Cub Scout invasion

In 20 minutes, the newsroom will be invaded by a pack of Cub Scouts.

Nine- and ten-year-old boys and their parents are coming to the Collegian, and it is my job to entertain/inform them for 45 minutes.

Generally, when I give tours of the Collegian the tourists are prospective high school students or long-lost Collegian alumni returning to visit the newspaper they’ve been away from for 20-plus years.

This tour, I’m guessing, will be different.

Short-attention spans are going to be a challenge. Excessive laughter is practically a guarantee.

And I’m more than a little worried about what some of the parents will think of a college student’s sense of humor – appropriately displayed all over the the newsroom walls.

While I’d imagine these boys would rather be visiting a baseball game or the zoo, I’m going to do my best to explain why being a journalist is the coolest job in the world.

There’s sports, music and crime. There’s adrenaline, emotion and competition. And sometimes there’s enough action to keep even fourth-grade boys entertained.

I’m a little nervous about this tour, though.

These are going to the most honest tour-takers I’ve ever had.

If I’m not funny, they won’t laugh.

If I’m not interesting, they won’t listen.

But there’s one reason why I’m actually really excited for this entourage to invade the office.

The questions are guaranteed to be a hoot.

Maybe there will be a future journalist among the bunch.