IT'S GIRL SCOUT COOKIE TIME

DONNIE REPORTS

It's Girl Scout Cookie time! (Remember when the cookies were $1 a box? Now they are $3.50...the price of a gallon of gas. And the price of gas was below $3.00 here just a few days ago. At this rate, gas and cookies will be over $4.00 by next week.)

I ran into a green-bannered Scoutie set up at the entrance to a Starbucks, her parents observing warmly from a lookout table nearby. I had to have a box of Thin Mints, and gave her a $10 bill. As her young entrepreneurial mind struggled to figure the change, I decided I also needed a box of Shortbreads. And I said to her, "This will make it easier--you only have to give me $3." But I could see this sudden change had thrown her off track (and she was not wearing a Merit Badge for tracking). She timidly handed back $2.50, a thin smile fronting her confusion. Of course, I should have smiled myself, said thanks and walked away. But I'm cheap!...and pretended this a lesson. "Should be 50 cents more," I cheerfully tutored. By now the poor little tyke was frozen. I realized my cruelty and quickly said "That's okay, thanks," and went inside.

I spent $4 more on a Starbucks drink (cookies, coffee, gas--life has a $4 minimum, it seems), settled into a seat, and looked up to see the Scout Mom standing over me, extending her hand and 50 cents. "She felt bad about the mistake," the woman apologized. I looked out the window at the Scout, who was anxiously looking back a me--very sweet. I smiled and waved...and hoped capitalism just might survive.