ARMCHAIR MAYOR – Words we hate to hear: ‘Would you care to donate….’

I should have stopped and talked to the volunteer about why I wasn’t making a donation that day

I WALKED out of the super market very recently with a small bag of groceries (about $50 worth) and started heading for the truck when I heard a voice say, “Good afternoon, Sir, would you care to support those with Parkinson’s and autism?”

Startled, I turned and said, “Uh, no thanks, not today.”

“Thank you very much, you have a great rest of your day.”

On the way home, I thought to myself, “You handled that really badly, Mel. You were caught off guard, you were flustered, and you didn’t do the right thing.”

My reaction, I lectured myself, should have been to stop and talk to this lovely woman.

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Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops, former school board chair, former editor of The Kamloops Daily News, and a current director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He was awarded the Jack Webster Foundation’s lifetime achievement award in 2011. His editorials are published Monday through Thursdays, and Saturdays on CFJC Today, CFJC Midday and CFJC Evening News. Contact him at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.