Today I rang bells for the Salvation Army's Red Kettle Charity. I was at Kmart. Although it was a bit chilly it really was an awesome experience and something I plan to do every year from now on. I cannot wait until VE is old enough to go. When I got there, there was a big group of 7-8 year old kids and a chaperone and they were all singing Christmas Carols. It was soo stinking cute.
It was really interesting to watch people's reactions to the whole thing. Some of them avoided eye contact, others felt their pockets and walked on by, many stopped and told me how much they appreciate people standing in the cold to do that, others stopped to tell me when they are scheduled to ring bells, some said they admired me for taking time out of my day to do that, others threw in 100's, 20's, 10's etc....it was really crazy. I figured people would all be the same, throw in a buck and keep going. Thats what I usually do. No more! I didnt think people really took the time to appreciate that people take time out of thier lives to do that....not that its about that- but it takes alot of people to make that program suceed and my measly afternoon was nothing compared to the dedication some people put into it. Someone had to come and dump the money midway through my shift and that was so neat. It was sweet to see parents giving their children money to put in there and telling them that by doing that they are helping to make tough times easier on someone, some explained that it was helping other kids get holiday gifts. It was just neat.
As weird as it sounds, i think it would have been even better if it had been snowing- it would have really felt like Christmas then.
i encourage anyone who has an extra couple of hours to volunteer to do this- its a great thing. www.ringbells.org
happy holidays!
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