Girl Scouts vs. Campfire Girls

The other day I was in Alameda, on my way to the Hobnob for brunch with a friend who is designing my writing website. Since it was a Sunday and the downtown Alameda area is very crowded I had to park in Fresno and walk. As I was passing a corner Starbucks I saw them. The cookie crack dealers. Girl Scouts. The picture of Thin Mints stockpiled in my freezer was just too much. I was lured onto the rocks by their siren song and left with my purse full of two boxes of the addictive confections.

This started me thinking about my own childhood. Let’s go back in time shall we? When I was little I was a Bluebird and then a Campfire Girl. We had Brownies and Girl Scouts at our school as well. Why did I choose one organization over the other? Was it for social outreach reasons? Not really, I was 7, we made macaroni pictures! Was it the mints vs. the cookies? Partly but not really. It was fashion.

Totally. Even at a young age I chose the Campfire Girl organization because their uniforms were cuter. Period. End of story. For those of you unfamiliar, Bluebirds and Brownies are the “junior” levels to what will eventually be Campfire Girls and Girl Scouts. I’m sure there is a similar thing for boys but I honestly don’t care.

You see, the Bluebird and Campfire outfits were blue and tailored and smart-looking with a cute little cap. The Brownies were dressed in .. well, brown. Girl Scouts were in Kelly Green. I thought they looked like refuges from basic training. Years later when the movie “Camp Beverly Hills” came out, I totally got Shelly Long’s character wanting to tailor and overhaul the Wilderness Girl’s uniform.

Here is a Bluebirds uniform and a Brownies uniform to prove my point:


I tried looking on-line for a Campfire girls uniform from my youth. I was unable to find images of anything I wore as a child. Suffice it to say it was all blue with a white blouse, tailored vest and a blue cap. It looked cute. The Girl Scout green dress still looked like a sack. They also had berets which are not cool. Here is what a Girl Scout uniform in my day looked like:

Girl Scouts do NOT look like this (except during the new slut parade that use to be Halloween):


So what does this have to do with cookies? Absolutely nothing. It just makes me glad some organizations from my childhood are still going strong. I’m glad the uniforms have improved a little, ecstatic to see girls and their parents out peddling cookies instead of acid or guns and a bit sad that I haven’t seen a Campfire girl in a coon’s age. How long do raccoons live anyway? Five – seven years? That’s about right. It had to be at least seven years ago that I saw a few lone Campfire girls at the Embarcadero BART station selling Campfire Girl mints. I love those things! I hoarded them like they were gold. I have never seen them again. Perhaps they were sent by a kindly God who heard my inner yearnings for the sugar treats of my childhood? Then again, it seems like you can find them on-line:http://www.campfire-usa.org/product/candy.htm. I have no idea if they taste the same.

It appears Campfire Girls are a dying breed while Girl Scouts flourish by the millions. I wonder if there was a deeper plan?

That looks like the answer. Just play it safe. Buy the cookies. Don’t go the way of the Campfire Girls. Eat those Thin Mints and live to fight another day.