Star*
call 911........call 911
Saw the first one today outside a grocery store. I had a phone call so I sat in my car and watched the man outside one side of the door ringing the bell. For SC 38 is really cold. But here are some things I OBSERVED while talking for 12 minutes on the phone.
1.) The MAJORITY of the people that pulled into the parking lot upon SEEING the bell ringer - DROVE to the OTHER side of the parking lot so they could use the OTHER door and avoid the KETTLE and the BELLRINGER.
2.) PEOPLE that came OUT on that side of the store where the BELLRINGER was; AVOIDED eye contact with the man as he wished them (NOT MERRY CHRISTMAS) but HAPPY HOLIDAYS and did not reciprocate.
3.) PEOPLE WALKED CONSIDERABLY FASTER.
4.) PEOPLE that were picked up - got picked up on the OTHER door.
5.) PEOPLE that were parked on the same side as the BELL RINGER....left by the OTHER DOOR - an walked in the parking lot to their cars.....crossing the parking lot.
6.) PEOPLE did NOT put money in the KETTLE BELL - in 12 minutes not ONE person put money, spare change in the kettle (I digress - most people shopping carry a card or food stamps - so it would be impossible to hit the button that said WOULD YOU LIKE TO GET CASH BACK/ OTHER AMOUNT/ $1.00) for the KETTLE BELL much too hard.
7.) WHEN I LEFT - I WAS PARKED on the other side but made it a point to - HIT GET EXTRA CASH, and WENT OUT THE OTHER DOOR ON HIS SIDE, wished the BELL RINGER a MERRY CHRISTMAS and put money (undisclosed amount) in the KETTLE BELL......the man said thanks - he'd been out there over an hour and I was the first person to donate.
REALLY PEOPLE??????????????? I'm ASHAMED OF WEST COLUMBIA SC. WE COULD DO BETTER. As a Nation we could do better. The other day on the news I saw where a homeless man was being lauded for returning a wallet, and people were putting him up in a motel and other motels were joining in, and they had gotten him a hair cut and et al......I was SO angry. People around me were like - THIS IS GREAT - look at him, and YOU are ANGRY????? I said YES......we should all be ASHAMED that THIS is such a "TRIUMPH" of human ability - because WE......as a PEOPLE ......could do this VERY thing EVERY DAY....and yet we DO NOT. When was the last time??? ANY of YOU (people at work) HELPED someone for NO reason????? Someone said "People aren't like that." and I said "I AM." and someone said "Yes, she is." and I walked away HAPPY thinking that THAT is how people saw me. HELPFUL. - NOT boastful. Just----helpful. I'm not paying it forward. I just encourage those around me to pay it in every direction. We ARE GOOD. WE ARE DECENT. We're just told different. AND FWIW? I'm not nice. I have to work at it every. SINGLE. DAY. to be compassionate, and pray for it.
But the Kettle bell thing was amazing........Oh and for you kitty lovers???? 911 does not provide assistance to animals, but on my own I took a course for CPR on animals - and had a hysterical girl call about a cat that got caught in her garage door folds and was DOA......I instructed the neighbor on animal CPR.....and the girls in the Center KNOW I'm an animal lover - but we don't offer animal assistance - HOWEVEVER - I gave CPR instructions - and HES ALIVE - probably one of my greatest moments - next to delivering a baby over the phone and helping an elderly wife do CPR on her husband who lived. IT. WAS SO Awesome. I said to the neighbors wife. "Well I guess they really do have nine lives." She just chuckled - but they got him in a carrier and to the ER vet and he's fine. (very cool) Te girls sitting around me said - ONLY you would do CPR on a CAT.....I said NOPE I know lots of people that would. (thinking of my friends here) Now the deer that jumped across a mans hood, and over the yard and into the front window, dashed around in a citizens house, and then back out the window after DESTROYING the house? I don't think anyone was going to offer him CPR. When I tell you the deer DESTROYED the house in under 3 minutes - it would be an understatement. The man in the car driving down the road that witnessed it was ABSOLUTELY - STUNNED after witnessing the event.
1.) The MAJORITY of the people that pulled into the parking lot upon SEEING the bell ringer - DROVE to the OTHER side of the parking lot so they could use the OTHER door and avoid the KETTLE and the BELLRINGER.
2.) PEOPLE that came OUT on that side of the store where the BELLRINGER was; AVOIDED eye contact with the man as he wished them (NOT MERRY CHRISTMAS) but HAPPY HOLIDAYS and did not reciprocate.
3.) PEOPLE WALKED CONSIDERABLY FASTER.
4.) PEOPLE that were picked up - got picked up on the OTHER door.
5.) PEOPLE that were parked on the same side as the BELL RINGER....left by the OTHER DOOR - an walked in the parking lot to their cars.....crossing the parking lot.
6.) PEOPLE did NOT put money in the KETTLE BELL - in 12 minutes not ONE person put money, spare change in the kettle (I digress - most people shopping carry a card or food stamps - so it would be impossible to hit the button that said WOULD YOU LIKE TO GET CASH BACK/ OTHER AMOUNT/ $1.00) for the KETTLE BELL much too hard.
7.) WHEN I LEFT - I WAS PARKED on the other side but made it a point to - HIT GET EXTRA CASH, and WENT OUT THE OTHER DOOR ON HIS SIDE, wished the BELL RINGER a MERRY CHRISTMAS and put money (undisclosed amount) in the KETTLE BELL......the man said thanks - he'd been out there over an hour and I was the first person to donate.
REALLY PEOPLE??????????????? I'm ASHAMED OF WEST COLUMBIA SC. WE COULD DO BETTER. As a Nation we could do better. The other day on the news I saw where a homeless man was being lauded for returning a wallet, and people were putting him up in a motel and other motels were joining in, and they had gotten him a hair cut and et al......I was SO angry. People around me were like - THIS IS GREAT - look at him, and YOU are ANGRY????? I said YES......we should all be ASHAMED that THIS is such a "TRIUMPH" of human ability - because WE......as a PEOPLE ......could do this VERY thing EVERY DAY....and yet we DO NOT. When was the last time??? ANY of YOU (people at work) HELPED someone for NO reason????? Someone said "People aren't like that." and I said "I AM." and someone said "Yes, she is." and I walked away HAPPY thinking that THAT is how people saw me. HELPFUL. - NOT boastful. Just----helpful. I'm not paying it forward. I just encourage those around me to pay it in every direction. We ARE GOOD. WE ARE DECENT. We're just told different. AND FWIW? I'm not nice. I have to work at it every. SINGLE. DAY. to be compassionate, and pray for it.
But the Kettle bell thing was amazing........Oh and for you kitty lovers???? 911 does not provide assistance to animals, but on my own I took a course for CPR on animals - and had a hysterical girl call about a cat that got caught in her garage door folds and was DOA......I instructed the neighbor on animal CPR.....and the girls in the Center KNOW I'm an animal lover - but we don't offer animal assistance - HOWEVEVER - I gave CPR instructions - and HES ALIVE - probably one of my greatest moments - next to delivering a baby over the phone and helping an elderly wife do CPR on her husband who lived. IT. WAS SO Awesome. I said to the neighbors wife. "Well I guess they really do have nine lives." She just chuckled - but they got him in a carrier and to the ER vet and he's fine. (very cool) Te girls sitting around me said - ONLY you would do CPR on a CAT.....I said NOPE I know lots of people that would. (thinking of my friends here) Now the deer that jumped across a mans hood, and over the yard and into the front window, dashed around in a citizens house, and then back out the window after DESTROYING the house? I don't think anyone was going to offer him CPR. When I tell you the deer DESTROYED the house in under 3 minutes - it would be an understatement. The man in the car driving down the road that witnessed it was ABSOLUTELY - STUNNED after witnessing the event.