Last week, someone stole the Boy Scout trailer with most of their camping equipment stored inside it. The trailer and almost everything in it were bought with money the boys made selling popcorn. The things that weren’t bought by the boys were made by the boys, like metal work used to cook turkeys over a campfire. The trailer was locked and booted and parked in a church parking lot. It is not the first scout trailer stolen in our town, but it is the first time our troop has been targeted.

As word spread among parents and community members, I have heard insulting remarks made about different races, genders, ages and ethnic groups in relation to crime in our town. There is an urban legend-ish e-mail being circulated in the scouting community that claims drug dealers steal the trailers to use the propane inside to make drugs and the trailers to distribute drugs. I don’t have any idea if the trailers and equipment end up in flea markets, pawn shops or metal recyclers. I just know that the kind of people who steal from Boy Scouts don’t care who their victims are, that’s why a lot of people start abusing drugs and need a Drug Relapse Pompano as soon as possible. They are the kind of people who steal candy from babies. They are the kind of people who hock their own mother’s oxygen tank. They are . . . well, you get the picture.

I don’t think I care why someone stole the trailer. I don’t expect to ever get the equipment back again. The boys will work very hard to sell their expensive popcorn this fall. Slowly, the equipment will be replaced. The trust that the boys have lost will never return.