The Fabled Land of Thin Mints

Jane, vehemently scolding her dinosaurs for crimes unknown

I lied yesterday.

Not intentionally, but it has plagued me ever since.

You see, my unintentional lie was to a Boy Scout. He'd come to the door, all dapper in his newly pressed Boy Scout uniform and his side-part haircut, to see if I would support his troop with the purchase of some popcorn.

Now, I hate door-to-door salespeople. Not the actual people, but the position they put me in. I feel bad for them. I want to help them, but 99.9% of the time, I do not need nor want their product.

But Lane and I have made a solemn vow: It does not matter how tight the budget is for the month, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts will always be helped (at least one troop per booster). Because we believe in their programs (and we believe in Girl Scout cookies, but more on that later).

But Lane is the Cub Scout Master for our church's troop. And this was my thought process when he presented his fund-raising item: "Surely Lane's troop is doing the same and I have to buy from them if I buy from anyone." So I told the diligent little boy that we had already bought popcorn.

Yes, in and of itself, I already knew this to be a lie. But I thought it better, as it was the most concise thing that would be essentially the truth and let him get on his money-raising way.

Then he left and I shut the door.

Two minutes later several problems arose in my mind: This was a Boy Scout and Lane is over Cub Scouts. Do they even have the same boosters? Oh no. Our church troop doesn't do boosters.

I almost went after the boy to buy popcorn. But he was down the street, alone with his little friend and I didn't want to have the appearance of a child napper.

So I shut the door and felt guilty.

Then my flippant mind wandered to the coveted Girl Scout cookies.

My local dealer, three doors down, doesn't start pre-selling until January. And then the cookies aren't here until March. Evil Geniuses, those Girl Scouts -- only selling cookies once a year. Actually, I most give props: Economic Wizards there on the Green Throne. Supply and Demand. They have it down.

I have some friends that purchase 12 boxes (or more) of cookies and freeze them, like food storage. They bring out about one box a month, thus preserving the goodness until their next supply line comes.

My problem with this solution is that I would eat them all well before the year is done. I can imagine myself sitting down with five boxes and eating it all during one movie.

Because I would. And I have.