A strange thing happened on the way...

I'm walking to Hastings and Columbia for a coffee at Radiostation and I spot a 20 something lady with a huge Salvation Army shield shirt. I had to jaywalk and get over the street to meet our new community member or recruit! She was going to fit right in with us... tattoos, cool sunglasses, walking in the downtown eastside...

"Hey are you a Salvo?" I asked.
"Huh?"
Oh she was new... "Are you in The Salvation Army?"
"What? Do I look like The Salvation Army?"
"You're wearing our shirt."
"Why did you think I was The Salvation Army?"
Surprised she didn't know what she was wearing... she didn't have a white and red cane and the dog was a chiwawa not a lab retreiver I repeated. "You're wearing our shirt. I thought you were one of us."

She took off really fast, offended that I thought she was here.

So... application: We've become a cool shirt to wear. This is really good news. We're cool. How about we take over our cool market by sallying up.

Second: we need to rebrand our soldiers so there is no confusion. Anyone can wear the shield but, to show you are really in you need to wear something else... A tunic, the Geoff Ryan black epaulet sweater or revive the crest look!