Observations from the Kettle

Mood:Tired, needing to go to bed
Listening to: the sound of the dying battery in our smoke alarm ("Change me! Change me!")
Reading:a book on the origins of Christmas carols
Eating: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans, and carrots
Watching: Deliver Us From Eva


Here are some things I've learned from serving at the Salvation Army kettles thus far:

Motivation for Giving

People have different reasons for giving money at the Salvation Army kettles. Here are some of my observations so far this season:

• A kettle tended by a musician gets more donations that one tended by a simple bell ringer
• People who do not give almost never make eye contact with the person tending the kettle
• A lot of parents give their money to their child to place into the kettle
• Some people give because they see me working hard
• Some people will comment that they gave previously as a way of allaying any guilt they might feel for not giving now
• A handful of people give because a certain retail outlet (the "bullseye" one) has refused to allow kettles in front of their store

On Being a Musician

Here are some other neat things I've discovered:

• I love taking carol requests from the employees who are working at the store
• People can here my saxophone from the very back of the store even though I play in the front entrance area
• Everyone loves a "Merry Christmas", "Happy Holidays", "God Bless You", or a simple "Thank You"
• I play my saxophone very well, I've been told a number of times
• I switch from playing the saxophone to playing the guitar and singing from time to time
• I call the guitar/singing portion the "comedy" portion because it often doesn't sound as well as the saxophone playing portion
• A 34-year old man with a beard, singing and playing "All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth" is a riot
• My impression of Elvis singing/playing "Blue Christmas" pales to the real thing, but I have a lot of fun trying
• Kids just think I'm the coolest thing to see me playing and singing
• I can play the saxophone while wearing gloves, but I have to take them off when I play the guitar
• I almost can't believe I'm getting paid to play music and encourage others