# Moms selling girl scout cookies **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 10, 2013, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moms-selling-girl-scout-cookies/652517 "2013-03-10T01:22:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moms-selling-girl-scout-cookies/652517/61 "2013-03-12T15:40:45Z")
> [@boozilu](#): > > Actually, Five boxes at $3.50 = $17.50. The little girl who answered $2.50 was correct! Yeah I was wondering too. I was like…the girl got it right! ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moms-selling-girl-scout-cookies/652517/62 "2013-03-12T15:44:13Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Yeah I was wondering too. I was like…the girl got it right! How embarrassing for **Dogzilla**! Doing his share to bring up another generation of women with justifiable disdain for mansplaining. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moms-selling-girl-scout-cookies/652517/63 "2013-03-12T15:49:29Z")
> [@boozilu](#): > > Actually, Five boxes at $3.50 = $17.50. The little girl who answered $2.50 was correct! > > Btw, our cookies are $4/box this year which makes the math much better 🙂 Awesome… so their cheat sheet was wrong! Note: regardless of _my_ poor math skills (I would probably not pass the Grade 6 FCAT) and that of the Girl Scouts, I donated my change, which I was told would be given to the Ronald McDonald House. Fine by me. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moms-selling-girl-scout-cookies/652517/64 "2013-03-12T16:38:40Z")
> [@Dogzilla](#): > > I give any Girl Scouts who wish to sell me cookies a math quiz before I buy. I like to make 'em think. > > True, story, this was the script this year: > > Dogzilla, ignoring the moms, looking directly at the girls: “Hello, Girl Scouts! How much is one box of cookies this year?” > > Mom Scouts: “3.50 – they did not go up this year.” > > I give the mom a dirty look. “Okay, Girl Scouts, if I have $20, how many boxes can I buy?” > > One girl scout checks her cheat sheet taped to the money box. I stop her, so she pauses and tries to do the math in her head. Without giving her a chance to do that, Mom pipes up again, “Five.” > > Another filthy look shot at the moms. > > “Okay, I have another question and this one is for the Girl Scouts **ONLY**. If I can buy five boxes for less than $20, how much money will be left over?” I glare at the moms, silently telling them they’d better STFU or they will lose the sale. They take the hint pipe down. Lots of umming and uhhhing ensues. > > Finally, the littlest Girl Scout raises her hand (adorable!), and says, “I think I know, but I’m not the one behind the table.” > > I say, “That’s okay, if you think you know, just tell me the answer.” > > “2.50?” > > :: sigh :: > > There’s obviously a reason I’m trying to help these girls with their math. > > I tell her, nice try, she’s close, but incorrect. Another GS pipes up, “$3.50?” :: face palm :: I inform her that, if my change was $3.50, then I could afford a whole other box and get six boxes instead. This stumps all of them. The correct answer was $3.00. Five boxes at $3.50 = $17.00. > > These girls are going to have trouble with their FCATs – there’s a bunch of estimation problems and question exactly like I just asked them on their Mathematics FCAT. The moms should be helping them with their math, not answering\* for \*them. > > Of course, I bought the cookies anyway, because they tried hard and because they gave me an adorable little hand-made thank you card. I will not buy at work, or from any adult. Good Lord, do you have any idea how grating this is? (forget about your math skills) If that were me, I would’ve taken my kid and walked off. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moms-selling-girl-scout-cookies/652517/65 "2013-03-12T17:27:00Z")
My niece Facetimed me and sold me five boxes. Technology makes hitting up relatives so much easier than it was in my day! I’m not sure how I get the cookies though. I’m guessing another Facetime, where I can watch her eating them for me. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moms-selling-girl-scout-cookies/652517/66 "2013-03-12T17:55:29Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > Good Lord, do you have any idea how grating this is? (forget about your math skills) If that were me, I would’ve taken my kid and walked off. No, I had no idea how grating this is. The GS moms cooed and smiled and hushed and let me quiz their kids. They acted like they thought it was cool that a stranger would try to help the kids work on their math while using their sales skills too. Apparently, I cannot multiply in my head _and_ I’m a jerk. Now I know. ---
**Author:** ![Zjestika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/8edcca/32.png) [@Zjestika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zjestika)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moms-selling-girl-scout-cookies/652517/67 "2013-03-12T19:13:11Z")
[Obligatory Andy Rooney on Girl Scout cookies](http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=1432347n). “I like peanut butter and I like cookies, I’ve never liked peanut butter cookies.” ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moms-selling-girl-scout-cookies/652517/68 "2013-03-12T19:34:12Z")
> [@Dogzilla](#): > > No, I had no idea how grating this is. The GS moms cooed and smiled and hushed and let me quiz their kids. They acted like they thought it was cool that a stranger would try to help the kids work on their math while using their sales skills too. > > Apparently, I cannot multiply in my head _and_ I’m a jerk. Now I know. That poor poor little girl. You probably just destroyed all her confidence and now she’ll never raise her hand in class to answer questions which will lead to her terrible grades and because of those she’ll drop out at 16 and start hooking. But hey at least the GS taught her how to approach strangers asking them for money. J/K I like your math quiz. It shows the girls they can have a nice conversation with a stranger and not be worried that every stranger is a stranger danger. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moms-selling-girl-scout-cookies/652517/69 "2013-03-12T19:42:23Z")
I like **Dogzilla** ’s approach too, if not his multiplication skills. I get hit up for cookies largely from girls I know. I always make them jump through a couple of hoops first, mainly by asking questions like “Why should I buy these cookies?” and “Why should I buy from you?” (I always buy 'em if I ask–if I already have 14 boxes I’ll just say no, thanks–but it’s clear that some of the kids haven’t ever thought about these questions, and selling your customer on your product, talking up its good points, is an important part of the process too.) The best answer I got, or at least the most compelling for me (I was a math teacher at the time): “Because some of the money will go to help girls learn more about math and science. THAT’S why.” I bought an extra box just for that answer! ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moms-selling-girl-scout-cookies/652517/70 "2013-03-12T19:47:11Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > \And as was pointed out five years ago, someone may not report to you now, but they may apply for a position in your organization in the future. They don’t want to piss you off by declining to buy the suggested three boxes. I actually work with someone who knows he’d better bring his kids’ order form into the office so **he** doesn’t piss **us** off. > [@CrazyCatLady](#): > > \ Buying cookies from parents undermines Juliette Gordon Lowe’s entire vision, and I won’t do it. I must confess that I don’t care a whit about Juliette Gordon Lowe or her vision. I just want cookies. > [@runner pat](#): > > They’ve always sold single serving boxes. 😉 The Thin Mints are actually two servings. One sleeve = one serving. Samoas are indeed single-serving boxes. > [@CrazyCatLady](#): > > Seriously. Back in my day (we wore onions on our sashes, it was the style of the time), we were given cookie sales training that covered basic common sense stuff like not going door to door without adult supervision, not going into someone’s house, etc.\ Onions! Well, la-di-da! We’d have killed for something that decorative… I went door to door on my own, in my ill-fitting uniform and undecorated sash. My style of selling was to knock incredibly lightly on the door, then shift from foot to foot while hoping no one would answer, and if someone did answer, I’d mumble, “You don’t want to buy any cookies, do you?” I was not the top seller. Thankfully, one of my mom’s co-workers asked her to bring cookies in when she found out I was a Girl Scout. > [@Tread](#): > > When my daughter was in GSA, I would take an order form to work. Tell my Cow orkers, that the form was there if they wanted to order. When the cokies came in, my wife, and daughter was at the plant entrance, at quitting time. My daughter had to give each person, their cookies, and take the money. That was the understanding we had before I ever agreed to take the order forms to work This is what my co-worker does. He makes the order form available, but his adorable daughters distribute the cookies and collect the money. > [@Dogzilla](#): > > No, I had no idea how grating this is. The GS moms cooed and smiled and hushed and let me quiz their kids. They acted like they thought it was cool that a stranger would try to help the kids work on their math while using their sales skills too. Most of the GS parents I’ve met will encourage the children to do the math (and count out the change) on their own. I did learn valuable life lessons from the year I spent as a Girl Scout: I hate uniforms. I don’t like group activities all that much. It’s fairly easy, if pointless, to weave a tiny mat to “sit upon”, but you can’t count on the adults leading your group to actually take you outside once it’s made, even though your brother gets to go on overnight hikes with the Boy Scouts. Sales is not the occupation for me. Boys got to do way cooler things than girls in the 70s. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moms-selling-girl-scout-cookies/652517/71 "2013-03-13T04:48:42Z")
When my girls were Scouts, I’d walk around the neighbourhood with them. Then I’d take the order form in to work for a day or two, and my wife did the same. (We weren’t actually allowed to sell things at work, but if I had a piece of paper lying on my desk and other people wanted to write on it…) When the cookies came in, I’d walk around the neighbourhood with the girls again, and then my wife and I would deliver cookies at work. The usual places for the troops to set up tables here are in front of WalMart and the commissary. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moms-selling-girl-scout-cookies/652517.md?page=3)