# Hiding from a Boy Scout! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 4, 2013, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-from-a-boy-scout/673066 "2013-11-04T16:02:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-from-a-boy-scout/673066/61 "2013-11-06T09:21:42Z")
Obviously your kids so cute no one can say no to him, so they all hide. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-from-a-boy-scout/673066/62 "2013-11-06T09:29:36Z")
I suggest you watch the \*Everybody Loves Raymond \*episode, “Cookies,” in which the character known as “Peggy Hitler” debuts. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-from-a-boy-scout/673066/63 "2013-11-06T11:32:17Z")
> [@bengangmo](#): > > From the responses of some, I sincerely hope they don’t reproduce - the world is quite selfish enough without more of these sorts of spawn What an incredibly shitty thing to say. How is not answering my door to strangers being selfish? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-from-a-boy-scout/673066/64 "2013-11-06T11:41:32Z")
Many people work nights. You may be ringing their bell at what is, to them, the middle of the night. I used to work graveyard shift, and it was amazing how many people would ask me to do errands for them in the middle of the day, because after all, I had “nothing else to do” all day. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-from-a-boy-scout/673066/65 "2013-11-06T11:45:05Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > What an incredibly shitty thing to say. How is not answering my door to strangers being selfish? [Seinfeld] “Why does everything have to be ‘us’? Is there no ‘me’ left? Why can’t there be some things just for me? Is that so selfish?” “Actually, that’s the definition of selfish.” [/Seinfeld] ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-from-a-boy-scout/673066/66 "2013-11-06T14:06:04Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > Maybe it’s because I live in the south and people are just friendlier down here, but I can’t imagine not opening the door for a neighborhood kid whether he (or she) were selling boy scout popcorn, girl scout cookies, candy bars for marching band, coupon books for the PTO, or whatever. I am so tired of hearing this. People are not necessarily friendlier down there. And people are not necessarily ruder up here. Somehow wanting my OWN autonomy in my OWN house is now considered not being nice. Pshaw. I saw not ringing stranger’s doorbells is considered nice. And it would be a different kettle of fish, wouldn’t it, if the family was just coming to say hi? Oh no, the first they want to talk to me is to ask me for money. Go away. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-from-a-boy-scout/673066/67 "2013-11-06T14:37:46Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > [Seinfeld] > > “Why does everything have to be ‘us’? Is there no ‘me’ left? Why can’t there be some things just for me? Is that so selfish?” > > “Actually, that’s the definition of selfish.” > > [/Seinfeld] Cute but totally false in the larger context. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-from-a-boy-scout/673066/68 "2013-11-06T15:27:06Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > One of my coworkers had a kid who was trying to earn money to go on some field trip or another (apparently something the school district does every year for that grade). He put the order form near the coffee pot and let people choose for themselves. It was some sort of frozen cookie dough that came in a pound (or three) tub. I very nearly did this, but since I’m a manager I decided it would be inappropriate to solicit (even passively) from people who work for me. > [@Anaamika](#): > > I am so tired of hearing this. People are not necessarily friendlier down there. And people are not necessarily ruder up here. I lived in New England for 18 years, Chicago for 13, and Nashville for 13. Every region has friendly people and assholes – so no, people are not _necessarily_ friendlier down here. But by and large, the population as a group is _way_ friendlier. Often aggravatingly so. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-from-a-boy-scout/673066/69 "2013-11-06T15:28:55Z")
I have two grown children. They belonged to Girl Scouts, soccer clubs, etc., and of course they also attended school. While I did participate in Girl Scout cookie booth sales, for a few reasons, anything involving door-to-door selling was verboten in our household. I absolutely refused to take advantage of my friends and neighbors. When I decided to have kids, _I_ took full financial responsibility for them. Whenever a fundraiser packet would come home, I’d write a check for the minimum required and send it back in. Done. I wish that all my relatives and neighbors had a similar attitude. One neighbor routinely sics their kids on us with their school fundraisers, even though I never ONCE knocked on their door. I also have one SIL who would take advantage of any holiday or even wedding to sell chances on behalf of her kids, which was tacky enough, but it was even worse because it was for her kid’s club soccer team. (Hint: Your kids’ traveling club team isn’t a charity. It’s tacky to ask other people to support your frivolity. If you can’t afford it on your own, don’t freaking sign up for it.) If she had any idea what people said behind her back… So while I’d never slam the door on a child, I freely admit to simply not answering the door if it’s a child I don’t know very well. I can guarantee you that I’ll never knock on your door asking you for money. Please extend to me the same courtesy. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-from-a-boy-scout/673066/70 "2013-11-06T16:05:25Z")
> [@glee](#): > > Look, I’m all for kids learning to raise money for charity (or for a Scout trip.) > But why not do this efficiently and make people happy too? > > Bake some home-made cakes and sell those. > Advertise a car washing service, a lawn-moving service or a shopping delivery service. > Get sponsorship for your scouts to pick up litter (folks pay $x for every bag of rubbish collected.) > Your local paper will be happy to publish these sorts of constructive fund-raising. I assume that the benefits of popcorn sales are that the Scouts get it at a good price due to the scale of their operation (cheaper than baking cakes) and that it’s a known product. If I’m paying Scouts to rake my leaves, there’s a chance for me to get all upset that they did a “poor job” or showed up late or stepped on my tulips or whatever. With a product like popcorn, there’s much less liability involved. I dislike the imposition on me when organizations want MY kids to sell stuff but I’ll give a fair listen to any kid who shows up at my door and try to give them a sale if I can swing it. They’re trying to be involved in something constructive with their time (Scouts, school, sports) and I support that. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-from-a-boy-scout/673066/71 "2013-11-06T16:31:23Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I assume that the benefits of popcorn sales are that the Scouts get it at a good price due to the scale of their operation (cheaper than baking cakes) and that it’s a known product. Not really. For normal retail goods the wholesale is typically about half of retail. For cheaper goods, the markup is frequently higher percentagewise. But on “fundraiser” goods, the amount the organization gets to keep is usually pitiful, sometimes even less than a commissioned salesperson would make. I haven’t found any reliable information about popcorn sales, but from my daughters’ brief foray into Brownie scouting I remember that they only keep about 15% of the cookie price. Rather than buying wholesale and selling retail they buy at slightly discounted retail and sell at full retail. ---
**Author:** ![svd678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@svd678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/svd678)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-from-a-boy-scout/673066/72 "2013-11-06T17:23:02Z")
What is this indignation about teaching kids that if they want something it may take work to get it? And the psychotic fury about someone knocking on your door - it didn’t used to be that way. Why is the currant generation so up-tight? (All the excuses above are absurd.) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-from-a-boy-scout/673066/73 "2013-11-06T17:39:13Z")
What “psychotic fury”? The OP was “appalled” that people wouldn’t answer the door for her popcorn-selling children and others explained why they would rather not do so. I don’t see any “psychotic fury”. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-from-a-boy-scout/673066/74 "2013-11-06T17:47:48Z")
> [@svd678](#): > > What is this indignation about teaching kids that if they want something it may take work to get it? And the psychotic fury about someone knocking on your door - it didn’t used to be that way. Why is the currant generation so up-tight? (All the excuses above are absurd.) The only work they learn about when selling expensive canned popcorn and stale cookies is flogging rug suckers door to door after they grow up. Among the reasons it didn’t used to be that way are the obscene salaries going to the fat spiders disguised as “charity” CEOs. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-from-a-boy-scout/673066/75 "2013-11-06T17:48:34Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > I haven’t found any reliable information about popcorn sales, but from my daughters’ brief foray into Brownie scouting I remember that they only keep about 15% of the cookie price. Rather than buying wholesale and selling retail they buy at slightly discounted retail and sell at full retail. My wife used to work for the Girls Scouts National Office and remarked that the whole cookie thing was very profitable for the organization, hence the emphasis on it. She didn’t work directly with the cookies (she helped lead Hispanic outreach) but the “cookie culture” permeated the entire office anyway. But without hard numbers, it’s impossible to say and the economy of scale for GS cookies probably dwarfs that of BS popcorn anyway. I _assume_ that, on a per unit basis, popcorn is cheaper than making cakes at home (time & materials). ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-from-a-boy-scout/673066/76 "2013-11-06T17:49:58Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > selling expensive canned popcorn and stale cookies Can’t speak for you but I always found the cookies to be nummy and as fresh as packaged cookies can reasonably be expected to be. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-from-a-boy-scout/673066/77 "2013-11-06T18:53:05Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Fill them with the best damn homemade cookies in the world and give them out to friends. Pecan sandies, whiskey cookies and Sarah Bernhardts so delicious that Martha Stewart would kill herself out of shame for daring to put out her own recipe once she tasted My Beloved’s. I’d never heard of Sarah Bernhardt cookies. I googled them and they sound wonderful! Does your Beloved want to send me a test batch? Decorative tin optional. StG ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-from-a-boy-scout/673066/78 "2013-11-06T18:54:56Z")
> [@svd678](#): > > And the psychotic fury about someone knocking on your door - it didn’t used to be that way. That was prior to your losing contact with reality, for your understanding of “psychotic” and “fury” bears no relation to the posts in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-from-a-boy-scout/673066/79 "2013-11-06T18:56:40Z")
> [@StGermain](#): > > I’d never heard of Sarah Bernhardt cookies. I googled them and they sound wonderful! Does your Beloved want to send me a test batch? Decorative tin optional. > > StG Did you happen to check out how difficult they are to make? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-from-a-boy-scout/673066/80 "2013-11-06T19:15:36Z")
Thing about living out a bit from each neighbor, ignoring a knock on your door or someone driving up the driveway could be letting a lot of bad getting into your day. Carrying a hurt child in your arms & having people who you can see are home refusing to even come to the door does incline me to think a bit less of them. ( This actually happened to me. ) So, do you live with that attitude in your own life. You will not get mad at anyone who refuses to come to the door when life & limb are at stake? Or they are lost, or, or ,or because they just might be kids selling stuff? If you won’t even check, how do you know that it is a waste of your time? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-from-a-boy-scout/673066.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiding-from-a-boy-scout/673066.md?page=5)