I was a Cub Scout. Wearing my uniform blue shirt with the gold neckerchief, I was as proud as I could be! We had Cub Scout meetings in Billy Knapp's basement. His mom was the Den Mother. We would work on getting our next badge; othertimes building little craft projects that we could take home and show off.
Scouting takes money. I am sure my parents paid some amount for weekly or monthly dues plus the expenses for the nifty little outfit, badges, books and the other scouting necessities. Non-profit organizations need more money than your paltry little dues cover. Non-profits may not make a "profit" but there are plenty of folks who need money to keep the Scouting, real estate and the light bill going.
Back to Billy Knapp's basement. Billy's mom, the Den Mother said we had to make some money for the Scouts! We would do this by selling lights bulbs. Light bulbs? My little eight year old brain did not light up over the light bulbs; not one bit! However being a good little Scout, with the "helping little old ladies across the street ethic," all of us in Pack 303 took our instructions, and with our new order pads in our little child like hands, hit the streets.
"Little Old Ladies!" Bingo! I lived next to an apartment complex named County Club Gardens. The place was loaded with widows living in little one and two bedrooms units. I think the husbands all died trying to make enough money to keep the old gals happy, in their former larger homes. Now the widows had these cute little pads; they could all hang out doing widow things together. I figured one thing they could do, would be to order Cub Scout light bulbs. WRONG! "Light bulbs? Young man why would I want to order light bulbs from the Cub Scouts? The Girl Scouts sell cookies, I always buy those; why don't you sell cookies like they do?" This widow was letting me have it, albeit with her false teeth grin.
I knew this project was doomed. Until then I didn't know that Girl Scouts sold cookies. The little Brownies at school never let on to that fact. They likely took an oath not to discuss it with the Cub or Boy Scouts. It must have been a closely held fundraising secret.
It is no secret anymore. I couldn't sleep tonight. I just got up and had a glass of milk and ten Thin Mints. IT'S OKAY, they are THIN MINTS--I will get thinner the more of them that I eat. The Girls Scouts and their cookies are a success story. How can you say "no" to a cute little Girl Scout? "Sir would you like to buy some Girl Scout Cookies?" "You bet I do! I'll take a case!"
Back as a little kid, the girls said they were smarter than us boys. When it comes to fundraising they sure are! The only light bulbs I sold were to my mom and dad.
I wonder what the Boy Scouts are doing today for a few extra bucks?
I had never thought about the serious implications of Girl Scout Cookies from a Cub Scout's perspective.
ReplyDeleteUntil now, my only complaint has been that Girl Scout Cookies are STILL made with hydrogenated oil--so even though I just got suckered into buying more of these darling-girl-marketed treats, I fear that what I really have are THREE boxes worth of toxins masquerading as non-profit "goodness". Those light bulbs are sounding "sweeter" by the minute :)
This is great dialogue! I have not read the cookie boxes; shame on me! I had my suspicions that these tasty little devils were just that. Hydrogenated oil! Really now, are you sure? I don’t even think McDonalds is using that anymore. Perhaps the same folks pressing for all of the government regulation of food products, should fire off a few emails to the Girls Scouts; asking their cookie manufactures to move into this millennium. Now if the Boy/Cub Scouts were selling the new CFL light bulbs, they might give the girls a run for their money! Thank you very much for your comment.
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