This may only be a UK thing but it really annoys me. Do you know those utter JERKS who stand on the high street in every city in this great land wearing netball shirts with the name of a charity on and try to get you to sign up to give money to said charity? Oh yeah.
They are burks. When I am out doing my shopping I do not want to get stopped every 10 feet. You can see each other so why do you stop me when you have already seen me be stopped 6 times before!!! I was once stopped by the same person twice, on my way up the high street and on my way back down again!!! I know they see a lot of people but believe me I AM destinctive.
On another ocasion I told the guy I could afford to give money because I was a student (This is my standered excuse for everything) and he started to give me a lecture on how most students were supported by rich parents!!! WELL I WISH I WAS ONE OF THEM!!!
They could have one saving grace if they were kind and considerate people who were doing this out of a genuine desire to make the world a better place. They are not. They do it because they get paid upwards of £7.50 and hour. And they get thier accomodation paid for. And thier transport. I spent my entire summer unflinching soaking up customers abuse on a checkout in a supermarket for a lousy £5.02 an hour!!!
I Object to giving money to charities when the majority of it is going to fund the wages of these jerks and if they are being paid this much, how much do the charities pay the company that organises this?!!
Sometimes, my high street is like an slalom run. It takes observation and good planning to zig-zag you way along so as not to have to fend them off. Careful timing is also handy, try to walk past in such a way that there is at least one person between you and them.
One day, I’ll see the aforementioned chuggers, a Big Issue salesman, and some mormon evangelisers all on the street at the same time. It will be fun to watch from a distance as they all accost each other. Either that or I shall whimper and go the long way round.
Not to mention that they can’t even accept donations, so even if you wish to give to the charity in question you have to fill out extensive forms to set up a direct debit / standing order from your account to theirs. On a monthly basis, for a minimum term.
Saying that, don’t think you should really blame the workers. Its just a job like any other.
Perhaps you should have considered representing charities for a summer rather than the supermarket option.
Collectors for charity make £7.50 an hour these days? That’s £7.50 more than I ever made when I did it … There are places you can check the percentage of donations to any given charity that goes to staff salaries and other overheads. If that’s what’s worrying you.
I don’t know if this applies to the phone, but I got a call from the American Cancer Society the other week. They could use an update to their records. They were after my stepdad, and the lady on the other end launched right into the spiel, thinking I was the man in question, I guess (a common occurence; my voice is somewhat low, and I am often mistaken for the alpha male, so to speak. Hah!). The lady went on and on, “…as you know, Mr. Joe, 2 out of 4 men are diagnosed with Blah-blah cancer every year…this is not a donation, Mr. Joe, just send 15 envelopes to so-and-so…”; so on and on, in fact, that I had to wait while she rattled off her whole damned 2 minute script before I told her that in all irony she was too late. A little hasty, perhaps, but it was my first reaction.
My favorite spiel is the one the local sheriff’s office uses. “Mrs. DA, do you think it’s important to support your local sheriff’s department and…” (I don’t remember the rest).
How in the hell does one answer that? “No, I don’t. If you guys disappeared, I could commit random acts of violence with no penalty.” :rolleyes:
I finally found one that made sense to me: “Yes, but I’m not interested.” And hang up. I’ve never been arrested, so I guess it works.
Outside my local ShopRite, there are always people begging for one cause or another—sometimes worthy ones (the VA, hospitals); sometimes local sports teams or high-school kids collecting for band uniforms. But each and every one of them leaps right into your face as you are leaving the store and shoves their collection can at you, demanding money. I have yet to part with one red cent.
And outside my train station in NYC, there’s one of those Coalition for the Homeless guys, with his nonstop spiel. What fascinates me is that he says, “charity begins at home!” every few minutes. Correct me if I’m wrong—but doesn’t that mean you should give your money to your own family and not to strangers?
I always find that a smile and a “No thanks.” works wonders. No one gets annoyed. No one shouts. No one feels pressured. No one starts threads in the BBQ Pit…
Try this next time. And ask somebody how the spell “their” while you’re about it.
I agree – “no, thanks,” works fine for me, unless I’m feeling curious and am willing to part with a couple of bucks. Which isn’t often.
When someone calls me about a charity, no matter what, I interrupt them as soon as I recognize what they’re doing and say, in a bright voice, “Actually, would you mind putting me on your do-not-call list?” Usually works like a charm. On the rare occasion that they continue with their sell, I say, in a confused and slightly alarmed voice, “Uh – you know that you’re violating Federal law by continuing your pitch after I’ve asked you to put me on your do-not-call list, right?”
Yeah, we have them here too. They hang out in little packs with clipboards so they are pretty easy to avoid if you see them in time. The CBD, the main railway station (Flinders St) and popular shopping strips are their favourite haunts. Unfortunately, I have to traverse all three on any given day, so I have become quite proficient at weaving and dodging!
But I DO feel sorry for the poor sods who get dressed up as a koala to collect for the Wilderness Society. On a hot day (or even just a warm day) it must be hell in that suit. I always chuck a couple of bucks in their bucket…hopefully they’ll make enough to go buy a beer after their shift finishes.
I’m of the “no thanks” persuasion, finding that this generally works just fine. I do give to a couple of charities, but prefer to choose them myself and mail checks to their headquarters. The only downside of this is that it can land you on the mailing list of about a hundred more.
One thing that does annoy me is the way that some charities will station two groups of people no more than fifty yards apart on the same stretch of sidewalk. Surely it must be obvious to Group No. 2 that, if i’m walking in your direction from where Group No. 1 is located, then i’ve already been accosted by them and have either:
a) said “not interested, thankyou”
or
b) already given to your charity
I once had a guy accost me, trying to sell tickets to a comedy festival of some sort. “Do you like to laugh?”, he earnestly and enthusiastically enquired. “Nope” I replied. He just sort of stopped in his tracks, I smiled at him and moved on.
