Welcome to Room N-9! My name is Larry Shurilla and I was a middle school teacher for 31 years and spent many of them in Room N-9! I have stories I wish to share, some about teaching, some historical fiction, some war stories, and some are just about life. Come on into Room N-9 and listen, I mean read, a story or two I have to tell. I begin with: The Bell Ringer
The Bell Ringer
By Larry Shurilla
As I showed up for my two-hour stint at bell-ringing for the Salvation Army, I thought there’d be snow and Christmas carols wafting through the Walmart parking lot, but it turned out oddly warm and sunny for a Saturday morning in December! I’d wanted to do this for years, but busy schedules and not enough charity in my heart kept me from getting it done. I’m just an average Joe, living pay check to pay check, but I know so many people who are hurting and have it much worse than I do. So, I just wanted to do something. If ringing a bell during the Christmas season helps kindle the charity I’ve been lacking in others, then I guess it’s a worthwhile venture.
After meeting my set-up man and donning my gay apparel (a blue Salvation Army apron, a wooden paint mixing stick for stuffing stubborn bills into the red kettle, and small wooden handled metal bell), I was ready to ring my bell and hopefully draw the kind-hearted and financially able among us toward the red kettle of relief for the poor and disabled. I’ve always been on the other side of the red bucket-feeling guilty if I didn’t have any money to give or trying not to make eye contact. Now I kept thinking, “Hey! Give if you can, but God Bless You if you can’t!”
It wasn’t long and I had my first customer-a nice looking lady who put a folded bill in the kettle and said, “God bless you!”
“God bless you, Ma’am! Merry Christmas and thank you for helping those in need.”
A well-dressed man with a fresh trendy hair-cut, walks up and puts a bunch of pennies in the bucket. “It’s all I had in the car, sorry!”
“Thank you, Sir, and God Bless!”
Soon a middle-aged man with slicked hair walks up chuckling, and asks, “Aren’t you afraid someone’s gonna rob your bucket?”
“No, I think the Lord will protect. Merry Christmas!”
A young, well-dressed couple comes over and the guy says, “Man, you just looked so cool standing there, we had to come over and give something!”
“Must be my Green Bay Packer hat! Thank you so much. God bless you and Merry Christmas.”
A large man, riding a store scooter, hands his daughter a bill and motions for her to go put it into the kettle. She comes dancing up to the red bucket, braids flopping, and smiles as she puts the bill into the kettle.
“Thank you and Merry Christmas, young lady!”
When she gets to her car, she waves at me from the passenger window.
A messy-haired man dressed in oversized sweat pants, walking stiltedly with a cane, makes his way slowly to the kettle and carefully puts in a handful of change.
“God bless you and thank you for donating to someone in need.”
A mom shows her little girl how to put money in the red bucket. The child just can’t get the bills in, so I help her out, fold the bills, and with the paint stick push them all down into the kettle.
“God bless you and thank you! Merry Christmas!”
During the first hour of bell-ringing, I experiment on ways to ring the bell with the most clarity and expending the least amount of energy. I discover holding either hand straight down and flicking my wrist ever so gently produces great volume and a fast bell-ringing tremolo. I wonder if I should write a pamphlet on bell-ringing tips for the Salvation Army. Ah, better not. No one would read it. Not even me.
A large family waits near the store entrance, all smiling, while their little girl comes and tries to put a dollar into the bucket. Thank the Lord for that paint stick!
“Merry Christmas, Sweetheart! Thank you and Merry Christmas!”
That cute little girl with the tight braids keeps waving at me from her car.
An older gentleman with a belly Santa would be proud of, asks, “Don’t you think you should be carrying a gun in this day and age?”
“No, Sir! I think I’ll be all right without one. I’ve got my bell here, though, if I need it!”
I notice a kind looking elderly lady, seated in a mobile wheelchair, head permanently bent, fumbling with a flip-phone in the entryway to the store. I walk up to her and say, “You need some help, Ma’am? That phone looks like it’s giving you fits!”
“I’m waiting for the transit bus and they won’t answer their phone!”
“Let me give it a try.” The phone actually worked, but all I got was a recorded message from the bus company saying they were experiencing difficulties and couldn’t answer any calls right now. Please call again later. I went outside and looked down the front of the store and saw a small white bus parked at the other entrance. “Maybe that’s your bus, Ma’am?” Another gentleman who had joined us said he’d go down and check to see if that was her bus. In a minute, he was waving for me to bring the lady down. Another guy was already pushing her and it was, in fact, her bus. She was so appreciative of the help.
A dad with two sons, walk up to the kettle. One of the boys, fiddles in his pocket, pulls out some change and puts it into the bucket. The dad rustles his boy’s hair and they all walk into the store.
An attractive lady in black spandex, running shoes, and a white coat walks past me, loaded with presents and gets into her black Escalade. She looks really frazzled.
A WWII vet wearing a Navy cruiser cap, walks up with a folded $10, puts it in the red bucket and says, “God bless you.”
“God Bless you, Sir. Thank you and Merry Christmas.”
As my bell-ringing shift draws to a close, I marvel at the kindness, generosity and diversity of all the wonderful people I just met, however briefly, and had the privilege of thanking. It’s not every day you get to say, “God bless you! Thank you! And Merry Christmas!” to people you’ve never met before and may never see again. People just trying to make it day-to-day, yet still helping their brothers and sisters in need.
As you were reading this narrative, how did you picture the ladies and gentlemen? Were they Black or White? Hmong or Native American? Liberal or Conservative? I purposely left out certain physical characteristics because I felt they didn’t matter. I left it up to your own imagination to see these people in your mind and perhaps, see yourself in the actions of others. All the events were true and the people were so diverse and yet, there was one common feature. They all gave selflessly in hopes of helping someone, somewhere, feel a little better. They all knew it wasn’t much, but it was the best they could do that day. They knew that a little help from a lot is a lot of help and that the spirit of Christmas is the spirit of love.
Finally, as I drove away and looked back at the new bell ringer, I wondered what the response would be like from people like you and me, if, instead of a blue apron and hand bell, the bell ringer wore a flowing white garment and carried a shepherd’s staff?
