^This, exactly. Well stated.
No, those are Maltesers.
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
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I don’t recall ever encountering an actual Girl Scout selling cookies. Only the parents, usually coworkers.
I wasn’t going to post, just read the thread…but I see that SOMEBODY has to say it, so I guess I will:
Shortbread.
That is all.
Keep in mind that, at least in the San Francisco area, troops are assigned locations in front of particular stores with specific days and times (usually in 2-hour blocks). They don’t just “set up shop somewhere.”
We also used to have an annual Little League raffle (with kids going door-to-door; the best seller ended up being the one person from our league to win a World Series ring), back in the days when leagues could not require that parents pay a fee (not that this stopped our league from charging it anyway, and telling just the poorer parents that it was a “voluntary contribution”).
Usually, they would start taking orders in mid-January, with early February deliveries. This year, I have been told that nobody is allowed to even take orders before the storefront sales begin in mid-February.
I would have stared at that statement for a while, had this not happened to me two days ago, although I don’t think she was 18 - still, she looked a little old to be a Girl Scout. (Then again, what is the age limit?)
You do need the mothers there, however, to help out with details, like making sure the kids know how much to collect. Yes, you would think it would be easy for the kids to do now that they are $4 a box, but I bought five boxes and had the young girl ask for $16.
I go for Thank U Berry Munch (one of the more expensive cookies - only 14 per box).
As for Boy Scouts, the only times I have ever seen them selling anything, it was tickets for the annual Scout-O-Rama and Pinewood Derby.
I remember being amused when I heard that some troops were fighting over the privilege of being able to set up at DunDraCon (gaming convention in the Bay Area). I thought that was a fantastic idea–can you think of a place that would sell out of cookies faster than supplying hungry gamers? 
When I was a boy scout, our scoutmaster had a bright idea:
We first went around the neighborhoods taking orders.
Then we were able to borrow a big dump truck, which we filled with manure. Then we spread it on peoples lawns. In those days a whole troop of boyscouts could be allowed to ride around town in the back of a dump truck on top of a heap of cow-peat.
Worst. Fund raiser. ever. But we did learn how to sell shit, and I got to learn how to drive a dump truck with three shift levers and no syncros.
It bugs me how much the moms sell around here, too. How do kids learn anything from the experience when the moms do all the work? When I was a kid, my 2 sisters and I sold a shit ton of cookies one year. I got a GSA bathing suit out of it, and my sisters got some merchandise, too. We sold all of the cookies, not our mom.
I was a Girl Scout and sold cookies door-to-door for a few years. The only lessons it taught me were that I never wanted a job where direct sales or fundraising were a significant component. I have retained that lesson well, so maybe it was worth it.
When my daughter was a Scout we stuck with grocery store sales, and, yes, the girls did most of the work.
Boy Scout troops can do the popcorn thing or figure out their own fundraisers. Girl Scouts troops are expressly forbidden to do any other fundraising outside of cookie sales.
Preach on, Sister!
Never mind.
So GSA thinks teaching young girls to approach strangers on the street in search of money qualifies as developing a useful life skill? :dubious:
I’m sure we should all value the input from famed Men’s Rights Advocate Scott Adams.
Actually, yeah. Believe it or not, not everyone is born able to just walk up to someone they don’t know and start talking. It’s a skill, and one that adult life would be very limited without. Whether you’re going door to door like we always did, or at a table like they do things now, every single stranger you ask “Would you like to buy some Girl Scout cookies?” forces you to practice that skill.
Calculating up the money due (they have a little chart on the sheet so you don’t actually have to do any math beyond counting boxes), making change, keeping track of the money, working with other people to decide what to do with your share of the profits…they’re all valuable skills, and you don’t develop those skills letting Mommy do everything for you.
-Have you bought your girlscout cookies yet?
-[fake accent]How much for the little girl? How much for the girlscout?
-What!?
-Your girlscouts. I want to buy your girlscouts. The little girls, your daughters… sell them to me. Sell me your children!
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.
I think every workplace or circle of adult friends should have an annual event along these lines:
If you sell Tupperware, Party Lite, Scentsy, Those Fucking Jeans, Mary Kay, Girl Scout Cookies, Boy Scout Popcorn, Band Candy, Football Raffle Tickets, etc. etc. On one day each year, everybody who sells or has kids who sells these meets for lunch…or just standing in a circle will suffice.
Everybody takes out a $100 bill. Pass the bill to your left.
You have now transferred the money that you would have otherwise spent on other peoples shit, and they have given you the money that they would have spent on your shit.
Now take that $100 and pay for your own kid’s shit.
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