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THIS THIS THIS
Mar. 7th, 2012 06:55 pmhttp://wondermark.livejournal.com/287163.html?
OMGYOUGUYS.
Wondermark has done a comic about me. Seriously. HOLY crap. So it being this time of year again, here's my rules with regard to fund-raising:
I never EVER turn down a Scout. Boy Scout fundraiser? Sure, I'll buy whatever crap you're peddling. Girl Scout cookies? You bet! I don't buy cookies very often in any other form, except for La Bonne Buchet, so it doesn't bother me that they're way too expensive. It's fund-raising for the Scouts, and I am a supporter of the Scouts.
BUT.
I am not a supporter of the AGENTS of Girl and Boy Scouts. Part of the point of the fund-raising activities is to build character and teach girls and boys how to network in their community. I never refuse a Scout, but I'll turn down parents and grandparents. Your little one is raising money? Cool. Have them call me. Have them email me. Have them knock on my door. I will always order multiple boxes of cookies or buy whatever thing the Boy Scouts are selling... if and only if I am solicited by an actual child.
I have several reasons for this, but foremost among them is that I was a Girl Scout myself, in two different troops from two different neighborhoods. My parents and my Scout leader were very specific about the rules of engagement for the fundraisers. See, those Girl Scouts get to win valuable prizes for their hard work. The deal is that the girls who sell the most boxes get to acquire bragging rights in addition to small prizes and patches and the like. However, the thing that chapped my @ss every single year was that the kid who sold the most boxes always had the same answer to the "How did you do it?" question: "Oh, I sent the forms to work with Daddy, and also to work/church/bridge club with Mommy." That's right, *I* stomped across the frozen wasteland of my community going door to door asking for people's cookie orders, being told "No" three times for every pity order of a single box of thin mints. *I* sorted the orders when they came in and loaded up my little red wagon with the cookies and delivered them to those addresses, collecting money the whole while and turning in the dollars, coins, and random checks written by members of my community that I barely knew. And if I came up short? It came out of my allowance.
Those other girls simply sent the cardboard sheet with their parents, then sent a trunk load of cookie orders with them when the cookies came in. Most of those girls who won stuffed animals, trophies, and mega-seller patches had done exactly two things: taken the order form home, and brought the envelope of money back with them. The rest of the time, they were talking to their friends on the phone, watching TV or doing whatever kids did back then before the Internet and Video games and online stalking.
I played by the rules of engagement. I earned every dime that was raised on my sheet with my own hard work and ingenuity. And usually, I was in the middle of the curve (if I were lucky that year) or nearly in last place. I never understood why the scout leaders never took this into consideration, despite the fact that when I asked about it I was told what the rules were and that everyone was held to the same standard (which was clearly untrue.) Perhaps it didn't matter to the Scout Leaders because when Suzie Stay At Home sent her sheet with Daddy, she sold 500 boxes which meant bigger funds for our troop. I just wish they'd called it a parents' fund raiser instead of masquerading as building character and making it supposedly about the individual Scouts' achievements.
I'm given to understand now that the rules are different. Stranger Danger is so widely circulated now that it's considered *dangerous* to allow a young girl in second grade (or older) to go door-to-door in her *own neighborhood* to sell cookies. Seriously. Apparently little Scouts are no longer allowed to do this.
Well, here's my flag and I'm going to fly it: ANY Scout who approaches me will be treated with respect, and I will buy what they are selling. I'm a sure bet, and I would never harm or disrespect your kid. If you approach me on your kids' behalf, though, be prepared to be snubbed and sent packing. You have been warned.
OMGYOUGUYS.
Wondermark has done a comic about me. Seriously. HOLY crap. So it being this time of year again, here's my rules with regard to fund-raising:
I never EVER turn down a Scout. Boy Scout fundraiser? Sure, I'll buy whatever crap you're peddling. Girl Scout cookies? You bet! I don't buy cookies very often in any other form, except for La Bonne Buchet, so it doesn't bother me that they're way too expensive. It's fund-raising for the Scouts, and I am a supporter of the Scouts.
BUT.
I am not a supporter of the AGENTS of Girl and Boy Scouts. Part of the point of the fund-raising activities is to build character and teach girls and boys how to network in their community. I never refuse a Scout, but I'll turn down parents and grandparents. Your little one is raising money? Cool. Have them call me. Have them email me. Have them knock on my door. I will always order multiple boxes of cookies or buy whatever thing the Boy Scouts are selling... if and only if I am solicited by an actual child.
I have several reasons for this, but foremost among them is that I was a Girl Scout myself, in two different troops from two different neighborhoods. My parents and my Scout leader were very specific about the rules of engagement for the fundraisers. See, those Girl Scouts get to win valuable prizes for their hard work. The deal is that the girls who sell the most boxes get to acquire bragging rights in addition to small prizes and patches and the like. However, the thing that chapped my @ss every single year was that the kid who sold the most boxes always had the same answer to the "How did you do it?" question: "Oh, I sent the forms to work with Daddy, and also to work/church/bridge club with Mommy." That's right, *I* stomped across the frozen wasteland of my community going door to door asking for people's cookie orders, being told "No" three times for every pity order of a single box of thin mints. *I* sorted the orders when they came in and loaded up my little red wagon with the cookies and delivered them to those addresses, collecting money the whole while and turning in the dollars, coins, and random checks written by members of my community that I barely knew. And if I came up short? It came out of my allowance.
Those other girls simply sent the cardboard sheet with their parents, then sent a trunk load of cookie orders with them when the cookies came in. Most of those girls who won stuffed animals, trophies, and mega-seller patches had done exactly two things: taken the order form home, and brought the envelope of money back with them. The rest of the time, they were talking to their friends on the phone, watching TV or doing whatever kids did back then before the Internet and Video games and online stalking.
I played by the rules of engagement. I earned every dime that was raised on my sheet with my own hard work and ingenuity. And usually, I was in the middle of the curve (if I were lucky that year) or nearly in last place. I never understood why the scout leaders never took this into consideration, despite the fact that when I asked about it I was told what the rules were and that everyone was held to the same standard (which was clearly untrue.) Perhaps it didn't matter to the Scout Leaders because when Suzie Stay At Home sent her sheet with Daddy, she sold 500 boxes which meant bigger funds for our troop. I just wish they'd called it a parents' fund raiser instead of masquerading as building character and making it supposedly about the individual Scouts' achievements.
I'm given to understand now that the rules are different. Stranger Danger is so widely circulated now that it's considered *dangerous* to allow a young girl in second grade (or older) to go door-to-door in her *own neighborhood* to sell cookies. Seriously. Apparently little Scouts are no longer allowed to do this.
Well, here's my flag and I'm going to fly it: ANY Scout who approaches me will be treated with respect, and I will buy what they are selling. I'm a sure bet, and I would never harm or disrespect your kid. If you approach me on your kids' behalf, though, be prepared to be snubbed and sent packing. You have been warned.
