In this not exactly neighborly modern world of ours,
eight-year-olds in Girl Scout vests are much less likely to go door-to-door pedaling
Thin Mints and Somoas than they once were. So how do 200 million boxes of Girl
Scout cookies still get sold every year? Their parents, of course!
CNN reports that parents are increasingly relying on their
jobs and connections to make cookie sales for their daughters, who then get the
credit. Opinion is divided as to whether this is simply a sensible, safe way to
get the cookies sold—supporting a good cause and satisfying America’s sweet
tooth—or whether this deprives young girls of the intended lessons of
cookie-selling, not to mention creating an unfair playing field in which girls
are punished or rewarded for their parents’ success.
It seems clear to me that parents selling cookies when their
daughters aren’t even present is not right (and it goes against the recommendation
of the Girl Scouts organization). Although,
come to think of it, I’d probably still buy a box if I was hungry and had five
bucks on me....which just shows how wrong it is for parents to exploit a national
addiction like that.
But I used to buy all my annual Girl Scout cookies at work,
and I couldn’t have been happier about it. My coworker walked around the office
with her daughter, who shyly and sweetly did all the talking. I was always grateful
for both the distraction and the sugar fix. I mean, who doesn’t want to buy a
box of thin mints from an adorable eight-year-old? (And then eat half the pack
while slowly blinding yourself in the eerie glow of computer screens and neon
lights…but I digress.)
If it had been my boss’s daughter going around selling
cookies, then the dynamic would have been more problematic. What employee is going
to refuse to buy cookies from the boss’s daughter? This means that girls with
parents in more powerful positions are more likely to sell more cookies—and, alas!,
even Somoas play a part in perpetrating social inequality.
Perhaps the most ethically unquestionable and effective way
to sell cookies is to have girls set up a booth in a public place. This way,
they’re doing the work themselves, they’re not in any danger, and they’re
offering passersby a very important public service.
Photo: Once Upon a Plate
