Memory of Christmas shopping with salvation army
When I was either 9 or 10 years old in December I was surprised to know I was selected to go on a special field trip when I arrived at school. The selected students were all excited & arrived at the local salvation army. Inside we were told we would be taken Christmas shopping accompanied by an adult. All the kids got even more excited but I was confused; Why were we getting a shopping spree & why only some kids. I was very skeptical at this kindness.
Unfortunately because of my skepticism I didn't allow myself to eye anything at the store we went, especially since it was what I called a "nice" store (it was a store my mom didn't really shop at due to the prices, only went if there was sales). On top of that I didn't know my sizes & was uncomfortable at thought of going to changing rooms with two strangers so I refused to try on any clothes. I couldn't shop clothes I liked in little girls section because despite being 9/10 I already had body of a teen & was bit chunky so only "grown up" clothes fit me. The two volunteer helpers really tried to get me to pick stuff & to not look at prices (I think they had $250 to $300 for each kid, which was decent amount at the time).
But I found everything too good to be true so all I got was one pair of corduroy pants, a shirt and socks, and I made sure it wasn't too much just in case they tried to charge my parents. I didn't even go to the toy section because I just refused to believe anyone would do this & I knew the toys would be expensive so I refused to even enter that section.
Back at salvation army I saw everyone had huge bags of everything they got and the kids that recognized me from school asked why I only had a small bag, I replied that it was all I needed, they looked confused but asked no further questions.
That day my mom picked me up from school. I told her what happened & all she could say was why on earth I didn't go all out. I explained why but she was annoyed with me for not taking advantage of opportunity. (She honestly made me feel bad for being skeptical)
I can't remember if this was known to parents beforehand because no student can leave school grounds without written consent. And if my mom did know she should've let me know because I truly thought it was all a scam or something. Unless parents were told it was meant to be surprise for kids but honestly for me that was bad idea since I knew from young age no one is that nice to strangers & this surprise for me wasn't excitement it was filled with anxiety that these people were scamming us. I was only kid there that did not look happy or excited.
So ya the people at salvation army should've explained if they had told our parents then maybe I would've gotten more clothes that I seriously needed.
I don't think they even do the surprise Christmas shopping with kids anymore, I think they traded that in for the Christmas gift tree thing (child writes what they want as gift & includes their size in clothes & shoes, then it's given to child later).
Honestly wouldn't be surprised if there were more kids like me thinking it was a scam.
*Anyway thanks for reading if you made it this far. Just felt like sharing. Oh before I forget once I knew it wasn't scam I was quite happy with my gift (it was rare for me to get Christmas gifts) & wore it to my school holiday program & felt nice since I felt so put together with actually nice clothes 😊
Unfortunately because of my skepticism I didn't allow myself to eye anything at the store we went, especially since it was what I called a "nice" store (it was a store my mom didn't really shop at due to the prices, only went if there was sales). On top of that I didn't know my sizes & was uncomfortable at thought of going to changing rooms with two strangers so I refused to try on any clothes. I couldn't shop clothes I liked in little girls section because despite being 9/10 I already had body of a teen & was bit chunky so only "grown up" clothes fit me. The two volunteer helpers really tried to get me to pick stuff & to not look at prices (I think they had $250 to $300 for each kid, which was decent amount at the time).
But I found everything too good to be true so all I got was one pair of corduroy pants, a shirt and socks, and I made sure it wasn't too much just in case they tried to charge my parents. I didn't even go to the toy section because I just refused to believe anyone would do this & I knew the toys would be expensive so I refused to even enter that section.
Back at salvation army I saw everyone had huge bags of everything they got and the kids that recognized me from school asked why I only had a small bag, I replied that it was all I needed, they looked confused but asked no further questions.
That day my mom picked me up from school. I told her what happened & all she could say was why on earth I didn't go all out. I explained why but she was annoyed with me for not taking advantage of opportunity. (She honestly made me feel bad for being skeptical)
I can't remember if this was known to parents beforehand because no student can leave school grounds without written consent. And if my mom did know she should've let me know because I truly thought it was all a scam or something. Unless parents were told it was meant to be surprise for kids but honestly for me that was bad idea since I knew from young age no one is that nice to strangers & this surprise for me wasn't excitement it was filled with anxiety that these people were scamming us. I was only kid there that did not look happy or excited.
So ya the people at salvation army should've explained if they had told our parents then maybe I would've gotten more clothes that I seriously needed.
I don't think they even do the surprise Christmas shopping with kids anymore, I think they traded that in for the Christmas gift tree thing (child writes what they want as gift & includes their size in clothes & shoes, then it's given to child later).
Honestly wouldn't be surprised if there were more kids like me thinking it was a scam.
*Anyway thanks for reading if you made it this far. Just felt like sharing. Oh before I forget once I knew it wasn't scam I was quite happy with my gift (it was rare for me to get Christmas gifts) & wore it to my school holiday program & felt nice since I felt so put together with actually nice clothes 😊
