I work in a local grocery store where I live. Like many other stores and businesses around the country we are collecting for the Red Cross. We have a little slip people can use to tell the cashier how much they wish to donate, be it 30 cents, $1, $5, etc etc.
I have gotten a wide range of comments as I politely ask if they would like to make a donation to the hurricane relief fund. Some give from their heart, others have said, "not to the Red Cross," and one rude guy made the comment, "No, they should have got the h*** out of there. They had a week's notice," while others just say no. Most of those answering "No" don't stop with that; they then feel the need to explain. Apparently, somewhere deep inside them, they feel guilty for saying no, so they say something along the lines of, "I have already given." Some will even state where.
Do I care? I am just doing my job. If you don't want to give that's fine. Just say so! Don't give me all this extra information that makes you look like you are feeling guilty. What is that the Bible says? In James 5:12b it says "let your yes be yes and your no be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation" (English Standard Version). I just wish people would follow that advice. There are other scriptures that say when giving, do not let your left hand know what the right hand is doing. In other words, don't brag. Give in secret and be done with it. Making the comments of "No, I have already given many times," is another form of bragging.
So, people, next time a cashier asks you if you would like to give to a charitable cause the store is doing at the time, just let your Yes be Yes and your No, No.
Kevin Surbaugh, of Topeka, KS is editor at KevinsView.com and is an ordained minister who spent 2 years with the ministry of Jesus People USA, which runs Cornerstone Festival in Western Illinois and operates Grrr Records at its headquarters in Chicago, IL.
Article comments
1 - alienboy
Saying these people are feeling guilty is a massive presumption on your part. Isn't it possible that one/some/many of them are actually telling it like it is?
Perhaps you unwittingly give off a pushy or suspicious vibe that makes them feel uncomfortable so that they feel the need to justify themselves?
And if you want to start quoting from your funny little book, what's all that stuff about turning the other cheek, et cetera?
This post is really quite offensive in it's own right, don't you think?
Bah!
2 - Victor Plenty
Many probably feel more anger than guilt over this whole situation. Most people don't have blogs where they can vent their spleens, so the cashiers soliciting donations at supermarket checkstands get to serve as 30-second psychotherapists, on top of ringing up the groceries.
3 - Kevin Surbaugh
alienboy - You sound like my co-workers who claim customers are all lying, I have given them the benifit of doubt and just suggest that they let their yes be yes and no be no. It's not a presumbtion on my part at all...just my take and desire that they just say no. It doesn't matter who the cashier (I see it happen no matter if I am the cashier or the bagger at the end of the counter and removed from the transaction) is or what the cause is they always do...take for example in March the Shamrocks for MDA...I know for a fact some have already did as they say, but I don't need to know that. I find it strange that you want to come up with this vibe thing...it is obvious you have not worked in retail and seen how people in general will do this. As for as my opinion being offensive, you know what they say, the truth hurts. Yes, I quoted the Bible, but it was such a non-chalent quote that is just basic rule of life, besides many of these people, this being Kansas, many of the people that I have talked about also state that their church did a special collection. So my thoughts apply even more so for them. Since they claim to be believers in the book that I quoted.
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Victor -
That is a view I never thought of...but the cashier is not a bartender. People like the one angry guy I mentioned leaves a cashier depressed.
4 - Phillip Winn
Kevin, ask yourself whether the people about whom your speaking would appreciate having the Bible quoted at them. Do you really think that they would? Of course not. So why should you quote it at them "behind their backs," so to speak?
If you have a point to make, by all means, make it. But quoting Scripture at someone comes off as more than a little self-righteous, and doing so in a public forum like this one is slightly odd.
You're welcome to continue, but please be aware that how your Blogcritics.org audience perceives your writing is often going to be considerably different than how people might see it at your personal blog.
5 - DrPat
Just curious, K-man: What would a chalent quote from the Bible sound like? (Because yours were supposedly "non-chalent"...)
6 - Shark
I think V.Plenty hit got it right; Katrina creates a lot of conflicting emotions is all of us; I think a lot of people just need to vent spleens/share reactions, and gauge others' reactions. It's a monumental thing to try to wrap one's mind around.
BTW: I think the "would you like to donate" shit doesn't belong in a place of public commerce; it's pushy and offensive.
PS: If one can't "find out" where and how to donate AT THIS POINT, one doesn't have the mental tools to earn enough money to spare.
Enough already, folks/media, we know, okay, we know.
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Note to All Readers:
HE'S FROM KANSAS. Give him a break, ie. pat him on the head and move on.
Thanks,
The Management
7 - Kevin Surbaugh
Dr. Pat -
to answer your question, it would be out right preaching like sex out side of marriage is wrong because the Bible says so...but the fragment of a verse that I quoted was a basic rule of life whether a person is Christian or not, at least in America, it is just one of those rules and comon phrases, which there are many, that just happens to have origins in the Bible.
- Kevin
btw I posted this in my news/opinion blog ( http://www.kevinsview.com )as well as here...and into my personal blog as an after thought... http://www.surbaugh.org
8 - DrPat
My point was, it's "nonchalant" rather than "non-chalant". The root word from which one is "non" is related to the "calor" of "calories" of heat. (Think physics rather than diet-label calories.)
Nonchalant is thus one of those words (like uncouth) for which there is a complex path to the opposite. The opposite of "nonchalant" would be "heated" or "fervent".
And sometimes, "inflammatory."
So your non-chalent references may still be the source of the heated responses you're getting.
.................
BTW, for those who are curious, the relevant root of which one is "un" when "uncouth" is "kith" (like "kith and kin"). Uncouth has the meaning it does for the same reason "barbaric" shifted from meaning "foreign" to meaning, well, uncouth. And outlandish.
9 - Nancy
I have to admit, I'm already getting tired & tetchy about everyone & his kid AND his dog coming up to me panhandling for money for Hurricane victims. And in this area, at least, the local charities are upset because it's taking dough they themselves would normally panhandle. Shark has it on the noggin: if you can't figure out where to give money by now, you're too stupid to live. BTW, I did hear an excellent, if somewhat testy, response this morning from the lady ahead of me in line: when asked the Inevitable, she flashed, "I already did - it's called 'taxes'!"
10 - kansasman
I could do another story on things that customers do, for that matter I probably could do something on cashiers and sackers as well.
for one customers need to use the dividers, put them at the end of their order, even if no is back there, that way it will be ready for the next customer. leave a little space so the merchandise doesn't hide it from the cashier, better yet angle it slightly so that the little eye is sure to see it.
cashiers need to smile, don't chew gum in the checkstand and don't talk with the sacker, focus on the customer 100%.
11 - Robby
Hey, I have a question for you.
When I was about 10 my mother made me promise her that I would not have a gf until i was older like around end of High School/ begining college. since then she has changed her mind about letting me have a Girlfriend, and she really likes the one i have now. I recently asked her about that promise and if it meant anything to her if i kept it and she said no because she and my father have changed their mind in that area and + they really like that girl that i like. I am now almost 17 and ending my Junior year in HS, so my question is: "Do I need to keep that promise?" or not since they have now changed their minds and does this fall under the category of James 5:12b ?
Thanx so much!
-Robby
and p.s. I'm not actually dating the girl yet we just really like each other and all we do is hold hands.
12 - Mary
Hey, go ahead and quote the Bible. It is one of the bases of the Western Civilization we now enjoy. I don't know why some folks find it so offensive. They should go live in Asia, or parts of Africa that have never implemented the Bible if they are so offended by allusions to it.
I fail to understand how quoting the Bible renders one "self-righteous," as one poster asserted. And, I don't think any of the folks in your check-out line would care if you "quoted the Bible at them behind their back!" That sounds like something from Monty Python!