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Christmas Spirit
Thursday, December 24th, 2009 10:23 amAs some of you know, my DH manages a Midas shop and this year, they were one of the drop-off points for Toys for Tots. Unlike the other drop places, my DH put in the advertising that he would give a discount on services if people would put a toy in the box. After two weeks of this, he had the Marines pick up the over-flowing boxes 5 times! More than any other place in our area. And some people came and dropped off toys without taking advantage of the discount. They just wanted to thank him for his support.
Yesterday he got his weekly courier run of paperwork from the main office and tucked in amongst the stuff was a coupon for a free oil change. He set it aside and a few hours later, a woman and her child came in to ask the price of an oil change. Seems they had been evicted and were living in their car in the Alaskan winter and their car was just about out of oil and they could no longer run it for heat. He was able to use that coincidental coupon to get her a free oil change...not that he wouldn't have found a way anyway. It was just happy circumstances. (And one of the reasons I married this man who two other woman had found worthless.) Had I been there, I would have directed her to some of the charitable institutions around town that could have helped her, too. I hope she found her way to one of them by now.
There are those who might have thought that she deserved what she got because she was stupid or lazy. Maybe some might suggest that she should 'decrease the surplus population,' as Charles Dickens wrote in 'A Christmas Carol.'
We may not have a lot under the tree this year, but we have stuff, and a tree and a roof over our heads. I set myself a goal of putting at least a dollar in the Salvation Army kettles every time I passed one when they appeared after Thanksgiving this year and I managed to achieve that goal, even knowing it's not enough. We are still better off than many.
I don't hope for peace on Earth for this Christmas because I know that's not possible. I do hope that this holiday season will soften the hearts of those in Washington DC as they work out a plan to take care of the millions without decent health care.
Merry Christmas, my friends.
Yesterday he got his weekly courier run of paperwork from the main office and tucked in amongst the stuff was a coupon for a free oil change. He set it aside and a few hours later, a woman and her child came in to ask the price of an oil change. Seems they had been evicted and were living in their car in the Alaskan winter and their car was just about out of oil and they could no longer run it for heat. He was able to use that coincidental coupon to get her a free oil change...not that he wouldn't have found a way anyway. It was just happy circumstances. (And one of the reasons I married this man who two other woman had found worthless.) Had I been there, I would have directed her to some of the charitable institutions around town that could have helped her, too. I hope she found her way to one of them by now.
There are those who might have thought that she deserved what she got because she was stupid or lazy. Maybe some might suggest that she should 'decrease the surplus population,' as Charles Dickens wrote in 'A Christmas Carol.'
We may not have a lot under the tree this year, but we have stuff, and a tree and a roof over our heads. I set myself a goal of putting at least a dollar in the Salvation Army kettles every time I passed one when they appeared after Thanksgiving this year and I managed to achieve that goal, even knowing it's not enough. We are still better off than many.
I don't hope for peace on Earth for this Christmas because I know that's not possible. I do hope that this holiday season will soften the hearts of those in Washington DC as they work out a plan to take care of the millions without decent health care.
Merry Christmas, my friends.
