Sunday, April 25, 2010

Girl Scout Cookies


I know I'm going to get a lot of flack if anyone ever reads this, but I have a rule about girl scout cookies; I don't buy them unless the girl scouts bake the cookies themselves, which they never do.


The girls (and mostly their parents) sell the cookies which have become increasingly smaller, with less cookies, and more artificial and unhealthy ingredients. Why don't the leaders teach the girls to make cookies, and have them sell fantastic cookies?


I saw a segment on SNL last night about this. The writer on TV wanted to buy the cookies all year in a store rather than be harrangued by small girls in berets and sashes only once a year.

He has a point, but I think if you had the cookies all year you would notice after a while, that they aren't as good as you might remember them being.


I went to a boy scout spaghetti dinner last night. I was ready for the worst and I got it. The food was like a school lunch. I was considering going to the kitchen and teaching them to cook, but they would not have had the ingredients, and frankly, they were not going to listen to me, a non christian in any case.


The scouts were sort of stunned like small cattle in an unfamiliar setting, but they followed directions, and tried to perform their duties to the best of their abilities. Some were better than others. Our waiter, not knowing us, was wary and seemed to have no sense of humor at all. He was unable to communicate further than what he had been told which did not include the fact that Spaghetti is also the plural for the word, and whether or not there was sugar in the iced tea.
I don't know how many diabetics went into shock after that carb and sugar loaded meal, but that is neither here nor there.

The kid at the next table called it paskettis, and even with some coaching by the men at his table, could not master the word. The pasketti kid, a small, white nerd type, while unable to pronounce the dish, was a lot more personable, and hung around the two large black men he was serving, making jokes, and having a great time.

What I wanted to point out here is that the boys were doing something more ambitious than the girls, and though it was for one night, the community was supporting them. Whether or not they made more money, I think the boys learned a little more real life experience than the girls.

I have gone up to a girl scout and taught her how to sell cookies. She was lackluster, and unwilling to speak to strangers. (probably from many years of indoctrination, and I cannot argue with the inntelligence of that).

She stood in front of me and wanly held a box of cookies with a limp wrist, and took no other action. I am not going to describe my lesson, but by the end of it, she was selling boatloads, and was also able to convince her parents to send her to Europe with a new wardrobe as a reward for being so enterprising. And no, I did not buy her cookies.

So, I really wish everyone would learn to cook decent food, and I wish the scouts of both sexes would find another way of making money. I know child labor has been abolished by law, but there's plenty of it going on. Perhaps they could become telephone solicitors.




2 comments:

  1. Gee...what do you have against partially hydrogenated oils? And fats? And all the things that would keep a Girl Scout from fitting into her uniform if she ate a steady diet of these things?

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  2. I just read your blog I received from a google alert for Girl Scouts.

    The Girl Scout cookie sale is so much more than just selling cookies. Through the sell girls learn to set goals, public speaking and other skills that will help them later in life.

    Girls do sell cookies to help pay for troop activiites they have decided to participate in throughout the year and sometimes even longer range goals such as visiting one of the Girl Scout centers overseas. This is not the only troop money earning activity they do, however. Most troops do things throughout the year to help with trop finances..sometimes even spaghetti dinners. When it is not the cookie sale, there are strict regulations on what they can sell and it must be something they have created or a service they provide. Girls cannot sell candy, Avon, etc.

    I can understand how some troops do not fully grasp the concept of the cookie sale based on your experience in the grocery store wiht the girls not fully participating but that is the role of the troop leader to help the girl gain the skills she needs as well as spending time with the troop debriefing the sale to find out what was learned and how it can apply to future actions/experiences.

    People do not buy Girl Scout cookies becaues of the cookies (some of which are in the top five best selling cookies, all of the others which you can get year round.) People buy Girl Scout cookies because of what Girl Scouts does for girls. The same could be said for the Boy Scouts who also have a once a year sale of popcorn.

    Perhaps you can work with your local Girl Scout council and volunteer to support the cookie sale by helping girls gain the skills and confidence needed to participate in the sale.

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