I Said No To A Cub Scout

Yesterday I said no to a cub scout. I felt bad about it, and I always feel bad about it. The thing is, we didn't want any giant tins of popcorn. It's not that we don't like the popcorn, it's just that lately I've enjoyed flashing back to my childhood and making popcorn on the stove. No, I'm not referring to Jiffy pop:

I'm channeling way back in the day when my mother used to make popcorn on the stove with a pot and some oil; and you could see it turn from a kernel to popcorn! With the pre-popped bags of popcorn and microwave popcorn I had completely forgotten about this old fashioned way until my nephews came over. I like to cook things with them when they come over. They enjoy being little helpers. I realized that I had purchased a bag of popcorn that I had forgotten about, so I pulled it out and we made it happen:

Camden has the oil and Jamison has the popcorn

They poured their ingredients in the pot and then we watched the magic happen:

They were completely intrigued when that practically empty pot of kernels and oil turned into this!

Tada!! We poured it in a bowl, added butter and were good to go!

Not to mention I can buy all types of flavors in the grocery store for just a few dollars to add to my yummy old fashioned popcorn. I don't need no stinking tin! It's not that I didn't want to support the poor fella, he was awfully cute in his little hat and uniform.

Kind of like this guy, but way less cartoony

His mother was on the sidewalk not making eye contact with me, probably in an effort to encourage him to do his thing like a big boy. Little did she know I still felt pressure. It really doesn't matter how much you give to organizations. When any cub scout comes to your door and you tell him no it always feels like you're not being supportive! We could have already given to 3 cub scouts before him but it always makes me feel like the cheap un-supportive neighbor when I say no. Yep, I said neighbor, they live diagonally from us which makes it more weird.

We purchased popcorn from the little guy when we first moved into the neighborhood, mainly because it was kind of fun being the new kids on the block and having little people come to the door in their uniforms. We wanted to show our support, and they are such a sweet family.  We soon realized that there are a lot of kids in the neighborhood...in uniforms...walking around selling things and inadvertently making us feel guilty. Not to mention we have kids in our family to support. Well in this situation I saw them walking up and down the neighborhood as kids do and I was thinking to myself, we are not buying popcorn this year, maybe we can dodge them.  You know, close the blinds and turn off all the lights. We didn't want to be rude, but to thwart the awkwardness, especially since they live right across the street.

Then Chris comes home, he opens the garage and together we look down the street at the cub scout knowing that when they get to our house we will not be purchasing. We go in the house and get on with our lives. Everything is great until Chris says "oh no, the cub scout is coming toward the house" then the doorbell rings. Of course our plan is to not answer it and then I ask Chris, "you did close the garage right?" he says "crap, I didn't, they know we're home!" Then he hides and I am left answering the door being the neighbor who has to say no thank you. As I close the door and look out the window I see them walking back across the street and I'm sure they are thinking that we suck as supportive neighbors. Okay, they may not be thinking that but seriously, we are going to have to deal with this every year. I do care about the kids being supported but we can't support everyone! I hate saying no, but if I always said yes to each kid who came to our door we'd be in debt, more debt.

Now, what I am about to say might sound bad but it's just the truth. It would be a little better if the cub scout was a girl scout. It's not that I am biased to girls, it's just that I really enjoy their cookies! Not to mention they are much cheaper. Thank goodness a girl scout didn't come to my door next. I would have had to slip her a covert note asking her to meet me around the corner so that the neighborhood cub scout didn't see me make a purchase. It really shouldn't be that serious, but it kind of is!

Tatum