Boycott Girl Scout Cookies? Be Prepared -- For a Backlash

Some wingnuts out of Missouri want the public to boycott Girl Scout cookies because the Girl Scouts allegedly have some connection with Planned Parenthood.

Seriously? Boycott Girl Scout cookies? Are you kidding me?

Be prepared -- for a backlash.

I was a Brownie and a Girl Scout (that's my Girl Scout uniform pictured above), and I live by the Girl Scout motto: Be prepared. Girl Scouts is the first all-girl organization that most girls join. Scouting builds character, teaches team work, and empowers young girls to achieve beyond their wildest expectations. It also broadens their worlds.

I was in Girl Scout Troop 796 of the Tierra del Oro Girl Scout Council in Sacramento, California. My Brownie and Girl Scout Troop Leader was Mrs. Hawkins. We were a working-class, racially diverse group, and because of Mrs. Hawkins' vision, we were exposed to things that working-class little girls might not have otherwise seen -- the ballet (Sorry, Mrs. Hawkins, for falling asleep during "The Nutcraker"; to this day, ballet still puts me to sleep), theater, museums, Girl Scout camp, and Father-Daughter dinners (Mrs. Hawkins wasn't too happy that my mom sent me with a box of KFC for the Father-Daughter dinner, but she didn't hold it against me.). Girl Scouts taught values and teamwork and social skills that added to what you were taught at home and prepared you for working in groups in a way that school didn't. I think of Girl Scouts as my first sorority. One of the things I'm looking forward to in my adoption process is the prospect of becoming a Girl Scout troop leader one day.

So the idea of boycotting Girl Scout cookies and depriving young girls of the same wonderful experiences someone provided me out the kindness of her heart (Mrs. Hawkins) or their wallets (the neighbors, friends, and co-workers of my mom who purchased my Girl Scout cookies)? I don't think so. Boycotting Girl Scout cookies is downright Communist in my book.

If you want to start a boycott of Girl Scout cookies, be prepared -- for a backlash, starting with me. You'll definitely draw back a nub if you get between me and my Thin Mints.

Girl Scouts rule!