I sold Girl Scout cookies when I was a child. My children were Girl Scouts and they sold cookies. Valuable lessons and skills were learned through the process of selling cookies. Things like "Stand up straight and look them in the eye if you are trying to sell them something." And "Talk clearly and know your product." Or "Some people will say no. They aren't rejecting you, they just don't want any cookies. Say 'Thank you for your time' and move on." We learned how to make and count back change. We learned that you sold more cookies if you wore your uniform and smiled than when you wore your grubby clothes and looked at the ground.
I have personally bought Girl Scout cookies for over 35 years. I don't buy them because they are the best cookie ever made or because they are a great value (they are NOT!). I buy them to give girls a chance to practice talking to an adult they don't know, to feel successful when she's "convinced" me to buy another box of cookies, and to learn the things I learned selling cookies.
But things are changing in the Girl Scout cookie world starting this year. They are going digital. That's right... on-line ordering is available in some areas now with more being added each successive year. Individual Girl Scouts can invite customers via an email to visit their "virtual cookie store," order cookies and pay with a credit card. You can choose to have your cookies delivered by a Girl Scout or shipped directly to you.
The spin is that this digital option better prepares girls to live and work in the digital age and is a safer alternative to door-to-door selling.
I am not so sure.
People still need people skills in "the digital age" and you get those by interacting with people, not by sending them an email. And who is "doing the work" in this arrangement? The girl who sends a mass email to everyone in her parents' e-address book and waits for the orders to roll in while she's off playing with her friends? Or the customer who clicks on the link, fills out the form, trustingly enters their credit card information and then picks up their order from their mailbox?
And is it really safer than door-to-door selling? I would not want my elementary school-aged child's personal information on a website. It doesn't matter what security precautions the Girl Scout organization has taken with their on-line program, it can, and will, be hacked. When a parent accompanies a girl doing door-to-door selling, the safety risk is practically non-existent and the girl is engaged in an activity with her mom or dad.
A neighbor girl we had not yet met rang our doorbell a few weeks ago and was selling Girl Scout cookies. She was accompanied by her mom and brother (who ran back to their house to get more cookies!) but she did the selling, told us how much we owed and counted out our change. We chatted for a few minutes and then she was on her way to the next house. About a week later, I found this on our doormat when I returned home:
Shea is learning and demonstrating valuable life skills (the art of writing a thank you letter, letting people know you appreciate what they have done) as well as business skills like good customer service. And you better believe I will buy the bulk of my cookie purchases from her next year!
I will continue to buy Girl Scout cookies when a Girl Scout shows up on my doorstep or if I see girls selling at a cookie booth (there is an app - Girl Scout Cookies Finder - to help you locate cookie booths near you!). Maybe I'm old-fashioned but I like personal interaction and will not participate in digital cookie sales.
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