The Cookie Crumbles

ok let me try this again, - i think what that young lady did was great and she should not be ridculed for an idea that everyone has. She set a goal and set out to obtain it, this is something many of our young people do not understand or do and her goal was not for her but for her troop. If the problem lies with parents over prizes being awarded to an indiividual, then perhaps is should be changed to be awarded to the troop as one. I see no more of a danger for selling over the internet (monitored by her parents) then going door to door - think about it. Her parents will be with her for deliver and i saw nothing in the video to indicate her home address/phone number etc.. again no worse then door to door. There is so much to say about this but not enought space.

(linkback) Yes or No? Should the Girl Scouts lift their ban on online sales? [VOTE] - http://www.pikk.com/980a7

I am a Girl Scout leader and have been for almost 7 years now. I would EMBRACE a change to this policy, as I feel it's outdated and is lagging behind other organizations in selling processes. While I don't think online sales should be the only means of selling, I certainly think that in this day and age, it should be utilized. I think Markie has too much free time on his hands - maybe he should take an internet sales class! =)

As my daughters' Borwnie Troop leader and the cookie mom two years in a row - I think the Girl Scouts did the right thing with this particular Brownie. If the ENTIRE troop was only selling online, I would feel differently, but what she did was extremely unfair even if it was inventive. I have seen many times where a parent who has a store, sets up the order sheet and every customer who comes in buys some cookies, great from the cookie selling standpoint, but it doesn't teach her daughter one single thing about persistence and hard work! Same goes for parents who tape the order sheet to their office door. I spent many a night exhausted after work driving my daughter from house to house while she booked her cookie orders. She followed all the rules, and still came out close to the top one year, and the top seller the next year - (very few relatives were involved btw). Isn't this country in the pickle it's in because of how many folks in Banking and Investment Banking, Mortgages and such DIDN'T follow the rules.

I think some of these posters have been brainwashed. The ends doesn't justify the means every time.

Both my daughters were Girl Scouts and I was a leader for many years and the hardest part is selling cookies because all of the Girl Scouts sell them. I think what Freedom did was wonderful and that she was trying to achieve a goal which many of our young people do not understand. Her goal was not for herself but for the troop as a whole. If other parents are worried because of special prizes etc.. then perhaps prizes should not be awarded to individuals but to the troop as one.

While selling on the internet may seem like a great idea, I also understand that with all the weirdos out there they may promise to buy cookies with other things in mind. Plus, if she was going to deliver the cookies in person, it would open up an opportunity that might end badly.

THis just goes to the overall downfall of our country. We give all kids trophies for being losers. We tell them they are all winners over and over even when they are not. Last we love to destroy the real go getters in our contry. One day they will ask little girls like this to help our country. I hope she will still have the ability to do so after our society has spent her life telling her to keep it fair and help the weaklings. http://dandickerson.wordpress.com/

When I was a girl scout in middle school and high school i was part of an entrepreneurial cookie sales business called Cookies and Dough (in the Boston area). We had a very successful website that sold thousands of boxes every year. It was shut down and the explanation was that online cookie sales are banned in order to protect girls from predators who would easily be able to target a girl selling cookies on their own. Even though our web store had absolutely no interaction with customers, instead of regulating each individual website, the Girl Scouts just bans any website in order to protect all girls. Even though I was about 13 or 14 when our site was shut down, it made perfect sense to me, no amount of cookie money is worth a girl getting hurt. We also still were able to continue running a successful business, selling to people all over the world(We would send hundreds of boxes to US embassies), using a phone number (1-800-33-MINTS) and a fax and mail-order system, as well as more traditional booths. All accounting, shipping, and customer service was handled by 14-18 year-olds and we had plenty of satisfied customers. My senior year I ran the sales and marketing department and still use what I learned as a grad student in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford. By the way, there is a lot more to Girl Scouts than badges, I think I stopped doing them when I was 10, but there are numerous programs that really let you learn and grow. I've always thought girl scouts was a better program than boy scouts because it doesn't focus on how to tie a knot, or camping (even though I have done plenty of that), but allows girls to explore their own interests.

II live in Asheville, and I like to buy Girl Scout cookies every year because of the personal contact with local Scouts and their parents. As an adult, it???s hard not to admire a youngster who is willing to use their own time and resources to do something that not only benefits themselves, but others as well. And I know that, for the most part, a large part of the money collected tends to stay in the community. And even though I don???t need to buy them, that???s why I part with my hard earned cash. But buying Girl Scout cookies online bothers me a little . If I wanted to purchase cookies online I could do that, and for less money than Girl Scout cookies. It???s the one on one personal experience that make buying these cookies rewarding for both the girl Scout and me, and I would thing other folks in the community as well. It is, after all, a shared community act of giving.

My daughter is a Girl Scout and it was mave VERY clear that you do not set up a web site or sell over web based stores like eBay and such. if the parents didn't pay attention or choose to read what they signed stating they understood these rules then they are clearly not worthy of my pitty. do it according to the rules or talk to GSA to get the rules changed but going through the media to earn pity you dont deserve is just stupid.

time for the Girl Scouts to move into the 21st century,

According to the story, she was doing this to enable all the girls in her troop to go. The short-sighed Girl Scout leader
could have divided up the online sales among all the girls in the Troop rather than act be so negative. She was doing this for her Troop, and the complaining mothers and girls were only thinking of themselves.

Perhaps all Girl Scout troops could have an online web site with a "Buy Girl Scout Cookies Here!" page. Sales would certainly increase, particularly if they allowed online sales to be all year long!.