I Know, I'm A Sucker - But I Don't Care

by muaddib at 01:02 PM on January 15, 2002

It's mid-January and I have a job, which can mean only one thing: People are hitting me up left and right to buy Girl Scout Cookies™ from their daughters. I've been asked by two different people today alone. And that's not counting the sales sheets simply hanging about all over the building, hoping to guilt someone into buying. And, of course, I've already agreed to buy some from my boss' daughter because she asked me herself when I was over there this weekend.

I pretty much always buy stuff from kids regardless of where or how they ask. I like to encourage the entreprenuerial spirit. I also remember running 'round my own neighbourhood as a kid peddling everything from raffle tickets to silly little Junior Acheivement wooden ducks with clothespin beaks to hold notes. So, if some kid comes to my door, or stops me on the street, or even sends her mom into my office to ask, odds are I'll fork over some cash.

I also remember the charge I got every time I got a sale. And I remember almost never winning whatever competition was being held for selling the most because some other kid's grandfather bought 100 or so and no amount of effort on my behalf was ever going to make up the difference when the best I could squeeze my skinflint of a grandfather for was ten. So if I see some kid actually trying to do the work for some legitimate purpose, I feel an obligation to help him out.

Which brings me, sort of, to the point. I buy stuff from kids, but it really seems like the Girl Scouts really rely on parents - and their co-workers - to actually make Girl Scout cookies a money-maker. It would be interesting to know what percentage of Girl Scout Cookies™ are in fact sold by actual Girl Scouts.

I don't necessarily have a problem with any of this - one thing I know for certain is that three bucks for a box of Girl Scout Cookies™ is a helluva lot better deal than the wooden ducks I was hawking for Junior Achievement back in the day. I suppose it really depends on what the real purpose of selling cookies is: Is it to raise money for the organization or is it to help girls learn self-reliance and entrepreneurship? If the former, I'd say they're certainly pulling it off. If the latter, well....