Robyn, how close Grasshoppers are to Thin Mints varies greatly depending on what council you’re in. If you’re in one of the councils where you get Caramel Delites instead of Samoas, then yeah, the Grasshoppers are damn close. (Actually, imo, the Grasshoppers are slightly better than that incarnation of the Thin Mint.) If you’re in a Samoa council, the Grasshopper is but a pale imitation of the Thin Mint, something you make do with when there are no GS cookies available. It’s not just the Thin Mints, either–all the cookies from the Little Brownie bakery are loads better. That’s why when Edy’s makes their Girl Scout Cookie ice creams, they use the Little Brownie cookies. (I highly recommend those ice creams, btw–the Thin Mint is wonderful, but the Samoa is an orgasm in a spoon.)
I don’t know what kind of GS cookies we get, but the Grasshoppers are a good-enough substitute.
Robin
Some years ago, at a different employer, the CEO sent out an email letting everyone know it was Girl Scout season and his daughter’s sign-up list was at his secretary’s desk. I read that email dutifully, then looked up the appropriate page in the employee handbook banning solicitation in the workplace and specifically naming children’s fundraisers.
I pondered replying, quoting the employee handbook, and giving a link to an electronic copy of it, but decided it was much wiser to instead gripe about the injustices of the world over a beer that evening.
It’s events like that that turned me into the bitter and cynical man I am today, but damn, do I likes me some peanut butter patties.
The way we do it at my office is:
- It must be food. Chocolates work well.
- Bring the box down to the coffee room at break. Have change available.
- People know what the box of chocolates is for so shut up. They will buy one if they want one.
It’s simple and it works.
I agree. After eating 25 cookies, they taste the same to me. 
Seriously though, I refuse to buy anything that is a commercial fund raiser. The pressure they put children under should be against the law. My nephew had to sell an huge amount of expensive giftwrap to be included in the ‘party’ consisting of one slice of cheap ass pizza and lemonaide.
To you and me, we’d tell the fundraisers to shove it up their ass, but no kid wants to be the only one who isn’t at the party. To a kid, selling $200 of wrapping paper is worth it…they are getting a pom pom with googly eyes! Wow!
I recall once in Jr High where they even had a guy give us a ‘motivation’ speech to shill his products. At the time I didn’t think anything of it, but to think of it now pisses me off.
People who iuse children to pay for their salaries is just wrong. I hope my daughter doesn’t have to deal with them, because the administration is going to haaaaaaate me.
Yeah, this is a hot button topic for me. Can you tell?
I like the system at Greenback’s office. Even better, just give the candy to the kids and let them carry it around to their classes at school (middle and older). When I was in high school and we had to sell candy for band, I just put my case prominently on my desks. It more or less sold itself.
It’s that season again. My kids just came home with three separate walkathon pledge sheets.
Oh and the “prize” if they raise $100 or more? The kids (8 to 10-year-olds) get to go to a night-time “Midnight Madness” party and gorge on junk food and then run around until they explode. Good idea.