An Evening with Charlotte

Charlotte and I worked a Girl Scout cookie booth this evening at the grocery store. Our shift ran from 4:30 to 7:00 p.m., and we had a great time greeting people and watching them pick their favorite cookies. Our top seller? Thin Mints, hands down.

We’re a three-generation cookie-selling family. I sold in the 1960s, Megan in the late 1990s, and now Charlotte is in her fourth year of selling. For the past two years, she’s hit 1,000 boxes (plus a few extras), and this year, she’s set her sights on 2,000. I’m not sure there are enough booths in town to get her there, but far be it from me to tell her that’s a steep goal. I learned during Megan’s Brownie and Girl Scout days that if I just kept my mouth shut and let her do the work, she’d put in the effort to reach her goal. One year, she fell just short, and—surprise!—the world didn’t end. She still landed second in our cookie district.

Working the booth was a nice break from the news and my computer. Sure, I used my phone to process Venmo and credit card payments, but technology took a backseat to good old-fashioned people-watching and conversation.

One of our last customers was a mom with two little ones. Her oldest, about four, got to pick the cookie, and without hesitation, he said, “The blue box!”—Trefoils. Plain shortbread, and one of my favorites (right after Peanut Butter Patties). He was thrilled with his choice and proudly carried his box out of the store.

We had two people tell us they’d come back—and they actually did. One woman even sent her husband back with a prepaid credit card that his company gives him each year. She told me they save it just to buy Girl Scout cookies from different girls. They picked up five boxes from Charlotte. The other was a guy in his 30s who ran out to his truck for cash and came back for two boxes.

Then there was the older couple—probably in their 60s—who picked up a box of Thin Mints and a box of Lemonades. As the man handed us $12, the woman suddenly frowned, stopped him, and said, “No, we want two boxes of each.” That made me smile because I would TOTALLY do that to Joe.

All in all, I’m just grateful I got to spend the evening watching Charlotte in action.