'Tis the season for the Salvation Army bell-ringers. Who make me uncomfortable for two reasons:
1. They look like they're freezing their asses off. Here in upstate New York, standing outside a grocery store ringing a bell for hours at a time is NOT where you want to be this time of year. I feel guilty as I rush by them, all bundled up, to get into the nice warm store.
2. Okay, here's where the Grinch in me really comes out. I'm sure that the Salvation Army does many, many good things. And one of the good things is that they have a residence hall, not far from my office, for homeless men. That's good, right? Except, every freaking time I drive past that place, there's a bunch of the guys from the hall out by the curb, smoking.
Now. If somebody wants to smoke, well, that's their right. I did it for many years. But. These are the homeless men, whom the Sal has given a place to live. Where are they getting the money for the cigarettes? In this neck of the woods, cigs are now, like, NINE BUCKS A PACK. Shit, one of the reasons I quit smoking was because it was getting so expensive.
And I've got a sneaking suspicion that the money for the cigarettes? Is coming, directly or not, right out of the bell-ringers' red kettles. Oh, I'm sure the residence hall director isn't exactly saying, "Here, Joe, here's ten bucks, go buy yourself some smokes", but realistically? These homeless men are being supported by the Sal. And are somehow able to afford cigarettes. And I put two and two together, and, well ... it's been a long time since I've put any money into those red kettles.
Just call me Grinch.
Anything about Christmas that ticks you off?
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You can e-mail me at rockycat24@yahoo.com
About Me
- rockygrace
- I was born in 1962; you do the math. (See also: I'm too lazy to remember to update this thing regularly.) I bought my first house in the summer of 2009; I share it with four cats and with the memories of The Runt and Little Girl, who both passed away in 2011. Rocky, the cat for whom this blog was named, passed away in 2008; I miss them all. I wish I lived somewhere where the winters weren't eight months long; other than that, life is good.
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6 comments:
This doesn't tick me off, but making an observation.....nobody is saying, 'Have a Merry Christmas!" this year. For years people were getting upset because you'd go to leave a store and the cashier would say, "Happy Holidays", so as not to piss any one off. Now they just aren't saying any thing at all. BTW, I've also noticed that many at the homeless shelter stand outside and smoke, and there's lots of nice cars in the parking lot. Some could just be in transition? But I understand what you're saying. I admit that when I was a single mom, I'd smoke instead of eat and give whatever food we had to my boy.
I don't give the Salvation Army because they actively discriminate against gays and lesbians. Way to spread God's love around, y'all...except for you, who I don't like and you whose sin is greater than mine and you who make me feel awkward in my mission....
One of the problems in providing crash-care for the homeless is that the homeless aren't typically choirboys. They come with powerful addictions and sometimes they use their nicotine addiction to get a little leverage against the alchohol and drug addiction. If they have to be substance-free before you care for them, you'll have a lot of frozen junkies on your hands...so, it's a dilemma. I do see your point, though.
- Bridgett
Ha, BNG, on the other side of the spectrum, we have my boss, who INSISTS that I send company CHRISTMAS cards to clients who I know are Jewish. Maybe he's trying to convert them?
Whenever somebody makes that "how many addictions can you expect one person to defeat at once?" argument, I always want to say, "Well, let's throw 'em in prison and find out, since that's where they're gonna end up anyway." Because I'm an asshole.
I don't care if they smoke - free will and all that - but I'll be got-damned if I'm gonna pay for it.
and Bridgett, that whole "lets discriminate against gay people" thing just gives me one more reason to walk past - thanks for bringing it up.
I'm annoyed by any pushy fundraising folks. This holiday season, I've spent at least $70 buying gifts for the less fortunate, and I've done it happily. I've donated throughout the year in small amounts to organizations that I trust. Now leave me the hell alone.
Oh, and if you, the charity people, have the funds to send me address labels and whatnot, then you don't need my money. And I'm going to use the labels without donating. Because I'm an asshole too.
And my sister, who works for an insurance underwriter, lost her job last week because her health issues caused her to miss work too often. Merry effin' Christmas.
I mean, since you asked...
I stopped donating to charities because I am sick of being inundated by yet more begging once the initial donation is made.
V tired of all the PC nonsense. Say Merry Christmas or Happy Hannukah or Happy Kwanzaa and be done with it. Make your best guess and move on.
Kate, I use the labels, too. And I'm sorry about your sister.
And Becs, I get "God bless you" a lot from the bell-ringers, as I walk past. And, well, for me, they might as well be saying, "Easter Bunny bless you", but yeah, whatever.
and lest anybody think I'm a complete jerk, I did spend last evening baking cupcakes for the bake sale/adoption event that the rescue group is holding tomorrow. So there's that. I don't know if the cupcakes are EDIBLE, but well, I tried.
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