It’s that time of year again to order Girl Scout cookies and once again, I’m in envy of the girls in green.

Ever since I was a tot, I have wanted to join the girls in their crusade – to sell cookies and make lifelong friends. I mean, if you really think about it, the Girl Scouts have always been a childhood pastime for building lifelong relationships and learning skills that will benefit you the rest of your adult life. But no, I can’t do that because I’m a boy. I mean, when am I going to need to build a campfire and tie a knot?

I tried to be a part of the Boy Scouts when I was younger and I have nothing against them other than, it’s just not for me. I tried to learn the Boy Scout honor and be the tough little boy everyone knew I wouldn’t be – camping in the woods and tying different types of knots. It just wasn’t my thing.

One day, my dad dropped me off at a boy scout meeting. All of the other boys were there in the same outfit waiting to begin the meeting with the Boy Scout honor, and there I was feeling as misplaced as Donald Trump in the White House. In this particular meeting, we were learning the basics to camping in the woods – Boy Scout style. We learned how to build a fire, pitch a tent, and pop popcorn over an open fire. While all of this seems interesting in retrospect, I was bored out of my mind.

Later that evening, after reflecting on my day, I said to my mother, “Mom? Can I be a Girl Scout instead? I really don’t like the Boy Scouts.” She looked at me with a concerning look and didn’t really say anything. Meanwhile, my father, eavesdropping in the next room, flipped out. “Don’t you ever say anything like that again,” he said, as he stormed out of his office. “No son of my mine will grow up thinking he belongs in the Girl Scouts. And no, you’re not quitting the troop.”

Two meetings later, I quit the Boy Scouts – mothers always do know best. But, that’s another story for another time.

I wanted to quit the Boy Scouts because I didn’t think it was fair that all of my friends (which were girls, because “boys have cooties”) had cute little projects volunteering and doing service, and I was stuck out in the woods in that outfit that definitely didn’t match, trying to make fire out of a rock and a stick. As if.

The Girl Scouts got to do arts and crafts and sell cookies in front of Wal-Mart. That’s all I wanted to do – just sell cookies in front of Wal-Mart. But, I was never given the opportunity to be a Girl Scout because, apparently, there’s this close-minded social concept that boys can’t be in groups normally suited for girls and vice versa.

As I’ve grown older and wiser, I’ve learned that this is a sad reality for many young children: they cannot be with their friends and enjoy themselves where they feel most comfortable. I’ve learned that not only can they not enjoy the girl or boy scouts, but they also can’t enjoy the privacy of using the correct bathroom, they can’t get jobs where they want to, and they’re discriminated against often. While I may not be like them, I have a heart that feels for them – to fight for them.

So yes, I would’ve been a Girl Scout if they let me, and so would a lot of other people.