Ten minutes to write. Less time to read.

Early in October, Earl was confronted with two boy scouts at our door, each seeking money in exchange for popcorn or trail mix or both. Earl ordered something from their catalogs, gave each lad twenty dollars, and sent them on their way.

“Did you get their names?” I asked when he told me what he’d done. “No” was the answer. He didn’t bother to get a receipt or a telephone number of the Scout in question either. So secretly I wondered if we would ever see these two Scouts again, given the way of the world and the ethos of the economy. If we didn’t, how could we track them down?

But Boy Scouts are still Boy Scouts and have not been jaded by today’s society. Each boy arrived at our door within the past few days with the product Earl had purchased, and it gave me renewed hope that there are still people in the world who keep their word. Hopefully there are still people in the world who keep their word even if they were never or are no longer Boy Scouts.