That's Joincidence With a C

Isn’t irony fun? But even as I type this and Maddie read it over my shoulder, I couldn’t come up with an example of irony. I couldn’t tell her the one about the guy who recently showed up to his wife’s doctor appointment after she had served him divorce papers and then he stabbed her to death. I found it ironic that he worked as a criminal statistics person and his first name was Wisdom. Some people think that the word ironic is overused, and that coincidence might be a more appropriate description (that’s jo-incidence with a C Pheobes). I found more irony tonight here in Montana. Those who know me might recall that I have a deep love for Girl Scout cookies. Not because I ever was a Girl Scout, but because of the tradition and well, I love cookies. Nothing fancy, my favorites are Shortbread and Thin Mints. Love, love, love the Thin Mints. Tonight was the parent meeting for Maddie’s Brownie Troup. This is a first for us, neither one of us have ever participated in the Girl Scouts program. I am excited for her, though I didn’t seek out this opportunity. It was by luck that our wonderful daycare provider is one of the Brownie Troup Leaders and recruited Maddie. Nonetheless, I am thrilled to be apart of Brownies. You can never have enough ‘Girl Time’. So at this parent meeting tonight, held at the home of one of the parents, I was put in charge of the cookie sales. I am the Cookie Manager. The tasks are what you might expect: collecting and submitting orders, picking up the (literally) carloads of cookies, storing the cookies at my home, and collecting and submitting money. As long as it’s not during business hours, I can handle it. As you can imagine, none of the other moms were jumping up and down in excitement over this position. I think there was an element of relief that the ‘new girl’ stepped in. So while there is a bit of irony in the fact that I love Girl Scout cookies and am now the Girl Scout Cookie Manager, or that we just joined Brownies and the cookie sale starts this Saturday, this is the irony I found in tonight’s events: to participate as the Cookie Manager for Girl Scouts, I had to pay them. I had to pay them for me to organize, collect, use my gas and my time, etc. I had to pay them $10 for my registration fee and $3 for my background check. This after paying Maddie’s registration fee. I am not bitter. I am not angered. I do find it a bit ironic that I am paying them to work for them. Even now as I am exhausted from work and soccer practice and the no-dinner and the Brownie parent meeting, I feel a little bit important, a little more needed, and even excited to be the Cookie Manager. How simple my life must be, one might think, to be excited about being the Cookie Manager. Maybe. But I’m not going to trade places with them.