Nonimmigrant: Fact and friction

Saturday 26 January 2019

Fact and friction

Pete is now a Cub Scout, which is why I am now a Cub Scout leader due to some mild blackmail; "We'd love to set up a Den for Pete's age but we just don't have enough leaders..." It's been a fun few months since that conversation, the highlight being me teaching the Pledge of Allegiance to a group of American youngsters in the most English accent I could summon up.

The Cub Scouts around here aren't like back at home. No Akela or Jungle Book, no doing your duty to the Queen, no learning about Lord Baden Powell and the glories of colonialism. The motto isn't even "Be Prepared" but the far more egalitarian (wishy-washy) "Do Your Best". But we camp and burn marshmallows over a fire, which is the most important bit.

Another brand new experience is the Pinewood Derby, one of the cornerstones of American scouting. The idea is that you build a car from a little wooden kit and then race it against everyone, first within your Den (i.e. age group) and then the winner goes on to the Pack final. And it is competitive although, of course, mostly among the parents, many of whom come from the oil industry and dig out experimental lubricants to make sure their child's wheels run smoother than all others.

Pete was less competitive. Well, being his mother's son he wanted to win, but he was not inclined to put in a huge amount of work. But I was...until I watched the video by a NASA engineer on how to make the fastest car possible, and saw the price of aerodynamic tungsten weights. After that I just hammered in some nails and gave it to Pete for a coat of paint.

The day of the Derby was akin to your average Formula 1 race, with entrants needing to arrive two hours early for weigh-ins and inspections. Racers also had to get a driver's license from a Cub-run DMV, which was much quicker and more efficient than the actual DMV.

Then it was race time! No faffing about or judgement by eye - everything was computer run and randomised with lasers to determine who crossed the line first as the cars whizzed down the ski-jump-shaped track.

Pete didn't win. People who put in far more effort won, so it was a good teaching moment, but the evolution of cars from us younger Cubs to the seniors is quite astonishing. Some people HAVE watched that NASA video. But we'll be back next year...possibly with a car bought off ebay.