Our sweet church volunteered to man all the Salvation Army kettles in town for this Saturday. My Loving Spouse and I signed up for a shift, which was a first for me. Our assignment was 11:00 – 1:00pm at the grocery store nearest the college. Noon on a Saturday = early morning for the college crowd. Most of the college kids that came by did in fact look as if they’d just rolled out of bed, primarily boys, kind of large and hairy picking up large gallons of milk and toilet paper.
The weather was gorgeous, but even so our bell ringing spot was the foyer of the store with the shopping carts, left over Halloween candy and a Christmas knickknacks display. Unfortunately, our shift was kind of quiet, so I tidied up the displace case behind me and will confess that we played with the musical Santa hat more than a few times. My Loving Spouse was not feeling well, so he was taking a break when I found that the store’s camera was right on us. It was then that I’d wished some of my crazy fun-loving friends were with me (yes, you know who you are) as making kissing faces at the camera is not as much fun when you’re alone.
Our bell was a perfect symbol of the Salvation Army, a bit worn, the clapper replaced with a paperclip and a nut, but it rang well all the same.
We may not have had the busiest spot, but we did have the opportunity to greet many people with a smile and a sincere welcome. By 12:45 I was praying for my replacement. “Bless them Lord, keep them healthy, help them to show up.”
There was an older classy lady who upon leaving turned and said, “Thank you for doing this”. There was the small immigrant family with three tiny girls,and the mother carefully gave each child coins to put in the kettle, and my favorite of all was the college boy with a donut in one hand who was racing out the door to make the free shuttle bus and called out, “That was my last 50 cents”.
A good reminder to me that in giving like all things, we cannot or should not judge the book by its cover.
Love it and you!! So would have made faces with you my dearest!!!
Oh Ellen, that so reminds me of a time I would prefer to forget! After ‘Wyndham House’ (where I met Pat) When I was 12, I was sent off to an ‘all girls’ boarding school in Carlisle, which I HATED I can’t put it in bold print here, but I would if I could!
It was something from the dark Dickens ages! (And I’m not joking, I remember being so cold we had to scrape the ice off the inside of the windows to be able to see out!)
We would put our clothes (carefully folded) for the next day under our iederdowns (? forgotten how to spell it now?) So they wouldn’t be so cold the next day they might be frozen! (and to think my stupid parents paid for this!) we would get dressed and un-dressed in bed, because it was just SO COLD.
However, I get to the point……..I was given 5 shillings a week pocket money in those days, when a packet of fags (20) cost 5/3d (Pat can explain) and we were forced to go to the local vicarage tea party, where I was Press ganged into spending ALL my pocket money on a ‘raffle ticket’. I felt so low I can’t tell you, but I bought the flipping ticket……..and later that day, the Head Mistress came to me and told me I had wone the ‘star prise’ a wicker picknic food hamper, (Oh I was so excited, I couldn’t wait to give it to my Mum) but as I was ‘a boarder’ she was converscating it as I wouldn’t need it!
I never ever even get to glimpse it again.
That’s life.