News-Record.com

I don't look forward to ringing the bell for the Salvation Army every year. It's always cold. I've always got more work than time at the office. It's standing around ringing a little bell for two hours, for goodness sakes. That's the way I feel every year driving to the site. But I've learned that it is always, always worth it.

This year was no different. Scenes:

* An old woman told me that her father didn't make her wedding because he was a prison minister and the wedding conflicted with his prison ministry.
* A man stopped to cite a poem he claimed he had written called "Shame on Rudolph" having to do with Santa's lead reindeer and too much Christmas cheer. I wish I had memorized it because it was clever.
* A woman began to drop a $20 bill into the bucket when stupid me said, "You know that's $20?" She replied, "Yes. The Salvation Army helped me when I needed it. Now that I am able to give back I like to return the favor."
* A small child and her mother walked past and got about 10 feet away. The child stopped moving. The mother bent down and listened. The mother spoke and the child listened. The child then pulled her hand out of her mother's hand and crossed her arms over her chest. The mother pulled a dollar out of her purse and gave it to the girl, who ran back to me and put it in the bucket. I let her ring the bell for a few moments.
* A Loomis armored car pulled up in front of the store blocking my bucket and sat as the guards went in to collect money. They didn't share any of it with me.

By the way, I felt completely safe, but that was partly because five minutes after I got there, a police cruiser drove up, parked and an officer went inside. A few minutes later she came out with a woman crying in handcuffs who looked maybe 20. She sat her in the back seat of the car and talked to her through the window for the longest time. Then she sat in the front seat and filled out paperwork. Then she talked to her through the window again. About 45 minutes later, the two of them drove off.

What I should have done that time:

When you pass the Salvation Army kettle, drop in a buck. It's worth it.