Where's the Scout?

Where’s the Scout?

I haven’t seen one yet. But they’ve got to be around here some place. There’s evidence of them everywhere, but I never see them -- just their moms. Seems like wherever I go lately someone, friend, acquaintance, neighbor or stranger, comes up to me and throws me the pitch: “Hey, there! My daughter’s selling Girl Scout cookies, how many would you like?”

Don’t get me wrong – I am a big fan of the organization. Heck, I still have my sash from the fourth through sixth grades – the one my sister still teases me about. With its pins and badges and patches, it was a real big deal to me. A billboard of achievement. I was very proud of it. I still am.

It's just that when I was in scouting, and yes, there were ovens, and our cookies weren’t made over an open fire and folks were out of the caves and in to houses by then, we sold our cookies door to door.

No websites, no social media, no moms. We had our sales spiel, an order form, and if we were really fortunate, a good memory: “Hey, Mrs. Adams, its me again, last year you loved those thin mints, how about four boxes?”

This year I haven't seen one scout so I asked one of the mom’s about that. She said times have changed and the councils are delivered set amounts of cookies and there’s a lot of pressure and they need to sell what they’ve got. It’s all business and merchandising now. A moneymaking machine of an enterprise. Streamlined. Marketed. On-line.

No, today’s cookie pushers aren’t in knee socks, they’re in SUVs and frankly, I think the scouts are missing out.

Oh, I bought a box of shortbread cookies. And, I’ll put them in the freezer because I can still remember how good they taste like that -- but I only bought the one box. I could’ve bought a lot more.

I can resist a peer with an iPad but who can say no to a young girl with high hopes, a pencil, and a blank order form? When I find her she can put me down for ten. Her pick.