If I had a dollar for every time I was solicited to purchase Girl Scout Cookies in the last month, I could by a lot of Girl Scout cookies. Everywhere I turn, there they are....at the grocery store, Walgreen's, WalMart....The reason I bring it up is because I feel bad. I would love to buy from every young lady that is selling, just like I would love to donate money to every single charity that asks, but you have to draw the line somewhere! If I had my way, our pantry would be lined wall-to-wall with Peanut Butter Patties (or Tagalongs as they are referred to in the inner circle)...of course, my wife, my health, and my waste line have a different opinion.
Case-in-point, yesterday, I am leaving the grocery store with Sunday's dinner menu when I approach a table of 2 young ladies selling the product, accompanied by their mothers. I'm thinking to myself, what could I possibly use to rationalize a purchase? Nothing. So, I have 2 choices...do like many and just walk by, ignoring them, and hope that they don't see me? That's awkward. So, feeling it necessary to acknowledge them, I politely say "no thanks, my wife would kill me if I purchased more". Yes, I blamed it on the wife. One of the moms fires back jokingly (but not really) "you could keep a stash in your car" to which I said, "I'll have to pass". It's almost like I'm at a car dealership...the nice little girl is the salesman and the mother is the aggressive Sales Manager, there to close the deal!
So I made it out of the market unscathed, but it got me thinking...why do I get so annoyed when I see the Girl Scout cookie stand? Probably because I don't like saying "no" to nice young ladies (I am screwed if I ever have a daughter) who are actually out in the world doing something, trying to make a difference as opposed to sitting at home on their lazy butts complaining that they didn't get to go to a Justin Beiber concert. I also started to think, hey, when I was a kid selling stuff to raise money, we went door-to-door...kids these days are lazy and just set-up shop in high-traffic areas and let the people come to them. I then thought, these kids are freakin' smart to run their enterprise this way, I wish I would've thought of that as a kid!
But, probably the biggest frustration with this whole situation is the fact that I wish I could eat as many of those damn cookies as I want, but I can't...so as they say, "the early bird gets the worm...and my Girl Scout cookie business."
