at summer camps. My hunch is there was a lot of that in Venturers, but I definitely missed out on that though.
We did day camp. I don't think my mom wanted us at a sleepaway camp, and I probably wouldn't have wanted it either.
The pool sucked, because it was only open in the early morning when it was freezing cold. The playground and craft and sport areas were alright though; anything was better than that water.
