Let's Not Exaggerate

MSNBC had a story on this morning (see, I'm trying to break my CNN habit) about a Girl Scout troop in Texas that started a program to send Girl Scout Cookies to soldiers stationed overseas. It's a really nice idea and I'm sure the soldiers who are the recipients of their generosity are thrilled to receive a little touch of home and to know that people back home are thinking of them.

The girls, who are now in 6th grade, and their troop leaders were interviewed about the program on air. It was really quite cute and I was feeling the human interest the MSNBC editorial staff was obviously aiming for, until one of the troop leaders told an "amusing" little anecdote that she called "The Miracle of the Cookies". Apparently, a group of soldiers were stranded somewhere in Afghanistan and survived on nothing but the Girl Scout cookies-- and here, the leader paused for dramatic effect. My brain automatically filled in "...for three days until they were rescued!" or something similar. And then she continued: "...for twelve hours!"

That's hardly a miracle. I'm sure that the soldiers were very hungry-- twelve hours is a long time to go without food. But aren't they trained to deal with exactly this kind of thing? And I'm sure that they had no way of knowing that they'd only be stranded for twelve hours, so they probably were worried and afraid of what might happen. Still, having nothing but Girl Scout cookies to eat for twelve hours is hardly a harrowing tale of survival.

What the girls have accomplished is remarkable, especially given that they were 8 or 9 years old when they started this program. They've been honored by the Army and the President. There's no need to exaggerate with distasteful hyperbole, which has the end effect of minimizing what the girls have done.