OT: Just need to vent

This too shall pass, the hot bath and wine hopefully have helped.

The weather and work is getting me down too, but at least today I didn't have to bike to work thru it (Dude was home "sick" so gave me a ride both ways).

My store is in a tizzy, some totally, insanely anal VP who designed the sales system is touring all the stores, and ours was supposed to be hit by her today. I was all geared up for it, but no....now it's tomorrow, and I had another list of silly, petty, and totally pointless crap to do today to be "ready."

We will never be ready, she'll come in and find something nitpicky we didn't do and yell at us about it (it's her reputation to yell at store managers about anything that isn't 100% done the way she thinks it should be). Now, all the paperwork she thinks we should do to improve sales just means more time doing paperwork and less time with customers. I'm more likely to generate sales by being able to chat with the customers a bit, find out what sorts of things they are looking for than by filling out a form about how many sales we had in the last 2 hours, comparing it against the projected numbers for that same 2 hrs and having to actually write a big old "L" when we didn't surpass the projection. Great for sales and morale....NOT!

Ah well, hopefully she'll come thru tomorrow, and with my luck I'll be the only employee in the store at the time, and I'll get the yelling at. We don't even have a manager, the Asst Mgr gave notice and there is only him and two parttime employees anyway!

Hmmm...Maybe I should find a glass of wine and a hot bath too!

Caryn

And chocolates. Must have chocolates.

No chocolate in the house.

The wine and bath really helped me relax. Things have been hectic at work today, but my stress level is way down. The sun is shining today, but best of all I took delivery of five boxes of Girl Scout cookies this morning.

Anne (> Anne Tuchscherer wrote:

WHAT!?!?!?! You heretic, begone from my sight! The only acceptable excuse for No Chocolate In The House is that you ate the whole bag in one sitting last night and the stores are not yet open this morning.

Your Girl Scouts must do cookies early in the year. Here, we do calendars and a "nut" sale this time of year. Cookies are in late winter.

Cheryl

I don't mean to sound like a grinch, but this is a subject near and dear my heart. For years girl scouts sold their cookies. Don't know what male scouts do, but I'm sure they had an annual "something or other" for decades.

No problem there.

What I object to is the ever more popular, and it has become an epidemic, of using children to sell things and making the marketers/promotors/corporations rich on their backs.

One of my piano students just hit me up for a cub scout sale of gourmet popcorn. The cheapest was $10. I gave the kid $5 for his troupe.

I get so many children knocking on my door for some cause, usually school related, and I want to know how we, as adults, allowed this to happen. What ever happened to the fairs and bake sales?

At one point many years ago I looked it up and the promotors made about

Ok. Rant mode off.

Dianne

Cheryl Isaak wrote:

Here's an idea for the next time you're that stressed: Take some piece of cloth that you have no plans for, grab some random skeins of floss and just stitch whatever comes out of your fingers! No pattern to follow, nothing and no one to tell you it's right or wrong so no frogging. If it really looks like nothing, you can just throw it away with your stress!!!!

Joan

I'm torn on this myself. I know the school, club, sport, etc. only gets pennies for each dollar in sales. OTOH, I like GS cookies, Beich's candy bars, and other goodies. The magazine sales and some of the other stuff I could do without. During the second week of *preschool* (which is within an elementary school) DD lugged home several pounds of stuff for the school's annual month-long magazine sale. I was livid because

I really approve of the offices that don't allow selling this kind of stuff at work. I can remember several employers had nasty, cluttered break rooms because sales flyers for kids' stuff was on every flat surface.

The one bright spot are some of the school groups that actually make things to sell so they get all the money after recovering costs. Some of the Junior Achievement groups do this as well as home ec., art, and ag. classes. I've seen more schools doing 50/50 raffles lately (where allowed by law) so at least you know exactly who is getting the money in those too.

The old fairs and bake sales died because the parents were supposed to make all the stuff for them and run the booths. A parent whose sole cook> I don't mean to sound like a grinch, but this is a subject near and dear

snip

This *is* the annual "something or other" for the Boy Scouts. They get

I've known a number of people who do this and it's always appreciated. :) I believe the majority (maybe I'm sticking my neck out here) of people like "something for their money". Do you think if they just went door-to-door asking for cash for their troops that they'd get as much as when they sell something? I doubt it.

Joan, former Boy Scout and Girl Scout leader

Poor Anne!!

The good thing about this group is that we all use RCTN to vent and whine, and immediately feel the better for it! Much cheaper than visiting a shrink, in my opinion. Of course some nice wine is always prescribed LOL

i hope the sun is now out, the lungs are improving and all is better at work@

Gill

As a former Cub Scout and Boy Scout committee member, current Girl Scout Leader and PTA person, you're right Dianne, every one has their hands out for $$$$, especially this time of year. But, frankly, fundraising has far more difficult. Bake Sales, how many do you want? The last PTA one only raised $300 and there was so much food left over that it went to the soup kitchen. The Boy Scout yard sale didn't even do that well and was left with tons of junk to dispose of afterwards.

People are just more likely to A. buy something, even at an inflated price Or B. make a direct donation

Than to attend yet another yard sale, bake sale or what have you.

I don't think you realize what that money goes to buy

Our PTA realizes 30% to 50% profit on the wrapping paper sales and that distributor makes a donation to the National PTA (who then kicks back some to the regional and state PTAs). This goes to buy school equipment not covered in the school budget (for example, a new globe for the library; cost about $150). It also brings in programs on animals, colonial life, science, technology and more. (these average $500 each, and each grade has multiple speakers a year.) It also buys and maintains the playground equipment.

As for Scouting, those cookies, nuts and popcorn sales support not just the troops, dens and packs, (i.e. the local level) but support camp grounds, troops in the inner cities and a range of other programs to varied to describe at the regional and national levels. None these come cheaply even with a huge numbers of volunteer hours. The property taxes on one camp have gone so high, our council has to consider selling the land and end a 50 year tradition. The final "cost" of the product is the only thing that goes back to maker.

Yes, there are unsavory "charitable sales" organizations out there, but frankly, most are on the level and cover their costs and a modest profit. It just takes a little searching.

CPI

Those numbers are about right. BUT remember, National and regional gets a huge cut (like another 30% each) of the Girl Scout cookie sales and gets a smaller cut of the nut and calendar sales. And in GS, each girl gets a "cut" of her cookie sales to spend on summer camp, camping equipment or uniforms. Last year, DD bought herself a lantern that she will have for many years.

I agree - when doing public sales, we always had can labeled "Camper-ships" which went in separate account to defray the costs for low income scouts. It never got very full.

Cheryl

Anne, I am having a similar week. A VDF of mine theorises that sometimes a full moon really lasts for several weeks, no matter what you think you see in the sky, and everything goes haywire as a result. I think it is one of those weeks. Take comfort, this too shall pass. Dawne

I hear everything you wrote. Okay, maybe a bake sale or a yard sale won't cover it.

My question remains, however. How have we managed to get in the predicament that our children need to go out begging/selling, (and I doubt your profit numbers from what I've read in the past) to make ends meet.

What has happened at the school level that we can no longer purchase these things using adult resources. Or, tax resources. If these are essentials, why aren't they in the budget? I mean, we use to have these things without kids going out selling.

Now, I did do some selling. Seeds in the 5th grade. Stationary in the

It just seems to be worse these days.

Dianne

Dianne

Cheryl Isaak wrote:

We get hit by the boy down the street for a tin every year. Luckily for us the cheapest thing is the one we actually like the most!

Dude also bought from one of his co-worker's sons this year, so we'll have plenty of carmel corn!

I usually just donate $20 per kid to the school's PTA/PTO, usually they are the ones who send home those godawful wrapping paper and chocolate fundraisers every year. I would rather do that then buy any of that crap. My kids have never been allowed to sell door to door, not to mention they either lived in the middle of nowhere (literally) when they were smaller, and now live in a neighborhood with other kids selling the same stuff.

Like Brenda (I think it was) we have no relatives within 400 miles, so can't even hit up Grandma & Grandpa, and Dude refuses to sell stuff at his office.

Caryn

$10 for popcorn????? That was the cheapest item. I'm sure it came in a nifty tin (don't remember . . . just quickly glanced).

That's why I figured $5 would do it.

Dianne

And in GS, each girl gets a "cut" of her cookie sales to spend on summer camp, camping equipment or uniforms. Last year, DD bought herself a lantern that she will have for many years.

This is not true in every council. In mine, girls get "incentives" (tacky junk) based on numbers of boxes sold or an extra 5 cents per box to the troop if they skip the incentives. I wish we got something like that!

One of the junior high schools here gave parents the option of paying $20 and "opting out" of fundraisers for the year. Guess what: They made more money doing that then they did on all the other fundraisers combined last year!