I was wondering how long it would take, but it's finally here. Snow? The bowl season? Uncle John getting drunk and flashing his in-laws? Nope, it's that other holiday tradition. The annual "fake" dropping of a gold coin in a Salvation Army kettle. This year it comes courtesy of, drum roll please, a bucket outside of a Sam's Club in Kansas City. Really? Sam's Club? If you have enough gold coins that you can just toss one away, are you really shopping at Sam's Club? Somethings fishy in a place known for their BBQ, not tartar sauce.
Every year secretly someone drops a gold coin in one of their uber-annoying bell ringers kettles. And every year the media eats it up. C'mon. Seriously, this has been going on since I was a kid and I'm now 40. I'm sorry, but I just don't buy what the stinky ringers are selling.
How many people out there have gold coins? Of those how many are waiting till Christmas to donate them? Of those how many are willing to donate them and not get the tax write off? Call me cynical, but I don't see that the pool of people who fit into that demographic either being that large to begin with, nor do I see them all being so charitable.
So how can this keep happening? Easy. The top brass of this so-called army just sends the same 2 coins around every year and has one of their, let's call them undercover, people generously drop them in a random kettle. (I bet that whomever drops them off quietly waits within sight of the kettle until it's picked up at the end of the day.) Then the local "general" collects the buckets, dumps them out and has a "what do we have here" moment! A few calls are placed to local media. A press release is sent out and voila, your annual "story" of some good natured soul makes headlines.
Seriously, enough already. Can't you just get on your local newscasts and make your reminder pitch? All local news agencies are looking for a human interest story. Show how your efforts helped some destitute family the previous year and contributions will come. I just can't be beaten in the head with another bogus story of Spanish doubloons suddenly falling from the sky. It was cute. It was quirky back in the 1980's. It's 2010 people. I'm not believing that it's a copycat deal anymore. In fact when I see that they got gold pieces it makes me think, "well they obviously don't need my money."
I'm not saying that they're a bad organization. Nor am I requesting them to stop ringing the dang bells. All I'm asking for is for them to get a new act... or at least a one year hiatus so make everyone feel bad the following year.
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