Scout's Honor

I just ordered Girl Scout cookies from a co-worker’s daughter who is a Brownie Scout. 

I was a Scout. I started as a Brownie Scout in the third grade. I know it was the third grade because I remember the first time I wore my brown Brownie uniform to school on the day of our troop meeting.  The uniform included a brown felt hat (sort of like a beanie sans propeller) that was bobby-pinned to my hair, and I distinctly remember asking my third-grade teacher – the alliterative Wilma W. Watkins – if it was all right for us to keep our hats on during class. She said it was.

I said “us” because there were several of my troop-mates in my class, including Kathy Kelly, at whose house the meetings were held.  Her mother was the assistant troop leader. Our leader's name escapes me just now, but I remember that she was British – a war bride, I think – and it was fun to listen to her talk. It was especially amusing to hear her call us “gells.”  I don't know why the meetings weren't at her house.

After a year or two, I flew up to Girl Scout. It was quite the solemn ceremony. We wore our new green Girl Scout uniforms for that.  I see from their web site that Brownies still fly up, except they only fly as far as Girl Scout Junior now. There’s another grade, Cadette, before they get to be Senior Girl Scouts. Perhaps they sell more uniforms that way. I do notice with a serious twinge of wistful regret that the uniforms now come in versions with pants instead of just skirts.

I must have stayed in Scouting at least until the sixth grade, because it was the summer between the fifth and sixth grades that I went to Girl Scout Camp at Rice Lake in Wisconsin. The worst two weeks of my life.

I support the Girl Scouts not just for old times' sake but also because I love the shortbread cookies and the Thin Mints.  (Who doesn't like the Thin Mints?)  So I ordered two boxes of each. That’ll be $14.

When I was selling them, a box of Girl Scout cookies was 50 cents. And the box was bigger.