We all make jokes about heartless landlords foreclosing on widows and orphans… you can probably see the same image I do in your mind’s eye, even without help.

But for the love of Mogg’s holy grandmother, who would victimize the Girl Scouts?

Recent news articles show a distressing trend in our society to prey on the easiest and weakest victims. Last Saturday, a Utah man (with an accomplice driving his getway car) robbed a girl scout troop of their cash; in Oregon, some bottom-feeder placed a hoax order for 500 cases of cookies with another troop^[1]; in Seattle this month, vandals trashed a garage full of Girl Scout cookies; and in South Carolina, a man was charged with taking 450 boxes of cookies from a warehouse.

All these people may think they’re smart and clever; they may be desperate for drugs; they may be irritated by some imagined social agenda; who knows? It doesn’t matter – they are douchebags, wastes of human cytoplasm, lower than the scum I would scrape off the soles of my shoes. And the universe will pay them back, because wickedness never was happiness. In their hearts, they are already miserable.

The point here is not to focus on the negative in society, because that will always be with us. The point is, it’s time for people of good will in the world to step up their game. I heartily support the affirmation of Sarah Miller, director of communication for Girls Scouts of Oregon and Washington, when she said, “For every one person that has bad intentions, there are hundreds more with good intentions and good hearts that are here to help you.” There are more of us than there are of them, but it’s time to do more. Evil is rising, and we need to move out of our comfort zones to make a difference on a daily basis, and not just when the news reports a need. Edmund Burke (or someone else)^[2] once said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” And it’s true. Evil will flourish if unopposed, and scurries for dark corners when people of good will confront it.

This in no way implies that people are not already reaching out and doing good at every possible opportunity; many are^[3]. A great place to read about good things happening in the world is The Good News Network; certainly a more uplifting option than the mainstream news outlets which are only interested in one thing – generating advertising revenue, which they do by pushing visual impact, drama, and blood-pressure-raising sound bytes rather than solid content. As I mentioned elsewhere, one of my favorite film quotes ever is when Secretary Rittenhouse tells Jenny Lerner in “Deep Impact,” “Look, I know you’re just a reporter… but you used to be a person, right?”

Let’s all step up our game. Let’s bring our first-string efforts to making this world a better place, a place that works for 100% of humanity. Let’s all do something every day to lift, strengthen, heal, and brighten. Only if we do this can we stem the rising tide of darkness and ignorance.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

[EDIT: As of 3/19/2013, one suspect in the cash robbery has been arrested and the other identified. Updates as they happen.]

[EDIT: On 3/21/2013, the prime suspect turned himself in.]

[EDIT: On 3/23/2103, City Hall offered the girls another chance to sell cookies; community members have donated enough to make up for their lost cash as well.]

[1] Good Samaritans in Oregon have stepped up to help these girls – last Saturday they sold about half of their excess inventory, and will probably sell the rest next week.

[2]  That’s an unusual attribution, but there’s a significant controversy about who said it first. A masterful summary of the quote and its history is found at The Quote Investigator.

[3] For example.