Christmas Haters

Have you ever heard a story that should be sad but makes you laugh?  No, I’m not talking about the story of the 2009 Pittsburgh Steelers.  The juicy little tidbit I have roasting over an open fire is about literally stealing some Christmas joy. 

If Charles Dickens and Dr. Seuss would have got together, they might have come up with this true story that Huffington Post ran with the headline “Police: Christmas-Hating Man Stole Salvation Army Kettle In Maumee, Ohio.”  Ebenezer Scrooge doesn’t have much on the Christmas culprit who shoved a bell-ringer to the ground, snatched the kettle filled with hundreds of dollars, and took off like the Hamburglar.  The victim was an unemployed woman trying to do some good for someone. 

I know that’s not very funny, but then I got to the part of the story where the man yelled out, “I can’t stand you and your bell-ringing.  I hate Christmas!”  What a cartoon this guy is.  Sorry but I find that funny.  Dont worry, the loser scrooge has been arrested.  Anybody that stupid never gets away. 

His name is Shawn Krieger and he apparently attended the Kanye West School of Civility and Jackassery.  He narrowly escaped the woman he pushed.  She chased him until he sped off in a stolen pickup truck (what else?).  The poor woman feared she had let down the Army of love, but she’s been assured that she can go right on ringing those bells and sending wishes to strangers.  Pretty impressive when you consider she ain’t getting paid. 

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I was thinking about the Salvation Army–a.k.a. my old employer–recently after seeing a couple of bell-ringers womanning their post next to one of those iconic red kettles outside of a grocery store.  The difference that caught my eye this time was the youthful appearance of the merriment wishers.  The bell-ringing greeters were actually two young girls, attractive and sweet.