I was humbled to see the number of hurting families that came through our doors. I hugged and cried with many who were coming here for the first time, most never imagining they would be at this place, so desperate to have to depend on others. It was humbling. The hardest part was Toys for Tots donations had dropped 50%. We almost had to turn away families who had teenagers, we had no gifts for them, the second day they did not supply us with toys for toddlers... it was evidence of a hurting nation. Those in need were coming in record numbers and those who usually give generously; were holding back or not giving at all this year. Thankfully our church stepped in and purchased gift cards to fill in the gaps left by the Toys for Tots programs.

There was something else I saw that made me sad, literally to the point of nausea. I met the 'takers'.  Call me naive, but I had no idea that people would snub their noses at the gifts provided. One woman bellowed "If I had known it would be a bunch of crap like this I wouldn't have bothered to come'. Later I found out she is a taker. She signs up at several churches in the metro and 'takes' from each... there were others as well. At one point I feared for the safefty of the volunteers, wondering if there would be an issue. Voices were raised and threats were made. Thankfully nothing happened.  Then, another woman, demanded we pay for her medical prescriptions and asked for grocery cards. She was beligerent and had an attitude of entitlement. Much like I suppose the 'spread the wealth' characters will be like once the ball gets rolling after Jan 20th. It is going to be interesting to see what happens.

All in all this experience has changed me, and my family. Our Christmas buying is going to be 10% of what it was last year, because we honestly do not 'need' any more stuff. Who knows maybe the money we save will purchase airline tickets to some warm tropic beach in Febraury when all the 'gotta have' shoppers begin paying their credit card bills...