The following is a 300-word article I wrote for my Reporting and Editing class’s final tonight:
Ring, ring, ring – nothing.
Ring, ring, ring – nothing.
Ring, ring, ring – a dollar.
She rings her bell from 11:30 to 8 everyday for a job that “gets me out of the house.”
She looks underdressed, compared to the people who pass her. Decked in their holiday-shopping finest, few stop to acknowledge her existence, seemingly unaware of the ring, ring, ringing which so occupies the holiday season.
She started working here three years ago, ringing a bell for the Salvation Army in Akron’s Chapel Hill Mall.
“It’s a great job,” she says. “It gives you something to do.”
Wheelchair-bound and talking to a friend who wears a Santa hat, Rita Engelhart rings her bell throughout the conversation – throughout our interview.
The two talk about nothing in particular. The weather. The shoppers. The boredom.
Engelhart means “hard angel” in German, and its apparent this angel has seen better days.
“It’s boring,” she says bluntly.
When asked if anything exciting happens, she says simply, “Not really, no.”
A boy puts a small wad of bills into her red kettle, but she remains steadfast, ringing her bell without missing a jingle.
Just as the Sirens call weary seamen to the rocky shore, so, too, does Engelhart, beckoning fatigued passersby to her ketchup-red cauldron. Only, Engelhart’s song has been heard before – been rendered ignorable.
“Right now there’s really no Christmas spirit,” she explains of the holiday and the lack of contributions. “Everyone likes to argue and carry-on.”
A couple walks by, their hands embraced. One looks at the kettle woman, the ring-ringer, and urges her partner forward, quickening their steps.
“Just right now,” she explains, heart softened, looking at her friend for confirmation. “The people, I mean. Everyone’s just busy.”
Filed under: News Clip, Ohio, 300-word article, Bell ringer, Chapel Hill Mall, Reporting and Editing
Justinized 