Tonight was my first volunteer shift in the 2013 holiday season ringing the bell at the Salvation Army Kettle.
For this shift, I was stationed at one of my favorite kettle locations: Kroger at Brettwood Village.
2 hours.
What a pleasure to do. Absolute fun.
Being there on Thanksgiving Eve makes it extra fun as there were gazillions of shoppers there. Lots and lots and lots of folks to which I got to wish a big "Happy Thanksgiving".
A few observations from my 120 minutes ring-a-dinging....
- Kroger sold BUNCHES of aluminum cooking pans.... probably the most prevalent thing that I saw in carts as they were passing by my kettle
- there were several turkeys in carts too; not as many as I would have thought, but I guess at 8:00 PM on Thanksgiving Eve, time is running somewhat short to get a turkey thawed and cooked up for a 12:00 lunch
- the bellringer before me was such a friendly, happy guy; he did a little singing while he was ringing, and even showed me a little bell toss routine that he does on his shift; this Thanksgiving is his first in his new house, and I wish him the best!
- our kitty's doctor shops at Kroger
- I love it when parents let their kids put coins in the kettle, even if it's just pennies; the faces of those kids as they are dropping in money is priceless; hopefully, it's instilling in them just a little spark to be generous and compassionate as they progress thru their youth
- then there's the kids that point at my shiny ringing bell; I'd love to have an extra to offer to them to help me ring, even if only for a couple minutes
- the Kroger crew that goes out to retrieve shopping carts from the lot are a very hard-working bunch; and, it's such a thankless job; on a night like this (when Kroger is busy, busy, busy), they were constantly having to go out and get carts... and it was such a cold evening
- watching the Kroger staff manning the checkouts is fun too; even though I can't hear what they are saying to customers and amongst themselves, it's intriguing to figure out from only their facial expressions what kind of personality they have
- there was a guy that passed me at least twice with a cart full of 1-liter pop bottles; the second time he passed, he mentioned that is wasn't for him, but rather for a nursing home; man.... those residents love their Diet Pepsi !!
- the Brettwood security guy is really cute and wears the uniform and stocking hat well, but he's gotta be at least 70 and moves (shuffles) very slowly; not providing much security at all
- 2 things I did not need to see: (1) the grown lady wearing Spongebob hoodie, accented with a Spongebob stocking hat (2) the grown lady who bent over to pick something up, giving me a very generous look at her thong; YUCK
- there were so many friendly faces who kindly offered me a very cheerful "Happy Thanksgiving" in return to mine
My next bell-ringing shift is this Saturday. 2 more hours. Lunchtime this go around. And an outdoor kettle, instead of indoor.
Looking forward to it!
Out for now.....
Matt