I have nothing against Girl Scouts. I do have something against using them to make a profit.
Little girls do not dream about selling cookies. No. They don't. I was a little girl once. And I never had such an aspiration.
When
I see the little girls standing outside The Devil's Playground, with
the wind whipping their stringy hair across their pinched faces, running
up to entering (through the EXIT door) and exiting (through the ENTER
door) customers, asking them to buy cookies...it makes me sad. Little
girls should not be spending their weekends hawking overpriced junk
food. No. They should be playing.
Today, I spied a Mom
Scout at Save A Lot. She had set up a table at the north entrance. Thank
the Gummi Mary, the only parking spot I saw was by the south entrance. I
leaned at a 45-degree angle and trudged across the parking lot against
the wind. This is only the second time I've seen the Mom Scouts selling
cookies at the Save A Lot. I guess somebody staked out the Devil's
Playground doors early. Of course, it WAS 11:30 by now. The early Scout
gets the high traffic areas, I guess.
So...I did my
shopping. Not much to get there. Just a case of water, shredded lettuce
(they only had ONE bag), hamburger, boneless chicken breasts, and salsa.
I was headed back out the south door when I saw it, forming through the
glass of the doors.
A NEW COOKIE EXTORTION STATION!
I
rolled my wobble-wheeled metal cart across the threshold. Yet I
couldn't leave! That store was like the Hotel California! There I stood,
right on the metal door strip, unable to wheel my cart to the left
around the metal railing between the IN and OUT doors. A little Girl
Scout stood in the way.
I think she was a girl scout.
They don't wear those little skirt/blouse/kerchief/beret uniforms
anymore, you know. Not around here. This little girl, maybe seven years
old, was in pink pants and a striped shirt. Another little girl her size
was helping the Mom Scout move a white plastic table.
THERE WAS NO ROOM!
I
said, "Excuse me," and the pink-pantsed little girl moved about a
quarter of an inch toward the table. I barely squeaked by without
rear-ending her with the cart. No apology from the Mom Scout. No
admonishing the li'l gal to get out of the way. They were set up
directly in front of the soda machine. They could have leaned on it to
rest their backs.
Did you know that Save A Lot has thin mint cookies that are identical to Girl Scout Thin Mints?
I
had half a mind to go back in there, buy a box, and set up my own
table, offering people free tastes with a recommendation to buy a pack
in the store.
5 comments:
There are also cookies that taste even better than Samoas, made by the Keebler elves (Coconut Dreams). You could offer free samples of those, too, and direct customers to a different store, along with Save a Lot for the thin mints.
Most of the Girl Scout cookies aren't very good!!
Sioux,
Yes! I would be doing a public service, really. I could even run a shuttle from door to door.
****
fishducky,
I admit to liking the Thin Mints and Samoas. But Sioux and I have that covered! No need to be held hostage by the Mom Scouts ever again, waiting to buy cookies only once a year.
I must confess that my girls sold cookies. Jill was the adorable little brown eyed girl with curly hair and she charmed most people into buying cookies. My baby girl had her very own sales technique. She forced her foot in the door, then demanded to know how many people would be eating the cookies and told them how many boxes to buy. You would really be surprised to know how well this works. She always won the most cookies sold in her troupe, despite the fact that the other mothers were out there selling for their kids.
Kathy,
That's exactly my point. It's for the GIRLS to sell cookies. Not the MOMS! You allowed your girls to achieve success in cookie sales. You didn't do it for them. Kudos!
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