Girl Scouts

Growing up in rural Montana, there weren’t as many after school activities for young kids as you see in cities. There were no music programs or youth soccer. So I followed my fellow female classmate’s footsteps and found myself signed up for Girl Scouts.

I was reminded of this because it is the most wonderful time of the year. No, not Christmas. I’m talking about Girl Scout Cookie season. As I was ordering my cookies from a friend’s daughter, I thought back to my own short-lived Girl Scout experience.

I believe it started in Kindergarten and I was a Daisy. The uniforms, and by uniform I mean oversized smock, was blue. I don’t remember much about Daisy’s except that I was always ready to go home at the end and the mother in charge always served carrots for snack. Then I moved on to Brownies, where the uniforms are brown and ugly. I also don’t remember much about Brownies, except now there was the added pressure of needing to fill up a horrible brown sash with patches. And while I had a handful of patches, I’m quite sure my mother never actually sewed any on my sash.

Which turned out to be okay because I was officially done the day our project was to make pot holders. Seriously. I’m not even sure I finished my first year as a Brownie. I do remember being pretty annoyed with the ridiculous projects, like pot holders, that we had to do at every meeting. And thankfully my mom let me quit. That was my very first rebellious act against society as I knew it at the time. I was probably the only girl in my class not in Girl Scouts. While it is a good organization and has benefits for young girls, it was not for me in any way shape or form.

Years later, my brother decided that he wanted to be a Boy Scout. Not having a den in town, my parents became the main people. I’m sure there is an actual term for the leaders, but as I was a girl and not allowed in Boy Scouts, I have no idea what it was. Boy Scouts however looked way cooler. They got to go camping and build fires and race derby cars. None of this pot holder crap. So while I wasn’t allowed to be a Boy Scout, I managed to talk my parents into letting me do some of their cooler projects, like help build a derby car.

Twenty some odd years after quitting the girl scouts, I have absolutely no regrets. And despite my dislike of making potholders, I’m glad the organization is still around. Because if they weren’t still around, they couldn’t sell us delicious cookies. And a world without the Thin Mint is a world I don’t want to be a part of.