Today I parked my car outside of Dixon and walked to class. I usually park in the lot beside the baseball stadium, but it was full this morning. Anyway, as I returned to my car at about 11:30 after class, just outside of Dixon, a group of 5-6 high school kids came up to me. One had a notebook in her hand, another a small book in his.
"Hi, how are you? Could we have a moment of your time? We'd like to read something for you real quickly."
I assume it's about an environmental issue or it's a religious pitch. One or the other. "Sure," I say, "I don't normally take the bait, but you guys seem harmless." They sort of remind me of some of my former high school students. I'm feeling amiable.
"You know cool people when you see them, right?" They laugh. They start talking fast, several at once. "We'd like to read you a passage from the Bible. We're just spreading a good word. We'd like to buy you lunch. Thanks for talking to us! Here, just let me find the page..."
I laugh, "okay, make it good--you're working on an atheist, gonna take some magic."
They seem so happy. One guy reads me a passage from the New Testament, one short sentence about the light of the lord that I can't exactly remember. I'm distracted by all the faces staring at me and a Civic speeding by behind them. Suddenly a girl next to the reader holds out five dollars and puts it in my hand.
"We'd like to buy you lunch for listening today. Thank you so much for hearing the word of the lord. God bless."
I'm a little baffled, still in a good mood but not ready to respond to all of this. "Oh, really, I don't want your money, it's okay, thanks." I try to give it back to her. "You guys can put this to better use..."
"No, please, keep it. Thanks so much. Have a great day! God bless." They walk away.
I put the five ones in my cup holder and they're still there. I've been trying to think about how I should have responded. Should I have put the money down in front of them and politely explained that buying listeners is not, in my opinion, an ethical way to practice one's religion? What would I have said about this situation to my students when I taught high school English? What was my role in this as one participant in a rhetorical situation, and how could I have slowed everything down to make them think about their actions without being offensive? Maybe I'm over-analyzing this and I should use the cash for a couple PBRs, or pass it on to a transient outside Safeway.
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6 comments:
Quit being a bitch and give me that money.
Holy ****.
Here's my question/suggested response: Would Jesus have approved of buying converts? No? OK then.
Hey, Travis.
Interesting! I almost thought you were going to say they gave you something that at first you thought was money. For a while there, there were these fake twenty-dollar bills that people would leave around on the ground. The passer-by would think it was a real $20, pick it up, and instead find an religious tract inside. Now, that's unethical; that's tricking someone to get their attention.
These kids' method was creative and fresh, at least. And one of the most easy-going religious pitches I've ever heard of. They didn't pay you to listen. You didn't consent because they were going to pay you. They were rewarding you for listening.
Reminds me of a story I read of a man who said his father had wanted to teach him the sweetness of the Torah. So every time he would read from the scripture, his father would give him a piece of chocolate. No, wait -- it was everytime the boy read the divine name, YHWH, in the text he would take a bite of chocolate.
That's kind of what these kids were trying to do. I don't think it could work -- I can relate to your feeling awkward about the money and then later what to do with it. It's just not comfortable to receive money that way. But at least they were trying that method as opposed to something more in-your-face.
I guess one way you could have got them to reflect on what they were doing was just to say, "Wow, guys, thanks, but it's really weird and uncomfortable to receive money from strangers. You probably meant it to leave me with a pleasant feeling, but instead it's making me quite uncomfortable." Something like that. Heheh, a little "as a reader" feedback, like the kind we give in the writing center. :-)
Interesting, though. Thanks for blogging about it.
thanks for all the thoughts. i wonder where the money came from. the church? moms and dads? the kids' lawn-mowing gigs?
for future reference, i will accept money for listening to you read almost anything. :)
I can't believe I'm reading a blog....interesting story though.
Obviously, it was a part of God's plan to send them to you and for you to receive $5 dollars. If you happen to spend that $5 dollars on alcohol that would be part of His plan as well, so don't worry. But if I were you, I'd hold on to the $5 and when J/C comes back with his four horsemen and whatnot I would use it to bribe your way into heaven.....or maybe you should hold onto it and try to pay Satan to give you a really easy job in hell....either way I'm sure it will come in handy.
Rob
strippers
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