I am one of those people who conduct gymnastics on the way out of the grocery store so I can avoid your children and what they are selling as fundraisers.
Your children are always well mannered. Dressed in dress uniform. Polite. They call out with “Ma’am!” – something I don’t hear very often out West. I appreciate it so much. I’m a Southerner by culture, and manners matter to us. I’m also getting older. Manners matter me. So, thank you, Boy Scouts (and parents) for instilling some manners in the next generation.
Still, my family does not support the Boy Scouts because of the other value the organization communicates to the next generation. Namely, that discrimination is a-okay – when you’re excluding atheists and gay people. Maybe it’s more complicated than that. Perhaps, there are troops that are welcoming. Or, maybe it’s just that simple: the Boy Scouts promote God and the heterosexual lifestyle, and that is exactly as you think it should be.
Whatever. I don’t want to discuss this with you at the grocery store, in front of your children or in front of mine.
And yet, sometimes, my gymnastics with the grocery cart and my six-year-old daughter catch your eye. YOU want to know why I am avoiding your children. Today, you stood up from the table, and said loudly enough for me and my daughter to hear as we rounded the bend toward the parking lot:
“Can’t you spare five dollars for the coupon my children, these honorable Scouts, are selling today?”
“No, thank you.” That’s my normal response. Today, it wasn’t good enough. (So much for manners.)
No, you walked over from the table and right up to my cart, and asked,”Why not?”
It seemed an aggressive thing to do, especially during what is certainly still the Great Recession. And, I’m class privileged – perhaps you sensed that. I grounded to a halt, my cart’s squeaky wheel gasping. I looked over to your children. They were proud of you. Thankful for you asking. I’d seen them when we came in and knew their sales drive wasn’t going so well. Many had been, like me, engaged in cart gymnastics to avoid them on their way out of the store.
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