Adventures in Bell Ringing

This morning Jess and I rang the bell for the Salvation Army at the Marsh in Carmel. I may need to add this to my list of great ways to observe people and their behavior. 

We were signed up for a two-hour shift. About 30 minutes into our shift, an old lady came, dressed in her Salvation Army apron with her own bell and kettle. She said she would go to the other set of doors, but she came back shortly thereafter, saying it was too cold at that end. Plus, there was no stand for the kettle. She asked if she could sit on the bench that was next to our kettle. So she sat there for an hour and a half... every once in a while, she would ring her bell a little. Or tell us what to do. Or provide us with random facts, such as, "a kettle this size holds $1,000. The larger ones hold $1,500." This is a little perplexing to me. Wouldn't it depend on the denominations of the bills in the kettle?

People are funny, and I love watching them. Here are a few highlights:

• Several people pointed out that we were inside the doors rather than out in the cold. This wasn't our choice - we went where the kettle was. One man even clucked at us. Really? At one point, I said to Jess, "I wish we'd been keeping track of these comments." To which she replied, "Five so far."
• Sometimes, people walk by with no intention of giving, then you say hello, or wish them a merry Christmas, and then they stop and dig for money. 
• I said "Merry Christmas" to one lady, who told us she was half Jewish. She then said, "Did you know there are Jews who believe in Jesus? We meet at 72nd and Keystone on Friday nights at 7:30. I play the tambourine and dance. And I'm 80!" We loved this woman.
• There was a man with two young kids in a cart. He said, "See this nice lady? I want you to talk to her while I run to the car to get the grocery list." So we were not only bell ringers, but also babysitters. I looked at Jess and said, "What if he doesn't come back?" But no worries, he did. We let the kiddos ring our bells. And they didn't even donate any money!
• Another man sang the praises of the Salvation Army and said he donates to them instead of Goodwill, because Goodwill sells things instead of giving them away. He obviously hasn't seen that commercial explaining how Goodwill works to create jobs...
• We saw one guy walking in from the parking lot and Jess said I needed to talk to him. I didn't... and he walked out with a dozen red roses. Totally proposing today, I bet!
• One older man commented on how full the kettle was getting as he squished his dollar in. I told him it was because we were doing a good job. He said that's why they send the cute girls instead of the old men...

The moral of the story? Watch how you act around the bell ringers! They may blog about you later. :)