I was having dinner late last night when there was a knock at the door of my Sandy home. Two rather timid Boy Scouts inquired if I wanted them to put out the American flag on the various national holidays for just $40 a year.---

Being a resident alien in this country, I don't possess an American flag. Nevertheless I felt a tad offended. Is patriotism really something you should sell? 

When I was a kid in England, I decided against the Boy Scouts in favor of the Boys Brigade, my old man's male child cult of choice. I usually ditched it to go to the movies or a pint down the pub in the days when underage drinking didn't land you in the clink. 

One month a year in the UK was Bob-a-job month, when boy scouts offered to do your household chores for a bob, slang for a shilling or five pence [7.5 cents]. In comparison to a bob, $40 going into the local LDS ward's boy scout troop's coffers is altogether a different league.

And why is it, might I add, that the boy scouts' are linked to the Mormon Church but not the girl scouts, of which my daughters are proud members?