When I came out of the store, there were some adorable little Girl Scouts selling cookies. Now I have already purchased some and usually that means I just donate a dollar to their troop, but the cookies I bought are actually in the freezer at work, so I was temporarily cookie-less.
When Lyssa was a Daisy girl scout, the Daisies did not sell cookies, but they do now. Picture a little five year old in a big swirly skirt topped by her blue uniform vest.
She saw me coming out of the store, twirled around once or twice to admire her skirt, then bounced over to me. "Would you like to buy some cookies?"
I told her I'd already bought some, but thought I might need some more.
She pranced over to her mom.
"Mom! She wants cookies! What do I do now??"
Her mom instructed her to find out what kind I wanted.
Her journey back to me (all of about 10 feet) went like this.
Twirl. Prance. Little tilt of head.
"What kind do you want?"
I requested two boxes of Thin Mints. (As far as I'm concerned, there are no other kinds of Girl Scout cookies.) She twirled away to the card table. Handed me two boxes of cookies and twirled away from my proffered 10 dollar bill.
Her mom reminded her that she needed to collect the money before giving the cookies.
"Oops!" she said. Twirl. Held out her hand for the money.
As her mom handed me the change, she was dancing over to the next person coming out of the store entrance.
So cute.
My normal reaction to cookie sellers is to say, "No, thank you, but I would like to make a donation to your troop."
I give them a buck. Yes, a buck is small, but is larger than the amount they get from council for selling a box of cookies.
When I stopped being a Girl Scout leader it was sixty cents, I don't know what it is now. Not much, I'm sure.
Anyway, I have purchased enough cookies this year. I have ten one dollar bills in my wallet so that for the next couple weeks while the girls are selling cookies, I can give them a small donation.
And I would love to pass that suggestion on to everyone who reads here, although I've said it before. A buck is small to me, but can make a difference to the girls in the troop. Instead of ignoring them (yeah, people do that... walk past like they don't even see the kids) or saying no, give 'em a buck.
I am not fond of GSUSA in general, I feel they exploit the girls for their own financial gain, and that scouting has become a haven for the new age fern sniffer crowd. To the volunteers and girls, scouting is a fun activity that builds kids up, but to the paid leadership it's a gold mine. They never forget that it's a business, and make many decisions that are detrimental to the programs and the girls they serve.
The complete revamp of the program every few years is horrendously expensive, and I'm not aware of any of the changes being particularly beneficial to the kids. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
One of the things that comes to mind when I think about scouting was the instructions that I received when disbanding the troop. On the question of what to do with the money that was left in our troop account (about 48 cents, as I recall, but some troops have hundreds of dollars) the letter had this to say. Paraphrasing, of course, but the gist of it is correct here.
They wanted the girls to donate the money to charity or back to Girl Scouting, of course. Any other use of their own money would be unthinkable!
"Some troops take the money that is left and have a big party or take a final little trip somewhere and spend that money, but what lesson are you teaching the girls when you allow that?"
Hm. Let me take a stab at this one. By allowing the girls to spend the money they EARNED on activities of their choosing, they are learning that the money earned from hard work is theirs? That it doesn't belong to GSUSA or the government or Jesus?
:::gasp:::
Heresy!!
Our troop ended up spending most of the money we had left on a long weekend jaunt to one of the Girl Scout properties. We tie dyed, sang around the campfire, took a hike, had a treasure hunt of sorts, played a ton of games, made noise, stayed up late and got up early and came home exhausted.
I never got paid back for the
Eric said more than once when I wavered on a purchase or commented about the money I spent on my troop, "It's for your girls. They're worth it."
They were, too. I enjoyed my time with them and hope they all have good memories of scouting.
So buy some cookies or give the next Girl Scout troop you encounter selling them a few bucks if you can.
While I rarely comment, as you know, I had to chime in on this one. Your Girl Scout troop was, for years, the weekly activity that meant absolutely the most to Davan. It was her main social connection (not to mention mine, as well) and such a supportive environment for her. To have a place where she was never judged for all her little and not so little quirks was a huge deal for us. Sometimes Davan still says she misses it and wishes the troop were still together.
ReplyDeleteI loved my last troop the most. The closeness of the families and girls was great, and I have never seen such an involved group of parents. You suppose homeschooling may have had something to do with that?
DeleteAnd Davan was one of the reasons I enjoyed the troop so much. She is such a unique and interesting person. One of my favorite memories of hanging out with her had nothing to do with Girl Scouts, though, it was the camping trip we did to the coast with four moms and however many kids we had with us. I have lost track. :)
But wasn't it fun?