I had a good opportunity to think more seriously about volunteering when I went to one-dollar shop at Shadle Center on Monday. I wanted to buy a new T-shirts at that time. I could buy one but my friend and I had to buy some stuffs for a birthday party because we were planning Yuri's birthday party for tutorial on Tuesday. Arisa and I went to one-dollar shop and we bought some decorations and candles. We are used to going shopping in America, so I thought I could buy these things without any problem. When I went to a cashier to pay, I talked with clerk and he said something to me. I wasn't sure what he said and I thought about other things so I just said yes! It was my big failure. He suddenly scaned some food which I didn't want to buy. I didn't know why he did it and I began to panic. I thought he was making fun of me because I am Japanese so he did it purposely. I told Arisa about this accident and we confirmed a receipt. There was some food which I didn't want to buy so I went back to the cashier and complained about it. He looked so surprised and he said to the other clerk that I misunderstood what he said. I felt scared because I didn't know why they were confused. He said it was donation and I agreed with it. I understood immediately because he said something me while I was paying!! He wanted to ask whether I could donate one dollar to give some food for someone or not. I was surprised because we don't have this kind of donation system in Japan. How neat! I thought this way of donating is very good because anyone who buy something can donate easily. I can find donation box at convenience stores or lots of kinds of stores in Japan. However, I had never donated money to this box because I didn’t care about it when I stayed in Japan. I felt shocked when I experienced this situation in America .
After I experienced this, I met fabulous people who volunteered for many kinds of jobs and I had some discussion them on Tuesday. They were so tough and friendly so I could ask some questions and we had a nice discussion. I thought Americans like to volunteer for something. They said when they volunteer, they felt comfortable. They had lot of opportunities to think about it and they had very good dreams. One woman told me that she volunteers to create a health community. I think it is related to my situation on Monday. I thought it was kind of volunteering for them and us. They supply some food for someone and it will make a healthy body. When I volunteered to visit a retirement home and met many old age people, they were smiling and they looked so happy. I was happy too, so I think to volunteer is to share our happy feelings! I wish my donation will share a happy feeling with someone.