# 2020 is hindsight, lets rant about 2021 (January minirants) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 2, 2021, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-is-hindsight-lets-rant-about-2021-january-minirants/929499 "2021-01-02T05:45:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-is-hindsight-lets-rant-about-2021-january-minirants/929499/141 "2021-01-17T20:53:35Z")
Quite an ordeal, indeed! I remember a similar incident in my old neighborhood in the Big City, at an old neighborhood grocery store that had been there for a great many years. Among my purchases was a barbecue lighter, and it scanned at a price a good bit higher than the posted price. When I pointed this out, they gave it to me free. I actually objected and said it wasn’t necessary, I just wanted to pay the posted sale price, but the cashier said it was store policy – any price mismatch, and the customer gets the item free. Needless to say, the store is no longer there. The entire little strip mall it was in, within walking distance to my old house, is now occupied by a gigantic highrise condo, creating ever more traffic and population density in the area with ever fewer shopping resources. Such is “progress”. I’m glad I moved the hell out to the suburbs. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2021, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-is-hindsight-lets-rant-about-2021-january-minirants/929499/142 "2021-01-17T23:24:56Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Standard practice in such cases is to give the customer the item for free (although self-checkout may complicate the situation). So that really is a thing. It’s never happened for me on the rare occasions I’ve asked for a price check. My mother’s best friend always insisted that this was a policy. I assumed she was just being a Karen’s mother type of bitch about it when she was checking out. 😆 ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-is-hindsight-lets-rant-about-2021-january-minirants/929499/143 "2021-01-18T02:05:44Z")
No, it is the policy of the biggest multi-state regional chain in my part of the Midwest. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-is-hindsight-lets-rant-about-2021-january-minirants/929499/144 "2021-01-18T02:36:22Z")
I has a sad with you … and didn’t know that GS cookies were already on sale, so I checked my neighborhood board. And now you can get them either shipped directly, or through contactless delivery. Things have sure changed a lot from when I was a Girl Scout … ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-is-hindsight-lets-rant-about-2021-january-minirants/929499/145 "2021-01-18T03:30:32Z")
_sigh_ I miss Girl Scout cookies - Thin Mints in particular. They don’t do them in Australia, and won’t ship to Australia either. Sometimes I find them on Ebay, but at a ridiculous price. Ah, well. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-is-hindsight-lets-rant-about-2021-january-minirants/929499/146 "2021-01-18T03:36:28Z")
I imagine anything with chocolate in it might not arrive in good shape either, considering it’s pretty hot where you are at this time of year. ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-is-hindsight-lets-rant-about-2021-january-minirants/929499/147 "2021-01-18T03:55:18Z")
True - fortunately, other than a craving for Hershey’s every now and again, there’s not much chocolate I want to import. And I can get those from local shops. It’s their problem to get it imported in edible condition. Just about everything else I may want I can get from Australian resellers - I recently got a box with a bag of Fritos, a box of Cheez-its, and a couple of bags of Skittles. [My usual source.](https://usafoods.com.au/) Just not Girl Scout cookies. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-is-hindsight-lets-rant-about-2021-january-minirants/929499/148 "2021-01-18T04:02:27Z")
I’ve long wondered if I’m romanticizing Girl Scout cookies. Maybe if I searched, I’d find some chocolate mint cookies, and some lemon cookies that are even better… AND some awesome chocolate-on-shortbread cookies to replace Thank-Yous (is that what RitterSports are? The pictures look like it). ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-is-hindsight-lets-rant-about-2021-january-minirants/929499/149 "2021-01-18T06:34:53Z")
Do you have Keebler Grasshopper cookies? They’re a quite acceptable Thin Mint surrogate. ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-is-hindsight-lets-rant-about-2021-january-minirants/929499/150 "2021-01-18T06:53:16Z")
Nope, no Keebler products either. Some are available through the store above, but not Grasshoppers. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-is-hindsight-lets-rant-about-2021-january-minirants/929499/151 "2021-01-18T13:37:02Z")
> [@galen\_ubal](#): > > _sigh_ I miss Girl Scout cookies - Thin Mints in particular. They don’t do them in Australia, and won’t ship to Australia either. Have you had Mint Slices? They not only taste similar to Thin Mints, but are superior in just about every way, and are available year-round. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-is-hindsight-lets-rant-about-2021-january-minirants/929499/152 "2021-01-18T13:49:40Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I’ve long wondered if I’m romanticizing Girl Scout cookies. Maybe if I searched, I’d find some chocolate mint cookies, and some lemon cookies that are even better… AND some awesome chocolate-on-shortbread cookies to replace Thank-Yous (is that what RitterSports are? The pictures look like it). Personally I prefer Keebler Grasshopper cookies to Thin Mints. …and this is what happens when I don’t scroll down far enough. Oh well, count me a seconding the Grasshopper recommendations. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-is-hindsight-lets-rant-about-2021-january-minirants/929499/153 "2021-01-18T16:29:17Z")
Pre-pandemic, at least, my grocery store sold house brand knockoffs of all the Girl Scout cookies and they were pretty good. I haven’t checked lately. I haven’t had the real thing in years, though. They tasted like the GS cookies from my distant memory, FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2021, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-is-hindsight-lets-rant-about-2021-january-minirants/929499/154 "2021-01-21T05:50:31Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > my grocery store sold house brand knockoffs of all the Girl Scout cookies and they were pretty good Aldi? I’ve heard theirs are pretty close but they’re often not in stock. I’ve only been able to try their mint version myself so far. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2021, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-is-hindsight-lets-rant-about-2021-january-minirants/929499/155 "2021-01-21T15:54:30Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Time to tell October to go ahead with their offer of taking their remaining one off eBay and send that. The remaining one has been pulled from eBay and will go out next week. The seller, whom I’ve bought from before, is presumably waiting for everything to return to what passes for normal. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2021, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-is-hindsight-lets-rant-about-2021-january-minirants/929499/156 "2021-01-21T22:10:22Z")
I became a member of a specific writing methodology group - well, to be clear, I spent a lot of time and money on it and got myself certified as an editor. I don’t really regret that time or money because the original set of writing tools were solid and they advanced my personal goal of writing better books. But the whole thing is built up around one guy. I guess in retrospect I should have seen this coming. Over the last few years, I’ve seen it devolve from a humble little enterprise with a great community into a cult-like movement that exalts this guy and his increasingly bizarre ideas. It exploits its editors for free labor and does a bunch of other really shady shit, like stealing content and plagiarizing. Given all of this I’ve decided to cut ties with said organization. But I’m so pissed about how my friends were exploited. And I feel so fucking stupid for believing I had found something really great and authentic and now I’m learning it was all a bunch of bullshit. Even though the original tools are really helpful I feel dirty just for using them or recommending them. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2021, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-is-hindsight-lets-rant-about-2021-january-minirants/929499/157 "2021-01-22T01:06:58Z")
Kroger had some store brand knockoffs of Girl Scout cookies- at least the Caramel Delight version was good. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2021, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-is-hindsight-lets-rant-about-2021-january-minirants/929499/158 "2021-01-22T04:18:37Z")
The next time I’m in New York maybe I’ll- just kidding. I don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of finding the one Kroger within a 200 mile drive. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2021, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-is-hindsight-lets-rant-about-2021-january-minirants/929499/159 "2021-01-22T07:06:28Z")
So the accuweather app on my phone has been upgraded and now defaults to landscape mode when I open it. Wait, that’s not quite right, a better description is that landscape mode is the only fucking option, it simply does not have a portrait mode. I want to slap the stupid motherfucker who thought that was a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2021, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-is-hindsight-lets-rant-about-2021-january-minirants/929499/160 "2021-01-22T13:50:29Z")
The Aldi version of Samoas or Caramel Delights or whatever the Girl Scouts are calling them these days is pretty darn good. Indistinguishable from the “real thing.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-is-hindsight-lets-rant-about-2021-january-minirants/929499.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-is-hindsight-lets-rant-about-2021-january-minirants/929499.md?page=9)