how it crumbles

Ah, ethics. Now we’re talking some spirited discussion.

After reading this my very first impression was that I hate when parents sell kids’ junk at work. I hate it; I’ve cleared the air.

The next thought that crossed my mind, uninvited, was what would I do if I had a kid that needed to sell a pile of stuff for an organization? I’ll assume that they like the group, enjoy being a member, and want to do well at whatever activities are on the agenda. My first inclination would be to walk door-to-door with them in our neighborhood while they did the knocking and selling. It seems like parents are pretty willing to escort their children out-and-about on Halloween if they feel the need for safety or supervision, right? Why not one long evening of going door-to-door selling something for a troop and showing your child how to interact with people? After a first evening of selling I’d imagine the kids would be more comfortable, and willing, to strike out on their own during the day over a weekend. How about doing it in pairs? Or threes? What I have a hard time marrying up is the time invested in a Halloween escort tour that essentially involves getting free candy, and the unrealized cookie-selling escort tour that raises money for a troop. If anything, the lessons learned through sales – per the Scouts – should be far more important than the bag of junky Halloween candy parents spend their time supporting. Maybe committing another night or two a year to working on sales with your scout should be added to the calendar. As I’ve been typing this doctoral thesis or sort, I’ve realized that I wouldn’t have a second option in my cookie sale bag when my child came looking for help. If I were to push it I’d say that selling to my friends might be all right but nothing beyond that circle interests me. The rub is this: if an organization needs to raise money to support itself then it should do it in a more straightforward manner. If cookies need to be sold then ask parents if they will sell cookies; don’t pretend the kids are doing the work and reward them with sales gifts if there’s no way to equalize the process. I’d probably be more inclined to donate money to my child’s troop then I would be to sell “their” goods at work under the auspices that they are doing the selling while the troops look the other way and hand out awards. I think the best solution I’ve seen is to have the troops work tables at places like grocery stores: events where they are putting in the time and effort to sell while still fulfilling the safety requirement demanded by parents. Or, simply take all cookie sales on-line, distribute the orders troops, and they pass them to the scouts to deliver in their neighborhoods. Wouldn’t the cost be the same?

Then again, I could do without Girl Scout Cookies – I don’t find any emotional attachment to the culture of cookies.

As a final thought, the parent complaining about the eight million things her daughter needs to do should probably back off and let the kid be a kid. “Okay, little Jimmy. You’ve got to get to your nuclear fusion club early tonight and work hard. The moment you are done I need you to run out to the Hummer because I’ve got to get you to your LSAT review course. What? Yes, I know you’re only thirteen but you’ll need to prepare long and hard for that entrance exam. I’m not going to support you forever.”

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