When I was a kid, I had to walk 15 miles in the snow pulling a wagon uphill both ways for fundraisers. Ugh, starting a column that way makes me feel old and cranky.

Yes, yes; good for the Girl Scouts that they are taking advantage of new technology to further the mission of their organization, but the new Girl Scout Cookie Locator app fails to teach girl scouts the most important lesson in fund raising: futility.

Even though Cindy Kocol, director of communication for Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois Elgin Service Center, believes that the cookie booths still instill business ethics, goal-setting, decision-making, money management and people skills in girl scouts, not teaching them about futility will lead to a new generation of youngsters believing they can just sit around and get everything handed to them.

This new entitlement app erodes the old tradition of a child spending countless after-school hours annoying their neighbors in the hopes of earning enough points to get a pair of sunglasses or a Velcro wallet.

Kocol disagrees with me that the Girl Scout Cookie Locator makes fund raising too easy.

“Sometimes the girls are lucky enough to set up their booth inside a store, but often the girls are outside braving the cold, windy weather,” Kocol said.

I am sure the girl scouts are kept warm by lining their pockets with all that dough.

The second source of my contempt for these dough dealers comes from my sworn allegiance to the Boy Scouts.

Admittedly, I have always been jealous of their fund raising product. While they have thin mints and peanut butter sandwiches, I was stuck peddling popcorn, flower bulbs and smencils (scented pencils). Who wants to buy popcorn after they just got done eating a sleeve of Samoas? No one does.

God bless the Boy Scouts for not branding their own trademark product or making their distribution locations widely known.

The Boy Scouts still believe in teaching their members the real life lesson of futility. Boy Scouts learn that even though you dedicate your time to a cause you believe in, you will not make much of a difference unless you have connections: your parents passing the order form around at work or ordering large amounts to give away as stocking stuffers.

In fact, I would like to take this opportunity to call on all my readers to support the Boy Scouts. Cancel your dinner plans and call off work, so if a boy scout comes knocking, you can buy a smencil.