This afternoon I refused to donate a toy to a soldier's kids. There's a reason.

I was at the local "Dollar Tree" where everything is literally a dollar.

When I was checking out, the cashier asked if I wanted to donate a toy for "a military kid". Instead of automatically assenting as I often do, this time I considered how many children of the military are in poverty. There have to be some, but I wondered why they would ignore the millions of children that suffer parents with no income in favor of a relative few that might struggle on a GI paycheck.

By then I was skeptical, but before I finally decided I looked over at the basket of available toys: Generic Play Dough. That's all there was, just piles of fake Play Dough. Maybe I'm jaded, but I figured it's the one toy no kid would consider even if he/she had a fist full of dollars and free rein of a store stocked with cheap Chinese trinkets. I couldn't even see it as a stocking stuffer in a store full of Matchbox cars, plastic baby dolls, and coloring books.

I was on my way to the car when I figured out what I suspect was going on.

The (regional?) manager took an item that he was going to have to eat and put it up front for people to buy "for the troops" (even real Play Dough doesn't taste very good). He probably knew of America's soft spot for those who serve our country, and tried to exploit that patriotic respect/guilt to move an unwanted piece of crap item at a profit.

Maybe I'm being cynical, or perhaps I'm reading too much into a charitable holiday gesture, but the store wasn't putting anything into the gift except finding someone to accept hundreds of pink gummy wads and pass them on to kids who would love nothing more than making doughy snakes Christmas morning.

What do you think, and what would you have done? I can take a beating.

You're not the one being cynical; likely the manager is, by thinking he can get rid of crap by saying "it's for the troops (kids)". I don't know for sure that's the manager's thinking, but I've actually seen this tactic deployed, so it probably is the case.

a genuine charitable gesture would have had a basket of toys that children love to buy at dollar stores, a nice selection, instead of one thing and one thing only.

I saw the complete circumstances.

And now, I must say I agree with you.

I wonder how many people have reached into the back of their pantry to find the outdated boxes and cans of food to give to the local food bank rather than fresh, quality food.

Whenever I hear a pitch for charity at checkout I assume it's just a way to write off charitable expenses funded by customers instead of the business itself.

Giving is a great thing but you should should do it at your own discretion and claim your own deductions.

I get asked all the time at the checkout counter at grocery stores, etc., to donate to this or that. While I'm sure they are all good causes, my standard answer is always no. The reason is because I'm pretty selective about which charities get my money. Before I give money to anyone, I want to know where all the money goes and I want to know who, if anyone, is making a profit from the transaction. I have a few select charities that I donate cash and household goods, and most of the money I donate is by payroll deduction. I don't feel guilty for saying no when people ask.

and thats about all anybody can ask. I really have no idea what I would have done-probably would have depended upon my mood at the moment.

it is also true that military kids, many ARE on foodstamps and could use some help for toys and school supplies.

That said, congrats on the bs detector but they are separate issues conflated to reduce taxes.

Second it is a deducts again as a marketing expense ( both in store, as a percentage of workers pay, and as PR). And then it is often the case that they leverage the donation size to have the charity also provide them advertising in terms of a prominent mention in all charity advertising or PRs.

The OP wasn't cynical enough by half.

This reminds me of a parable of sorts I read about in a book about the White Rose Society during Nazi Germany. I don't remember all the details because I read it over ten years ago.

Anyway, here's the gist:

One day, a member of the White Rose came across someone collecting money to buy blanket for the troops on the Eastern front. He/she refused to donate, believing that every donation made it easier for the soldiers to continue their horrendous deeds another day, and that a moral person could not oblige. Moreover, everyone who refuses to donate helped to more quickly bring about the end of the illegal and immoral war.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Rose


▪ ...why do you allow these men who are in power to rob you step by step, openly and in secret, of one domain of your rights after another, until one day nothing, nothing at all will be left but a mechanised state system presided over by criminals and drunks? Is your spirit already so crushed by abuse that you forget it is your right - or rather, your moral duty - to eliminate this system? (From White Rose Leaflet 3)

This reminds me of a parable of sorts I read about in a book about the White Rose Society during Nazi Germany. I don't remember all the details because I read it over ten years ago.

Anyway, here's the gist:

One day, a member of the White Rose came across someone collecting money to buy blanket for the troops on the Eastern front. He/she refused to donate, believing that every donation made it easier for the soldiers to continue their horrendous deeds another day, and that a moral person could not oblige. Moreover, everyone who refuses to donate helped to more quickly bring about the end of the illegal and immoral war.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Rose


▪ ...why do you allow these men who are in power to rob you step by step, openly and in secret, of one domain of your rights after another, until one day nothing, nothing at all will be left but a mechanised state system presided over by criminals and drunks? Is your spirit already so crushed by abuse that you forget it is your right - or rather, your moral duty - to eliminate this system? (From White Rose Leaflet 3)

This reminds me of a parable of sorts I read about in a book about the White Rose Society during Nazi Germany. I don't remember all the details because I read it over ten years ago.

Anyway, here's the gist:

One day, a member of the White Rose came across someone collecting money to buy blankets for the troops on the Eastern front. He/she refused to donate, believing that every donation made it easier for the soldiers to continue their horrendous deeds another day, and that a moral person could not oblige. Moreover, everyone who refuses to donate helped to more quickly bring about the end of the illegal and immoral war.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Rose


▪ ...why do you allow these men who are in power to rob you step by step, openly and in secret, of one domain of your rights after another, until one day nothing, nothing at all will be left but a mechanised state system presided over by criminals and drunks? Is your spirit already so crushed by abuse that you forget it is your right - or rather, your moral duty - to eliminate this system? (From White Rose Leaflet 3)