In 2019, banks and credit unions collected $15.5 billion through overdraft and non-sufficient funds fees. In 2022, that shrank to $7.7 billion, according to the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (formed after the Great Recession to protect the little guy — which some folks love to hate). Great, right?

The perhaps not-so-good news: Banks still collect billions in these fees. About one of every four households still pays them, and they’re mostly folks at the lower end of the income ladder whose bank accounts dry up at week’s or month’s end, just before new money arrives.

The left-leaning non-profit Accountable.US looked at data from the 10 largest banks still charging these fees and found that, in the first three quarters of 2023, they collected more than $2.34 billion. And that was before most folks started holiday shopping!

“While a number of banks have started to lower these fees — and the total volume of fees has started to go down overall — overdraft practices still penalize customers with limited resources and create financial obstacles for them,” the CFPB said. “CFPB research has found that people who pay more than 10 overdraft fees per year end up paying nearly three-quarters of all overdraft fees, and on average, these frequent overdrafters paid $380 in overdraft fees during the year.”

These folks are more likely to be economically disadvantaged, have limited education and be non-White, the CFPB found. While only 10% of folks with annual household income above $175,000 paid these fees, about 34% of households with income below $65,000 did.

Banks say that a great deal of innovation has come to this space over recent years and overdraft programs provide vital short-term liquidity to those who need it the most.

A battle brews as the CFPB prepares to crack down on these fees — and the banking industry gears up to defend them.

What are they?

Overdraft fees are charged when your financial institution determines that your checking account doesn’t have enough funds to cover an expense — but pays it anyway. We’ve heard that can happen with alarming regularity right before the paycheck arrives (ahem).

Non-sufficient funds fees are what some banks charge when they decline transactions that would dip the account into negative territory.

Overdraft fees “are often assessed for reasons people do not expect or understand, chip away at needed income including public benefits, and take a heavy toll on families living paycheck to paycheck,” the CFPB has said. “And, overdraft fees can ultimately drive people out of banking altogether….

“Some people are saddled with fees when they have several pending transactions and a low balance. Indeed, many overdrafts happen soon before someone receives a paycheck or benefits payment — times when account balances are likely to be low.”

Here are the overdraft fees made by the 10 largest banks that still have them, according to federal data crunched by Accountable, from January through September of 2023:

• JPMorgan Chase & Co., America’s largest bank, $839 million.
• Wells Fargo, $681 million.
• PNC Financial Services, $194.5 million.
• TD Bank, $171.6 million.
• U.S. Bank, $158.2 million.
• Bank of America, $103 million.
• Fifth Third Bank, $81 million.
• Citizens Bank, $72.9 million.
• BMO Harris, $26.3 million.
• First Citizens Bank, $15.6 million.

It’s a sensitive thing, as there has been skullduggery in this space.

In past years, myriad banks paid hundreds of millions in fines and legal settlements on accusations they manipulated transactions to maximize these fees. One tactic was to reorder customer transactions from largest to smallest, rather than processing them in chronological order, so fees piled up because account balances fell faster. Another was to enroll customers in overdraft programs and charge them overdraft fees without their consent.

Banking reps say a great deal has changed since then, and any emphasis on misdeeds of the past is like your big sister assuming you’re still 12 even after you’re all grown up.

Reform

There have been major voluntary reforms as of late, industry reps say, and they don’t need more blasted federal regulation.

In 2021, Ally Bank — “The Largest Digital Bank In The U.S.” — eliminated overdraft fees on all accounts. “Overdraft fees are a pain point for many consumers but are particularly onerous for some. It is time to end them,” CEO Jeffrey Brown said at the time.

Capital One eliminated overdraft and non-sufficient fund fees for its consumer banking customers — and continued to provide free overdraft protection — that year as well. “The bank account is a cornerstone of a person’s financial life,” said a prepared statement from Richard Fairbank, CEO. “It is how people receive their paycheck, pay their bills and manage their finances. Overdraft protection is a valuable and convenient feature and can be an important safety net for families. We are excited to offer this service for free.”

Chase increased the overdraft buffer from $5 to $50 — effectively eliminating overdraft fees for customers with a negative balance of less than $50 — and stopped charging overdraft fees if the trigger transaction was $5 or less.

In 2022, Citigroup eliminated overdraft fees, increasing “financial inclusion in underserved communities.” Bank of America reduced overdraft fees from $35 to $10 and eliminated non-sufficient fund fees, shrinking revenue by more than 90 percent. Chase decided it would not charge overdraft fees if the account balance was restored to at least “negative $50” by the end of the next business day.

“For more than a decade, Chase has focused on helping customers who want the option of overdraft when they’re short on cash or in a time of need,” spokesman Peter Kelley said by email. “We pay millions of transactions totaling billions of dollars each year on accounts with insufficient funds. Because of the changes we have made, nearly 70% of these transactions do not incur any overdraft fee.”

A Wells Fargo spokesperson said that customers seek choices in how they manage personal finances. “Today we offer customers a low cost, no overdraft fee bank account, Clear Access Banking. We also have introduced automatic features for our customers, including an Extra Day Grace period before incurring any overdraft fees, and tools to manage their money, such as balance alerts. We are focused on providing our customers clear, transparent options that inform their decisions and help them avoid fees.”

Chris Powell, executive vice president and head of consumer checking and deposits at Citizens, said the bank has worked to make banking more flexible and transparent, eliminating non-sufficient funds and savings overdraft protection fees, offering a program to let folks access their paychecks up to two days early, and creating overdraft-free accounts designed to increase banking access to all consumers. Overdraft fees have dropped by more than 50% since 2019, and by 80% since 2008, Powell said in an emailed statement.

And here’s the thing, the Consumer Bankers Association says: Folks don’t have to have overdraft protection. They can open accounts that expressly do not have it. They can decline it where it’s offered. The industry trade group makes its case at a new website, OverdraftFacts.com.

‘Critical financial cushion’

“The Value of Overdraft Services,” its title page says, “(And why government mandates are misguided).”

Overdraft services remain a valued and preferred option to payday loans, car title loans or even pawn shops, it argues. “These non-bank alternatives to overdraft not only deprive consumers of the high level of protections they’ve come to expect from a well-regulated bank, they’re also significantly more expensive,” it argues. “According to the CFPB, a typical payday loan … charges an annual percentage rate (APR) of almost 400 percent.”

The CFPB is offering a one-size-fits-all regulatory regime that could stifle years of bank-led innovation, hinder competition and lead to fewer choices for consumers, it argues.

Well-intentioned regulation “could inadvertently damage the financial resilience millions of Americans who knowingly use and rely on overdraft as one of the few emergency safety net tools still available within the well-regulated banking system,” the bankers say. “For many hardworking families, this feature provides a critical financial cushion to cover unexpected expenses in times of need – whether to pay their rent or simply put food on the table.”

The CFPB isn’t convinced. It notes the industry’s progress, but clearly sees room for improvement.

In fall of 2022, it ordered Regions Bank to pay nearly $200 million in relief for charging customers surprise overdraft fees. In December, it announced an enforcement action against Wells Fargo including some $205 million in surprise overdraft fees.

In October, two customers seeking class-action status sued Fifth Third Bank, alleging it charged “unconscionable” overdraft fees on debit transactions even when their bank accounts had enough money to cover purchases.

A Fifth Third spokesperson said it doesn’t comment on pending litigation, but will continue to defend itself vigorously. The bank has reduced overdraft fees, eliminated non-sufficient funds fees and returned deposit item fees, and offers an “Extra Time” program giving customers 24 hours to make deposits to avoid overdrafts.

After the CFPB delivers its latest, expected any day, there will be a comment period (up to 60 days), then a review, culminating in a final rule. It’s an election year, bankers observed, and cynics might see some political motivation behind the “junk fee” narrative. Consumers who’ve endured hundreds of dollars worth of these charges, however, might see wisdom.

“In our view, the banking industry would have not done any self-reflection or self-regulation had the Biden administration not publicly called out these greedy practices and announced their intent to crack down on them,” said Accountable’s Jeremy Funk by email.

“To the extent some banks have reined it in, it seemed guided more by ‘getting ahead of coming regulation’ than ‘doing the right thing for consumers.’  Meanwhile, megabanks like Wells Fargo, Bank of America and JPMorgan seem intent on clinging onto these practices until the bitter end when looming regulations take effect.”

Stay tuned. And keep an eye on those bank statements!

“Dear Santa, I love you,” begins Armik’s letter to the North Pole’s big guy.

“My mommy tries so hard to create Christmas for me and my sister. Would be nice if you could help her out a little.”

Tug. Tug. We’ve got this, fellow elves. Join me in reporting for duty, conjuring holiday magic and easing St. Nick’s onerous load.

Once upon a time you’d pick a tag with a family’s wish list from the company Christmas tree to spread this kind of holiday cheer, but who has an office anymore? The U.S. Postal Service’s Operation Santa — now in its 111th year — is like a digital version of that tree.

Search for letters that tug at your heartstrings at www.uspsoperationsanta.com/. Specify a state if you like, or search nationwide. Then “adopt” a letter (or several), do the retail therapy thing and pop the stuff into the U.S. mail. It’ll land with a return address from the North Pole itself.

Say what you will about the Postal Service and its $6.5 billion deficit. How does one pass up the opportunity to sprinkle this kind of magic at this time of year?

“The program relies solely on random acts of kindness and the generosity of strangers,” the Postal Service says. “It allows people to help children and families have a magical holiday when they otherwise might not — safely and securely.”

The letter from Maria spoke to me. “I work full time and am raising two of my grandkids who are 7 years old — twin boys,” she writes. “I am really struggling. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.”

Yes, you’ll find letters from kids who want the moon — expensive computers ($1,000+), PlayStations ($500), ride-on electric cars (start around $199) — but you’ll also find wishes for size 11 kids’ tennis shoes and warm pajamas and bedtime books to read because mom or dad is sick and can’t work and they’re trying to be good, so very very good!

These, as one participant said, melt your heart into a puddle.

Now, I was raised Catholic and am plagued by guilt, but you don’t have to fulfill expensive requests, the USPS says. “Hopeful as ever, kids do tend to wish big,” USPS says in its how-to helper guide. “But just hearing back from Santa is a win!”

I’m rooting for Mylin, who’s apparently following  the footsteps of Hermey in “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Mylin wants a Melissa & Doug dentist kit (starts at $25), a mini sewing machine (starts at about $17) and lip balm for dry lips ($1).

Elf logistics

Letters to Santa will be accepted until Dec. 11. They go to Santa’s workshop at 123 Elf Road, North Pole 88888. The ones that can actually be deciphered, have legible return addresses and proper postage are opened, reviewed and posted online for action from us elves.

The last day to adopt letters is Dec. 18 — also the recommended deadline for getting packages in the mail so they arrive in time.

To adopt a letter, just register your vitals, including email address, at USPSOperationSanta.com. You’ll get an email. Click on the verification link. Voila! Your ears are pointy and you’re ready to roll.

Peruse letters, pick a couple, adopt them. You’ll get an email with a QR code for each letter you adopt, and you must have that code handy when you go to the post office to ship the gifts (no electronic skateboards, scooters, e-bikes, sparklers or perfume allowed!). Remember to print out the note from Santa and stick it in the package!

Mail gifts via Priority Mail (they don’t need to be in Priority Mail-branded boxes). You’ll have to pay the postage fees (USPS isn’t quite up to absorbing the bill just now, as first-class mail fell to the lowest volume since 1968).

So keep an eye on shipping costs. Postage is based on size, weight and distance. USPS recommends grabbing a Priority Mail Flat Rate box — free at your local post office — and taking it along when you shop. Buy only what fits in the box.

USPS recommends adopting a letter from your state or someplace nearby, or to consider a gift card — but that seems to lack pixie dust. If you do go that route, gift cards must be in a Priority Mail envelope at least 4 inches by 6 inches, to accommodate the North Pole shipping label.

And watch out for scammers. USPS warns that there are imitators out there, and any organization asking for money to adopt letters is in violation of the law. See detailed instructions from USPS here.

As the holiday season unfolds, you can watch the magic happen at #USPSOperationSanta on Facebook and X. Photos of beaming kids with their loot … elves complaining about shipping costs … parents wondering why their kids’ letters weren’t adopted.

In Operation Santa, as in life, not all wishes can be fulfilled. Me, I’m heading out to buy two pairs of size 12 shoes, two sets of size 6 pants and shirts, two police Lego sets, Hot Wheels and easy-reading books.

“Thank you Santa,” one of the letters says. “We will have cookies and milk on the counter for you and Mrs. Claus.”

This is make-or-break season for charities. Nonprofits in America get the majority of their donations between October and December. Giving Tuesday — the one right after Thanksgiving, when heart and brain are still soft from all that turkey and pie — began more than a decade ago, in response to the (grotesque) consumerism of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. A Chicago theater company urged shoppers to consider donating instead of/in addition to buying stuff. “Giving Tuesday” was coined by the 92nd Street Y in partnership with the United Nations Foundation in 2012. And, well, here we are.

They’ll hit you up by phone, by mail, by email, and in the flesh, at malls and outside grocery stores. Greet each entreaty with “How much of my donation goes to programs?” and you’re well on your way to making sure your dollars go where you intend them to go. Here’s how not to be suckered, as per experts.

Don’t be fooled!

Their names echo well-run charities you’re familiar with and sound so angelic you can hear harps in the distance. Do not be suckered! These charities, for example, play on your sympathies but have earned big fat “F”s from CharityWatch (most often for spending most of their money on their own salaries and fundraising, rather than their purported mission): AdoptaPlatoon Soldier Support Effort, AMVETS National Service Foundation, Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes, Homes for Veterans, Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund, Mutts With A Mission, National Children’s Cancer Society, Operation Finally Home, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Planet Aid, SPCA International (SPCAI) and United Breast Cancer Foundation.

What to do?

Take a few minutes to do some online sleuthing. CharityWatch, Charity Navigator, Guidestar and others can show you how much a charity spends on its mission vs. how much it pays to raise money and pay employees. Some of the worst give just pennies on the dollar to whoever they claim to help. If the charity seeking your dollars devotes less than 65% to 75% of spending to its core programs and services, look elsewhere.

If you’re hit up in person or by phone and must engage in real-time, just ask some simple questions. How much does it spend on programs, on fundraising, on management? Keep an eye on that 65 to 75% bar. If they don’t know, don’t give.

How much does your CEO make? In its “Yikes! $1 Million Charity Salaries” piece, CharityWatch highlighted the 2021 haul of Chris Cox, past executive director for the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action (it was $6.2 million, including $2.4 million as part of a litigation settlement and $3.7 million for his attorneys’ fees), and the multi-million dollar paydays for hospital head honchos. That latter have lives in their hands, of course.

Is the charity really a charity? It must have an Exempt Organization number from the Internal Revenue Service in order for your donation to be tax-deductible. Ask for it. This question forced a telemarketer to admit that the organization was for-profit; we hung up the phone. If the organization doesn’t have an EO number, walk away. You can check that out on the fly here: https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/. Also see California’s Registry of Charitable Trusts at https://bit.ly/3oTLYCI.

Be deliberate

Make your bigger year-end gifts with forethought. Do you want to help war-torn areas? Take a stand against gun violence, or for the Second Amendment, or for refugees, or the arts?  Find well-run charities on websites like Charity Navigator, Guidestar and CharityWatch.

Resist pressure

The folks on the phone and at the mall want to sign you up for recurring donations right now because they get paid for that. Take your time. Be wary of pushy telemarketers: These are most often commercial fundraisers who keep a huge chunk of your donation, and sometimes keep nearly all of it. If someone offers to send a courier to your home to pick up a donation check now, hang up and send a complaint to the Attorney General!

Beware when shopping

Finally, as you shop online this holiday season — and some 85% of us will, according to those who track these things — keep your wits about you. Scammers launch copycat websites of well-known retailers, and/or create sites offering popular items at crazy discounts. They’ll take your money, but you won’t get your stuff. Also avoid clicking on shopping links from social media sites. Instead, type the vendor’s address directly into your browser yourself.

Give your dollars the best chance of making a difference. Revel in the joy of wise giving this holiday season.

That’s normal!

As cold, flu and COVID season sets in, we chatted with Chapman University’s Patricia Lopes, an assistant professor of biology, who studies how sick individuals impact those around them. It’s not as clear-cut as it may seem. Turns out that simply observing a sick individual triggers not only that familiar behavioral response — get away! — but a complex biological response as well.

“The really interesting aspect is, it also changes your physiology,” she said.

Her own experiments and reviews of scientific studies find that, when healthy animals interact with animals showing symptoms of illness, molecular pathways related to immune responses activate. Egg composition changes. And all without those animals actually being sick themselves, as if their bodies are prepping for a fight.

Consider one of the experiments that galvanized Lopes’ curiosity: People watched a slideshow. Their blood composition was measured before and after. After folks saw images of sickness — coughing, sneezing, blisters on the skin, etc. — their blood showed an increased level of molecules that could help respond to infection.

The slideshow was repeated with threatening images of a different sort — such as guns pointed at the viewer — and the blood did not show elevated levels of infection-fighting molecules after viewing.

“So I became really interested and I started reading and trying to understand how generalized this is,” Lopes said. “Is it just in humans? Throughout animal kingdom? I did find that, for a lot of species, from fruit flies to birds to other mammals, we see examples of this.”

When female mice were exposed to sick mice during pregnancy, their babies rebounded from the same sickness more quickly down the line.

But the physiological response to nearby sickness might not always be a positive one. Female Japanese quail housed with sickly-looking animals laid eggs containing more stress hormones, which could have an impact on their offspring.

Lopes has a three-year, $600,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to probe this under-studied phenomenon.

“The objective for this proposal is to study how exposure to disease risk affects the physiology and reproductive investment of uninfected animals, as well as their own responses upon infection,” her abstract for the NSF says. “To accomplish this goal, a host-parasite system (canary – Mycoplasma gallisepticum) will be used, where responses to disease risk have already been demonstrated to occur.

“To quantify how observation of infected symptomatic birds … relative to observation of healthy birds affects animals, the project will 1) use a transcriptomic approach (studying all RNA molecules) to address how multiple organs respond to disease risk over time, 2) evaluate whether and how disease risk information modifies the damage and the time course imposed by a subsequent infection, and 3) quantify changes in reproductive behavior and investment imposed by the presence of disease risk.”

Lopes hopes to have some results starting next summer.

“The interesting thing to me is that it really shows the mind-body connection,” Lopes said. “You’re receiving this signal — watching, smelling, hearing sickness symptoms — and then your immune system changes. This nervous system changing the immune system is a very interesting avenue of research — that your nervous system has this power to change your immune cells and immune response.”

It’s not at all clear how long these responses last, so folks shouldn’t count on them to ward off illness. Vaccination is the way to go as we enter peak cold, flu and COVID season, she said.

This makes me recall with agonizing clarity that episode when my eldest was barely 2, feverish, coughing, runny nose, the whole shebang. I was changing her diaper, standing her up on the dressing table to pull up her jammy pants, when she Exorcist-vomited into my face.

I had managed to escape sickness until then, but was certain my luck had finally run out. Miraculously, though, I didn’t get sick. Maybe this helps explain why.

Lopes says her research aims to unveil the hidden ripple effects of infections. When one individual falls ill, it’s not just their problem — it’s a complex story that can impact the health and behavior of many others.

For some districts, that revamp includes tossing piles of Chromebooks with fully functioning hardware into the trash or recycling bin.

The Google laptops are popular with schools and families due their simplicity and low price. But Chromebooks also come with a built-in “death date,” when software support ends. And once that date hits, the devices no longer receive updates needed to, say, run security programs or access state testing websites, which essentially renders them useless for students and teachers.

More than a dozen Chromebook models will hit their death dates in three months unless Google voluntarily steps in to extend them. The end also is nigh for tons of Chromebooks that school districts shelled out millions for in 2020, when they were scrambling to help students go fully remote during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It creates an incredible amount of electronic waste, which is now the fastest-growing waste stream in the entire world. And it’s incredibly costly to schools,” said Sander Kushen of Laguna Beach, who’s working with the California chapter of the nonprofit Public Interest Research Group, or PIRG, on a campaign to extend the life of all Chromebooks.

The campaign is part of a much larger, multipronged effort by PIRG and other environmental groups that hope to reduce electronic waste.

Humans generate more than 50 million tons of e-waste each year, according to the latest report on the topic from the United Nations, and just 17% of it gets recycled. The report notes that in recent years the volume of e-waste has been skyrocketing while the percentage that gets recycled has actually dropped.

We’re not great at recycling even when it involves materials our local trash collector will pick up curbside each week. But recycling e-waste is more complicated, since cell phones and microwaves and TVs often contain hazardous materials, such as mercury and lead, that require special disposal.

The most significant electronics-related climate harm happens long before products end up in landfills or incinerators anyway, Kushen noted. Many contain precious metals that come from environmentally damaging mining efforts. And they often are assembled and shipped around the world before ending up in, say, a classroom in Riverside.

That’s why, even though a Google spokesperson noted via email that the company is working to use more recycled materials and reduce emissions in manufacturing over time, environmental advocates insist the focus has to be on extending the life of existing electronics, and on getting consumers to stop treating those products as disposable.

“Keeping our stuff around for longer is the most sustainable electronics choice we can make,” said Elizabeth Chamberlain, director of sustainability for iFixit, which offers free guides and forums to help people repair devices.

And Chromebooks, in many ways, have become the poster child for this effort.

Extending the death date

To keep Google’s proprietary operating system running smoothly, the company automatically sends out software updates for Chromebooks every four to six weeks to add new features and improve device security.

When Google first introduced the affordable devices, in 2011, those updates would stop after just three years. The company has “worked diligently” to extend the window for that Automatic Update Expiration several times as newer models hit the market, a spokesperson pointed out in an emailed statement, with the latest Chromebooks now guaranteed support for eight years.

However, the clock for Chromebook’s death date starts when the laptops are made rather than when they’re purchased. That means customers might unwittingly buy devices that have been sitting on virtual shelves for some time and are set to “expire” much sooner — particularly if they’re buying used or refurbished laptops. Some Chromebooks now listed for sale are set to expire in just a few months, Kushen pointed out. And among the models in use, he noted, “the average (death) date is only four years away according to Google’s own website.”

That’s in line with data from San Bernardino City Unified School District, which has distributed more than 40,000 Chromebooks to students. A batch of those devices will no longer receive updates in June 2024, according to district spokesperson Maria Garcia.

“We are indeed concerned about the expiration date of these devices,” Garcia said, with a significant financial impact expected as the district rolls out a plan to replace those devices over the coming school year.

A number of Chromebooks also are reaching the end of their life in Capistrano Unified School District, according to spokesperson Ryan Burris. He said the district, the largest in Orange County, is careful to never buy devices that are close to their death dates. Still, he said the district has budgeted $4.2 million in the next school year to buy new Chromebooks, pay employees to repair them and otherwise support that program.

By 2030, Torrance Unified School District will see more than 20,000 Chromebooks expire, according to district spokesperson Sara Myers. They’re replacing those devices in a rolling pattern over time, so the district won’t feel the financial hit all at once.

With such a big wave of expiring Chromebooks looming, at a time when schools are struggling with issues such as teacher shortages and declining enrollment, Kushen said PIRG wants to see Google step up and voluntarily extend the death date window on existing models for several more years.

It’s been done before. In fall 2019, for example, the company added a year or more to device expiration dates for many models already on the market.

Google said in its emailed statement that they send updates for older devices to “continue to function in a secure and reliable manner until their hardware limitations make it extremely difficult to provide updates.”

But Kushen said his team has talked with technicians who are skeptical about fixed expiration dates for all Chromebook models. He cited an interview with Justin Millman, a repair technician who estimates he services 5,000 devices for schools a month. Millman told them “the hardware hasn’t changed all that much in seven years” and called the fixed death dates “arbitrary.”

If Google doubled the software support window for its laptops sold in California in 2020, ensuring they’d receive updates through 2030, the PIRG report estimates the reduction in e-waste would be equivalent to taking 113,000 gas-powered cars off the road for a year and could save districts $225 million.

It also would be a significant hit to Google’s bottom line. Advocates still are hoping to use public pressure to convince Google to extend the dates voluntarily, noting the company’s environmental pledges and that Chromebook sales shot up 287% in the fourth quarter of 2020 vs. the same time the year before. Kushen said they also are discussing legislation that would require manufacturers of all sorts of electronic devices to stop rendering their products useless from a software standpoint while their hardware is still viable.

But some local school districts are skeptical about the idea that Google doubling the support window for Chromebooks would be as dramatic as PIRG’s report says. A reason for that, they say, is that it’s not practical to expect student computers to last that long.

In San Bernardino, for example, Garcia said that while the district plans for their Chromebooks to receive software updates for six years, they already replace the devices about every five years to make sure students have access to up-to-date technology.

Other districts operate under similar plans.

“While the concept of potentially saving money and the environment could be a nice idea, as a district we find that after heavy use by students, a Chromebook that is four to five years of age has already seen a lot of wear and tear by the time they reach their Auto Update Expiration date, and we end up needing to replace them anyway,” said Myers with Torrance Unified.

“It is often more economical to upgrade them than try to repair them,” she said.

That’s true, Kushen said. And that fact illustrates another problem his group is working to address to save consumers money and help save the planet along the way.

Right to repair

Along with pushing Google and other manufacturers to extend software support for their products, PIRG also is backing Senate Bill 244, known as the Right to Repair Act. The law would make it easier and more affordable for consumers to repair hardware on electronic devices and appliances by giving consumers and repair shops access to the tools, parts and manuals needed to fix broken tech products.

“We shouldn’t have laptops that are cheaper to replace than repair, especially when the environmental costs are so high,” Kushen said.

Earlier this year, PIRG put out a report card grading cell phones and laptops on how “fixable” they were on a scale of one to 20. Chromebook models had an average parts availability rating of 3.3 out of 20, the report states, while non-Chromebook laptops averaged nine out of 20.

Their study found manufacturers sometimes make non-functional changes to Chromebook parts that make it impossible to swap them between models. All six manufacturers on the popular parts reseller edu-parts.com, for example, simultaneously made minor design tweaks to available options for the plastic edging that goes around the laptop screen.

Not every district reports issues with repairing Chromebooks. Capistrano Unified find its easier to repair the devices than traditional laptops and doesn’t have trouble finding parts at decent prices, Burris said.

But the Right to Repair Act drew support from Los Angeles Unified School District, which is the largest consumer of electronic devices for education in the state.

“When these devices break, it can be challenging to get the parts or information needed to fix them,” LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho wrote in a May letter backing the bill. “Limited repair options often mean that districts must choose between shipping devices to a manufacturer for repair or committing public resources for expensive and unnecessary device replacements.”

While Chromebooks take a lot of the heat, this legislation would open the door for repairs on all sorts of devices. Kushen’s group estimates that the average family could save $400 a year if they could repair rather than replace common electronics and appliances.

Of course, that’s only true if residents also do their part by committing to stop treating electronics as disposable products.

From a financial and environmental standpoint, Lucas Gutterman with PIRG said, “None of us can afford to stay on the disposability treadmill.”

That’s also me, in the chocolate chip cookie costume, balancing a box of Adventurefuls on my head.

And that’s my daughter, in her Girl Scout vest (please don’t look too closely — a numeral fell off, so her troop number is off by several thousand), faintly stalking as we stick flyers in mailboxes and make home deliveries and rejoice when someone finally says, “Why yes! I’ll take two boxes of Peanut Butter Patties and two Toast-Yays!”

You, good citizens, see us and our ilk behind card tables outside your local Ralphs and Trader Joe’s and Pavilions. There we are, the sugar pushers, at your front doors. There we are, the carb evangelists, on your social media feeds.

Perhaps you’ve already purchased cookies from your granddaughter. Perhaps you’re diabetic and cannot survive being left alone with an entire box of Thin Mints. So you don’t answer the door, or you scroll past our QR code, or you look awkwardly at your feet to avoid our pathetic, pleading smiles as you enter and exit the grocery store.

I am here to tell you what it feels like from the other side. I am here to tell you how much money the Girl Scouts make from cookie sales. I am here to tell you that this sugar-fueled engine has powered the mighty machine that helped mold Janet Reno and Sally Ride, Gloria Steinem and Madeleine Albright, Sandra Day O’Connor and Condoleezza Rice, Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton, as well as a positively alarming number of singers, actors and journalists.

All were once Girl Scouts.

Preparing for life

The cookie program helps prepare girls for Real Life, they say. Consider what happened to my colleague Samantha Gowen and her wide-eyed 11-year-old at a booth at the Army-Navy store in Old Towne Orange.

A diehard animal lover stopped dead center at their 8-foot cookie table, lecturing them about the horrors of the American slaughterhouse. Gowen advised the visitor that at least six of the Girl Scout cookie offerings are vegan! “Enjoy your vegan Thin Mints!” Gowen cried, trying to move the shock-and-awe storyteller along.

“You know, it’s just awful how they rip baby dairy calves away from their mothers and kill them days after they’re born,” the visitor told Gowen and her girl. “And don’t get me started on the chickens and how they die from the heat, trampling each other in ‘cage-free’ barns!”

“Um, we try to eat vegan a couple days a week,” Gowen’s 11-year-old offered.

“Well, you can do better! There are so many options for food …”

Another buyer miraculously appeared, distracting Gowen’s stunned child. Just another day in sales for America’s budding businesswomen! Gowen said.

So, yes, cookie selling is valuable preparation for Real Life, and not just in the ways the Girl Scouts envision.

The chief of mission delivery dressed in koala and dolphin costumes and posed for pictures with our cookie entrepreneurs, said Katharine Bennett of Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio.

“This year, girls are dressed as Adventureful and other cookie-themed costumes. During the cookie sale, we host weekly contests we call ‘Bling your booth.’ Girls are encouraged to decorate their booth in fun and unique ways, and we often get hundreds of photo entries. We’re proud to see how creative our Girl Scouts can get!”

Cookies went from $5 last year to $6 this year — inflation! we say, which has led to some interesting exchanges — thus requiring the Littles to really step up their math game. Orange County armed each scout with a calculator and badge holder featuring a pull-out multiplication table, just to be sure they can double-check the six times table, O.C.’s Julie Weeks said.

“Girl Scouts is the nation’s premiere leadership development program for girls from all cultures, ZIP codes and walks of life,” say the tax returns the Girl Scout councils file with the IRS. “The challenges girls face today are greater than ever and they affect all girls….A recent report from the Girl Scout Research Institute showed that a girl’s desire to lead is strongest when she is eight years old, yet declines dramatically when she is 16….

“Girl Scouting provides expanded leadership and learning opportunities for girls in areas that fill critical talent gaps like finance, science, technology and the environment. Additionally, the Girl Scout cookie sale program is the nation’s largest business and financial skills development program for girls.”

For girls — and their parents.

Mamas (and papas) on deck

My daughter joined Girl Scouts in first grade. The math and organizational skills were still, how shall we say, under construction. So she stood there in her little blue Daisy vest looking adorable while yours truly chirped “Girl Scout cookies!” and held the money pouch and made the change and took the inventory and figured out what we needed to fill orders next week and the week after.

It was the weight of this burden that we heard about most often from other Girl Scout parents. Speaking of weight — do you know what it’s like to have hundreds of boxes of Girl Scout cookies in your home? Late at night, they talk to you. “I am here,” they whisper. I gained 10 pounds that first year.

My daughter’s goal then was to sell 100 boxes. We sold twice as many (OK, I probably devoured most of them, but whatever). Each box generated about $1 for the troop to keep, and the wee girls made a respectable showing that allowed them to donate toys to a children’s hospital and pay for a troop trip to the trampoline park. And no one broke a leg!

Daisy turned to Brownie, Brownie to Junior. We manned a cookie booth inside a brewery that sold Girl Scout cookie-flavored beer. This, like blue food, is simply wrong. In those long, quiet stretches between customers, we sang this to the tune of “Good Night Ladies”:  “Girl Scout cookies, Girl Scout cookies, Girl Scout cookies, they’re good with milk and beer.”

The kid is getting serious about the “leadership” and “make the world a better place” thing she keeps hearing about. During the pandemic, the cookie-selling season was extended and the kid was old enough to (tentatively) engage potential customers, do the math (more or less), and make change, mostly without bills blowing away. She sold more than 1,000 boxes that year. Her troop built and stocked several Little Libraries, and went to a Roar ‘n Snore at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.

Junior turned to Cadette. My daughter is in middle school now — apparently when a lot of girls leave scouting — but she’s in it for the long haul. Friendsgiving! Decorating local shop windows (and cleaning them up)! Troop meetings, ice skating, ballet performances, caroling, ballgames, community work and — price of admission — cookie season!

This is our sixth. My daughter is not a natural salesperson. Neither am I. We can’t quite grasp the mastery of kids like San Bernardino’s Lilly Bumpus, who sold more than 32,000 boxes in 2021 to help support pediatric cancer patients and their families. Or of Hailey Heren of Anaheim, who set the Orange County record for single-year sales at 13,093 boxes in 2021. How do you do THAT?!

Money

Confession: I didn’t want my girls to be Girl Scouts. I had baggage from my own scouting days a thousand years ago, when you had to wear the military-type uniform and earn sewing and baking badges. I stunk at sewing and baking and selling cookies but tried because I desperately wanted to go on the year-end camping trip. Three years in a row, the camping trip was canceled.

Girl Scouting is so much different now. The sewing and baking badges take a big back seat to cybersecurity and coding and programming badges. “Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place,” the O.C. council states. “The Girl Scout Research Institute … reported that women who were Girl Scouts when they were young have higher perceptions of self, higher rates of volunteerism and civic engagement, higher rates of college education and higher household incomes than non-alumnae.”

I’m delighted at the “I can do it, I can change it, I can help” mindset my daughter is developing through scouting. If cookies are the fuel propelling the programs that make it happen, so be it. You’ll find us outside a grocery store near you.

How much money are we talking about? According to their most recent tax returns, cookie sales provided some 60% to 80% of local Girl Scout council revenues.

• The Girl Scouts of Orange County had total revenue of $10.6 million. The sale of goods — primarily cookies — generated $14.1 million; less $5.4 million to acquire them; for a net of $8.7 million.

• The Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles had total revenue of $22.1 million. The sale of goods, primarily cookies, generated $34.6 million; less $15 million to acquire them; for a net of $19.6 million.

• The Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio had total revenue of $10.6 million. The sale of goods, primarily cookies, generated $15.1 million; less $8.3 million to acquire them; for a net of $6.8 million.

We choose to think of it not just as sugar, but as empowerment. We note though, with some consternation, that local Girl Scout CEOs make markedly less than a local Boy Scout CEO.

To wit: Girl Scouts Los Angeles’ CEO had total compensation of $313,391. Orange County’s CEO, $219,328. San Gorgonio’s CEO,  $217,694.

The Boy Scouts of Orange County CEO (whose operation is far smaller than the Los Angeles Girl Scouts, and nearly identical to O.C. and San Gorgonio in terms of revenue) had compensation of $475,721.

Clearly, there’s still quite a bit of work to do. But, hey! At least we don’t have to sell popcorn. Cookie sales end March 12 in L.A. and O.C., and March 19 in San Gorgonio’s Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Thin Mints and female empowerment, anyone?

Updated 2/23 with detail on San Gorgonio costuming

Lung cancer devastates quickly. She died a few days later. And like so many who lose loved ones, I posted a tribute to her on my Facebook page as the family gathered for her funeral.

Imagine my shock, then, when she wrote back on March 6.

“I am feeling very good now. It’s really very silent here. How are you all doing?” the Messenger message said.

Then, a few minutes later: “I hope that you are going to keep it a secret. Yes I can communicate with you.”

I stared stupidly at the screen. It was positively creepy and purposefully cruel – but my posts had unwittingly notified the ne’er-do-wells out there that she was gone, and they promptly hacked into her Facebook account. There, they surely tried to access any financial and personal information she may have stored.

This bit of “ghosting” is a 21st century take on the time-honored “obituary column thieves” phenomenon, made famous by a set of Pasadena sisters who scanned death notices, then systematically burglarized homes while grieving families were at funeral services.

As Facebook users skew older – the average age in the U.S. is now about 40 – dead members will surely become a bigger issue.

Users have complained that a dead man’s Facebook account was being used by an ex-girlfriend to follow people who had blocked her, and by scammers using dead people’s accounts to collect money, spam “friends” with sunglasses ads, and even tag people in photos.

Does Facebook have any words of wisdom about how to avoid trolls who may try to profit from public mourning?

A spokesman from the company offered condolences on our loss, and some tips so readers can avoid this sort of emotional punch, and protect the Facebook accounts of dearly departed friends and family.

1. Ask Facebook to “memorialize” the loved one’s account. This keeps the account secure by preventing anyone from logging into it, but allows people to gather and share memories.
2. The only person who can manage a memorialized account is a “legacy contact” – someone who was selected by the account holder (so one might want to designate a contact while young and healthy). A legacy contact can do things like pin a post on the person’s profile, respond to new friend requests and update profile pictures and cover photos.
3. If the account holder didn’t select a legacy contact, the account will effectively lock, and won’t be actively cared for by anyone after memorialization. To request that an account be memorialized, fill out the Memorialization Request form.
4. Verified immediate family members also can request the removal of a loved one’s account. Facebook will need documentation to confirm identity and death; the fastest way to process requests is to scan or photograph the death certificate.
5. Facebook also says it takes “extra steps to protect financial information from hackers.” Even if hackers break into an account, “no one can see your whole credit card number or PayPal password on Facebook after you enter it, even with your password,” the spokesman said. More info on that on Facebook’s Payer Protection page.
6. To secure your own account, consider two-factor authentication in addition to a strong password. More info is available at this page in Facebook’s help center.

Also, don’t accept suspicious requests, be careful about clicking on links or downloading software, and, if you get a beyond-the-grave message from your deceased mother-in-law, report it on Facebook’s How to Report Things page.