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BlogComm
COMM 3030 - Communication and Social Responsibility
The Purse Lady, the Bell Ringer, and the Reporter.
Posted posted by tayler @ 10:18 PM
I consider personal responsibility to be kind of like a pay it forward kind of action. Yes, like the movie.Reporter Jennifer Stagg did a story on Sunday about a Salvation Army bell ringer who found a purse left in a shopping cart with more than $800 in it. He gave it and everything inside of it back to the woman without even looking inside of it. The woman, who had lost her job the month before because she had missed too many days taking care of her sick daughter, had been living paycheck to paycheck and the money in her purse was her rent money. When she realized she had left it in the shopping cart, she frantically raced back to the grocery store to find it but it was gone. William Reed, the bell ringer, approached her and asked her if she had left her purse in a cart. He returned the purse to her unopened. She tried to offer him reward money, but he wouldn't take it, saying that it was no big deal and that it was just the honest thing to do. Reed is not in a good financial situation and could have easily taken the money from the purse, but he didn't. The woman said that the act of kindness and honesty changed her life. He chose to be personally responsible.
William Reed paid it forward to the woman who lost her purse.
The woman paid it forward by calling the television station and telling them about Reed.
Jennifer Stagg paid it forward by telling the community about Reed's good deed. She also opened a Wells Fargo donation account so that people can donate to Reed to help his financial situation.
Those who have already donated are paying it back to Reed.
The holidays usually spark some personal responsibility in people, but when the holidays are over, let's keep the responsibilities up and encourage others to do the same.
A direct quote from Reed says it all. "Instead of being part of the problem, you've got to be part of the solution."
If you want to watch the story, go to http://www.kutv.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=96769a1c-0670-4ff6-98fe-d55d7fe9c666.
