You have to be living under a rock to be unaware that there's a recession. However, for any nay sayers, the last vestiges of doubt have now been removed. An article in the Post Dispatch this morning reports that the Girl Scouts of America will be shorting us on cookies this year because of rising ingredient and transportation costs. This announcement comes hot on the heels of the one in January that the cost per box was increasing for the first time in 12 years. Here in Missouri, we are now paying $3.50 a box. Thin mints will be thinner!!!! Samosas and Tag-a-Longs will decline in number. What? Stop! I need to go and lie down.
Of course, we shouldn't really be that bothered by this. After all, apparently the focus of the program is not about selling cookies, it's about "teaching the girls how to market, develop budgets & provide good customer service". I don't really think that increasing prices and reducing product at the same time really falls under the "good customer service" description. The marketing appears to be guilting your family, friends and complete strangers into buying an average product at an inflated price because it's "for a good cause"
We've bought into this ourselves. I think between all the girl scouts that we know, we've bought at least 10 boxes of cookies. At $3.50 a box, that's $35. We have no intention of eating them either, we'll probably take out a couple and the rest will end up at work in the break room!!!! Judging by the number of boxes in the break room, we're not the only ones that do this.
So, at the end of the day, I guess it's really NOT about the cookies at all and we really don't care as much about the size or number of the cookies in the box, but helping those we know and love. After all, I have no intention in buying $35 worth of cookies at Schnucks and feeding the vultures at work.
On a big scale, there is a recession. At the community level, apparently there is still some hope.....
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