A day in the life of a bellringer: Types of donors

Over the years that I have been a bell-ringer one of the fascinating observation I have made the various rituals some of the people go through when they donate money. 1. The hidden donation. These are people that put money in the kettle but do their best to keep from being seen. They will either walk past me as they reach back to slip the money into the kettle or wait until I look over at someone else and slip money into the kettle. 2. The wait until recognized. These are people that will only donate if looked directly at and say something acknowledging that you see them. 3. The pay-for-play. These are the people that have their money ready to donate but they want the bell-ringer to do something in return. The favors they ask might to let their child ring the bell, have you sing all or part of a carol, or just say a phrase like "Merry Christmas" or "Happy New Year". 4. The teacher. These are the ones that hand their children the money to put in the kettle. These are usually some of the most amusing for us to watch. Some of the children will put one coin in at a time and wait for you to say "Thank you" or "Merry Christmas" in between each coin or some will just dump most of the coins in and hold back a few. 5. The story teller. These are the people that have some quick story usually to do with the Salvation Army or sometimes something amuse that happened during a holiday season. 6. The busy beaver. These are the people that just rush out of the store and you don't realize they donate until you see the money on top of the kettle and then the bell-ringer has to poke the money into the kettle without touching it with his(her) hands. Whichever one of these types a person is that donate it is joyous to see.