The Brigade

My old boss Bob would have to leave the gear shop early on Thursdays because he was his son's leader in Scouts. I was never a Scout. Instead I belonged to a folksy Scandinavian paramilitary organization called The Brigade. I thought it was innocent at the time. Their slogan is something like, "We build leaders." Apparently they want those leaders to be good at riflery and memorizing and chanting 'character traits' and some sort of 'code' that I could never remember. The Brigade was not disappointed when I stopped showing up one day. But if world chaos does erupt someday, I might reapply to join their ranks.