Make new friends but keep the old...

Girls Scout cookies always make me feel a little sentimental about my childhood. I was a Brownie and then a Girl Scout up until the 6th grade, when it all of a sudden wasn't cool to be one anymore, and I still remember those good times earning patches. I was rummaging through my mom's cedar chest last Christmas and I found my Brownie sash with all of my patches and got all excited. I wanted to see if it would still fit, because wouldn't that be cool, but I could only hang it around my neck. My little nephew said that he wanted to try it on, so I slung it over his shoulder. It fit perfectly and he thought it was so cool that he wanted to keep it. I told him that he didn't need any stinking patches and that he needed to give it back to me. Anyway... although I had some awesome memories being a Brownie and a Girl Scout, I also had some ones I'd rather forget.

If I can draw your attention to the pictures of the uniforms above, please notice the one on the left. That is the uniform that my fellow Brownies wore, while the one on the right is the one that I wore. My mom and grandma loved it because it was made of polyester, had a zipper in the front and probably some elastic in the back for comfort, and it was in such good condition from when my cousin wore it 8 years earlier! It sufficeth to say that I got made fun of... a lot. My leader, who walked with a cane and, who I swear was 98, said that she really liked my uniform because it reminded her of when she was a Brownie. Her words did not comfort me, and so began the countdown to when I could graduate from the Brownies to Girl Scouts. I also need to mention that I was at least 8 feet taller than the other girls and I had a mullett.

When I moved on to Girl Scouts, the mullett grew out and my fellow troop members grew taller, so things were alright at that point. I was a knot-tying, flag-folding, craft-making, camping fool! I was kicking butts and taking names and racking up patches like nobody's business. I thought I was so cool and then I found out that Girl Scouts weren't cool. Ever in the quest for coolness, me and my high-top, hot pink, double Velcro strapped Reeboks ran away and never looked back... until every March when the GSs start peddling the cookies.

I bought 4 boxes this year and am rationing, hoping to make them last at least 4 months. I don't think I can do it. I just polished off 8 Trefoils without batting an eyelash. How am I going to make them last if I keep going at this rate? So after that long story, my point is this: I really wish that the GSs would sell their cookies all year round.

As a follow up, I'm pretty sure that I am the only member from my troop who doesn't do drugs. I attribute that to the fact that all of the teasing from my ancient uniform and mullet really strengthened my character and helped me make better choices.