Last weekend, my wife had the idea for us to “ring the bell”
for our local Salvation Army chapter. We also thought it would be a tangible way
to teach our three year-old son about the meaning of Christmas. It was only a
one-hour shift, so we felt certain that the allure of holiday service and
charitable giving would keep his attention for sixty consecutive minutes. We
were wrong.
We began by explaining to him that the objective was to solicit money
for the red bucket by ringing the bell as people entered and exited the store. Situated between the two automatic
sliding doors, there was very little space to maneuver. We
had two bells between the three of us so naturally we gave one to him. His
first strategy was to ring the bell at
people in an accusatory manner while shouting “give money!”
Once we explained to him that we might need to scale back the
armed robbery vibe, he warmed up to the idea of constantly ringing a bell while
“holding” the automatic sliding door for people. He was so adorable that
customers started handing him their donations to place into the bucket. While this
was well-intentioned, it broke one of the cardinal rules of Salvation Army
bell-ringing: never touch the product.
This parameter is important because it prevents any charges
of financial impropriety by the bell ringers. It also prevents a situation
where a preschooler is handed a wad of paper currency and takes it to be a
gratuity for his service. The following scenario repeated several times:
1. Customer hands child money, waits
expectantly for adorable reminder of Christmas spirit
2. Child frowns at crumpled bills in
his hand and meticulously counts them while making no indication that he plans to do anything with the bills other than keep them.
3. Parent plasters grin on their face
while reminding child through clenched teeth that they need to put the money in
the bucket “like we talked about”
4. Child voices strong displeasure at
parent’s suggestion, recounts money, mentions Toys R Us
5. Customer’s grin fades slightly
6. Parent stops ringing their bell and
reaches for child’s hand to “assist” them in depositing the money.
7. Child recoils / parent’s voice
takes on a more threatening tone / customer is now visibly uncomfortable.
8. Parent wrestles money away from
child, deposits money, and thanks the customer over child’s loud protestations.
9. Just as child calms down, someone else
hands child a donation
It was after this happened several times that I offered to
place my son on my shoulders. This, I reasoned, would place him out of reach of
most patrons and prevent a meltdown. The downside to this idea was that I was
struck in the head several times by a metal bell and suffered some temporary
hearing loss on my right side. Soon enough, the novelty of riding on shoulders
wore off and he wanted to be posted at ground level again.
A few instances of bell-throwing and one unauthorized use of
the store’s complimentary wheelchair later, our shift had ended. Perhaps we
made a difference. I probably should have checked his pockets……
😂😂😂😂😂
ReplyDelete