February 21, 2020
Dear Everyone:
The Girl Scouts are out in force these days, but this time I’m ready for
them.
They’re selling cookies, of course.
For decades, beginning in 1917, Girl Scout troops have sold
cookies to raise funds for their Girl Scout activities, whatever those
are. I wouldn’t know, never
having been a Girl Scout myself.
Malyn was a Girl Scout, naturally.
And Bill was a Boy Scout.
But when it came to my turn, as the third child, our mother took
a look at how many children she had so far.
Then she multiplied the cost of Scouting (uniforms, merit badges,
manuals, camping equipment, etc.) by five (at that time.)
And she decided that “Scouting cost too much!”
And promptly declared war on Scouting.
Until Matt and Andy came along a few years later.
As all of their friends were in Scouting, Mother relented; and
Matt and Andy became Cub Scouts and worked their way up through the
various ranks until they got bored with the whole thing.
Consequently, I was the only one who never got to be a Scout.
But I’m not bitter.
Bill, Matt and Andy, being boys after all, would invariably leave their
respective Scout Manuals lying around.
It was inevitable that I, a confirmed bibliophile, (a French word
meaning bookaholic), would pick one up and devour it in a few sittings.
I picked up quite a few helpful ideas in the process, like how to
turn three straight tree branches into a tripod to hang a metal kettle
over an open fire; a skill that I have never actually had an occasion to
use.
And as for those green cotton dresses that the Girl Scouts wore, and
which their mothers had to launder and iron, they always looked
uncommonly uncomfortable to me.
Back to the Cookies…
The original idea was that the Girl Scouts would sell boxes of them from
door to door in their neighborhood, always accompanied by a qualified
adult, of course. This was
supposed to teach them resilience and the value of a dollar.
I’ve even had at least one little girl show up at my door with
her offerings, and mother in tow.
Of course I bought a box on the spot.
More recently they’ve taken to setting up a table near the entrance to a
large grocery store such as the one that I frequent.
I’ve always been in favor of supporting Scouting, regardless of
my own pitiful experience.
The problem is what to do with the cookies that I buy.
Back when I was working, I could just open a box and leave it on the
counter in the break area.
The cookies would vanish in a matter of seconds.
But now that I’m retired, I don’t have that option.
I took a box to our City Hall and gave it to the staff who work there.
That’s all well and good, but it only takes care of one box.
Then I found out about the Senior Community Center in Martinez, where I
go to crochet every Tuesday.
They have a kitchen, named the “Contra Costa Café”, where a Senior can
get a nutritious lunch for about $3.00.
I’ve eaten there a few times.
The meal was worth every penny I paid for it.
I figured they could use some Girl Scout Cookies.
Add them to each lunch tray.
Set them out as snacks with the coffee service in the Members
Lounge, where the card players gather.
Maybe even make them available on Bingo Night.
Whatever. As long as I don’t
try to eat them all myself.
I’ve never met a Thin Mint Cookie I didn’t like, but consuming a full
box would make my cardiologist’s head explode.
And it wouldn’t make me feel too good either.
So, last weekend, as I pulled into my usual parking space at the grocery
store, I saw the inevitable table with mothers behind it, and little
uniformed girls in front.
Mothers advising in a stage whisper, “Ask her if she wants any cookies!”
I promptly order one box of each type of cookie available.
That probably bought them a lot of merit badge points.
$42.00 later, I took a carton full of cookie boxes to the trunk
of my car. The following
Tuesday, I brought the carton into the Senior Center and up to the
kitchen.
Unfortunately, the first person I encountered assumed that I was there
to sell cookies on behalf of some younger relative or friend.
This was, in her opinion, a problem as she was helping her own
daughter in that regard.
Once we got that confusion straightened out, they were happy to give the
cookies a good (temporary) home.
And everybody was happy.
Love, as always,
Pete
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