Twitter Is Begging People To Stop Yelling At Girl Scouts About Cookie Prices

To some people, the time between February and April is the best time of the year. No, not because of the early rumblings of spring and the light at the end of the tunnel after a long winter, but because it's finally Girl Scout Cookie season. The Girl Scouts of the USA are an organization dedicated to helping young girls build confidence and leadership skills while giving back to their community and building friendships. For fans, waiting all year for the Scouts' famous cookies is totally worth it upon taking that first bite of a Thin Mint or Caramel De-Lite and knowing that they're supporting a cause, as Girl Scout Cookie money goes to the organization's youth programming or is donated to the Scouts' cause of choice.

Of course, not everyone enjoys Girl Scout Cookies — which is to be expected among those who have dietary restrictions or allergies or who simply aren't big cookie eaters. Everyone is well within their rights to give a polite smile and a "No, thanks" when approached by Girl Scouts selling cookies outside their local grocery store, a reasonable sentiment shared in a recent tweet. Nevertheless, some fully grown adults have taken to verbally harassing children over cookies.

As this year's Girl Scout Cookie season kicks off, Twitter has become flooded with posts by users who are appalled by the harassment and rude comments directed at Girl Scouts selling the treats, an issue that is apparently becoming more common, Insider reports. One Scout parent told the publication, "We have some people say that the cookies are too expensive and they can just buy them at Aldi," even though the members do not set the prices. Others complain about the nutrition of the "junk food" cookies, which another Twitter user explained is outside of the Scouts' control.

Some are concerned about peoples' "comments about weight gain" to Girl Scouts, such as Oona Miller Hanson, who works at a treatment center for eating disorders and is the parent of a Scout. Hanson tweeted that people should not "​​joke that you can't have Thin Mints in the house or talk about your low-carb diet or yell at the girls for 'poisoning' people," remarks she said were "actual things said to elementary school girls." These comments, she said, exacerbate the adverse effects of diet culture and can be damaging to young girls who are learning how to feel about their bodies. Hanson went on to say, "For Girl Scouts, cookie season can be fraught because they are bombarded with harmful messages," reminding people that they can choose not to buy cookies without commenting on their nutritional value.