I Grew Up Brown County

Girls Scouts is a lot of fun.

We meet on Wednesdays after school in the library and do crafts and read books and earn badges. Once a year, we have to sell Girl Scout cookies. Mom schedules us a table right at the checkout at IGA and we sit there giving our best puppy dog eyes, hoping to lure in unsuspecting cookie cravers.

The bathroom at IGA is all the way in the back, and you have to go through swinging doors and a stock room to get to it. Brooke and I come back from a restroom trip, and then a manager comes stomping out to our cookie table, furious.

“Who made such a mess in the bathroom?” she demands to know.

Brooke and I don’t look at each other. Maybe, after we peed, we pulled out some paper towels and smeared soap on the mirror. Maybe we didn’t.

When the other girls leave, Mom makes me sit at the Girl Scout cookie table all by myself. I hate it. I’m alone and responsible for all these cookies and no one else’s mom is forcing them to stay. Instead of selling cookies, I sit in the shop window and cry. When Mom gets back, she scolds me.

“What were you thinking? Why would anyone want to buy cookies from a crying girl? Get it together.”

We also get to go camping as a whole big Girl Scout Troop. We head out to Belmont, a caravan of minivans, moms, and Daisies. Rather than staying in outdoor cabins, we end up in a cozy little suite with running water, heat, and television. This is not camping, but we’re not complaining.

When we do dishes after dinner, Allison teaches me about only using hot water to wash dishes. The cold water won’t get it as clean, she explains. At least, that’s what her dad told her. We make sit-upons and foil pizzas and learn about different countries around the world.

In May, we get to march in the Spring Blossom Parade! Dad rents a giant pink bunny suit and plans to walk along beside our troop. The parade gets rained out though. We don’t get to march.

Dad puts on the suit anyway, and I wear my Girl Scout uniform, sash and all, and we have a photo shoot in Nana’s living room. It’s so dreary and wet outside; we enjoy some Peppermint Patties and Thin Mints to cheer us up.

Girl Scouts is a lot of fun.