Bill Quote #107

Quote from Bill in Be Prepared

Lillian: Bill, why is there a young man painting our front door?
Bill: He's working hard to earn his Home Repairs merit badge.
Lillian: You sure he's not just checking items off your Chore Chart?
Kim: Ooh, is there a Laundry badge? 'Cause I don't feel like doing my chores, either.
Bill: Lillian, merit badges... "Encourage boys to try out new activities that may result in new skills."
Lillian: I'm sure that is not what these little boys signed up for.
Norman: Yeah, Dean said we'd go out camping and canoeing, not digging up other folks' weeds.
Bill: Whoa. [chuckling] Whoa, whoa. Looks like somebody doesn't want his Good Citizen badge.

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 ‘Be Prepared’ Quotes

Quote from Bill

Adult Dean: Growing up in the '60s, I was surrounded by images of the ideal middle-class, suburban life, and I wanted nothing more than to have my own big, fat slice of that American pie. Can you blame me? Those smiling White people made happiness and prosperity look so damn appealing. It only seemed fair... if other families got to have these cool, middle-class experiences, who said mine couldn't, too?
Dean: Hey, Dad. Can we go to the beach?
Bill: Sharks.
Adult Dean: My dad. That's who.
[montage:]
Dean: Hey, Dad, can we rent a cabin in the woods?
Bill: Bears.
Dean: Hey, Dad, can we get a dog?
Bill: Fleas.

Quote from Bill

Dean: Hey, Dad. Can I join my friend Brad's Dixie Scout troop?
Bill: The Dixie Scouts? So you want to join the White troop? Or as I call them, the junior Klan.
Dean: No, but, Dad, it's not like that. Brad's father is the Scoutmaster.
Bill: I'm sorry, did you say Scoutmaster? The man in charge is called "master"? Listen to yourself, son.
Dean: But, Dad, all my other friends are doing it.
Bill: Yeah, your White friends. I'm not letting you join in with those East Montgomery boys.

Quote from Bill

Lillian: Well, what's the harm in it, Bill?
Bill: Well, for starters, I don't like how the white Scouts stole all their rituals from African tribal rites of passage.
Adult Dean: My dad was of the opinion that if there was something of value in American culture, it was definitely stolen from Black people.
[flashback to Bill watching Ed Sullivan Show on TV :]
Bill: Elvis Presley? Ha! Everything he does, Big Mama Thornton did first... except better.
[flashback to Bill holding a drink:]
Bill: Coca-Cola? [scoffs] Please. They'd be nowhere if Africans hadn't domesticated the kola nut.
[flashback to Bill hanging decorations on a Christmas tree:]
Bill: [chuckles] Santa Claus? You know the real Saint Nicholas was a black Moor.
[present:]
Lillian: Are you sure about that, Bill? I thought the Scouts got their rituals from the Native Americans.
Bill: And where do you think they got it from?