I said this in the actual thread: I think that it’s fair to point out that prior to this thread, the OP hadn’t posted here in six months and has made fewer than a dozen posts in the last two years or so.
Should fund raising request even be allowed for a poster that is so inactive? Where to draw the line is a judgment call obviously but this seems clearly on the other side of it.
Meant to add that I totally agree with this. It’s been a breath of fresh air recently.
Aye.
I second Fenris’ proposal.
At present, it seems like an OP asking for money has special protections. I disagree that harsh questions are threadshitting.
See post #39
I re-read the #39. I stand by what I posted.
<hangs head in shame> Sorry – missed that.
Thanks. Had I not seen the mod note in the thread, I wouldn’t even have considered that I’d written anything untoward. I thought of the OP as similar to any other thread that asks Dopers to “do” something. (Give money, buy American cars, fly a flag on the Fourth, boycott France, etc.) I didn’t see anything shitty about responding, “I won’t, and no one else should either.”
Thanks for the clarification. I’ll tread lightly if I go back over there.
A couple of thoughts:
The particular thread that started this one was one that personally rubbed me the wrong way. But what annoyed me even more was the fact that the board HAD spoken by not replying to the thread at all, and the author bumped the thread to get it back to the top of the forum.
I happened to read that thread before “donation request” was added to the subject. I think that was a helpful addition, and I believe that should be required in any subject line requesting donations, regardless of what the person is requesting.
With that said, I personally do not think the board should be in the business of being a conduit for these types of things. With 2 exceptions:
if someone needs to have the donation of blood, bone marrow, kidney, or something similar for the purposes of saving a life, I think that would be fine. In many cases, it is difficult if not impossible to find a suitable donor, and if someone was trying to save the life of a loved one, like their child, and needed to get the word out to as many people as possible as quickly as possible, this would be a great use of the SDMB. As I understand it, being screened, and having your information placed in a databse does not require any money transfer, and I don’t see how this could be used in a scam (maybe there is a way, I just don’t know it.)
if someone wanted to donate a board membership to someone else. Again, no money is being transferred to another member… However, some folks who have the means and want to help out another poster and/or the board, I think this is ok, and I have seen a few threads on this with no issue.
However, that’s it. What is and isn’t worthy is completely subjective, and quite franky, I can see this getting out of hand, even if it hasn’t so far.
If any board member needed some money for anything, why not post a request on the SDMB? That request by misstee (and no disrespect to her), is not an emergency, she isn’t in a dire situation… she just wants some financial help to send her kid to Europe. That is nice, but it doesn’t seem any different to me that if someone requested financial help to pay for a car, an xbox, or whatever else someone desired. And as to this particular request, if this was given mod approval, what would be denied and why? I cannot see how the mods could give an ok to this particular request, but veto someone else’s request to collect money for a satellite to improve their internet connection and TV reception.
If the thought process is to permit the board members to decide for themselves, ok. But then perhaps make these requests all be placed in the marketplace forum, and that way, they will all be in one spot. Also, do NOT permit the OP to bump the thread. Let it live or die as the community sees fit, just as any other thread does.
When there is really no way to truly confirm what donated money is spent on, I can see the potential for abuse.
I agree with the posters who have said, in essence, we’re a pretty savvy lot here, and we can sniff out a scam at 100 metres.
I have no problem whatsoever with people posting requests for help. My BS meter is pretty finely calibrated, so requests like the one that spawned this thread get a loud guffaw from me…but at the same time I HAVE donated to other members when times have been more than unusually difficult for them. Not wanting to bring their names into this thread, but in particular a daddy whose child had just been diagnosed with a catastrophic medical condition, and a poster with severe disabilities who needed some help to purchase a more reliable vehicle. After a bit of minor sleuthing, I found their bona-fides were impeccable, so did not hesitate to help.
I really hope that this current debacle doesn’t stop others asking for help if needed. Please don’t lump them all together, and for God’s sakes, DON’T put them in the Pit. That’s just fucking cruel for those who are probably down on their knees in the first place.
Just my two-bob’s worth for what it’s worth.
kam
I find myself agreeing with a lot of people’s reasoning here, but coming to a somewhat different conclusion. I think the requests for donations should be generally not allowed except in circumstances where the mods think the poster is in special need. We’re all capable of evaluating whether a particular request for help is worthy, but if they’re all allowed, we’re going to end up with more junk requests than actual need, and people who could really help out are just going to ignore them all. If I were in charge, I’d just say this isn’t the straight dope panhandling board, but if you have a particular need, make your case to the mods and they will be appropriately compassionate, but it will be the exception rather than the rule. Seeing a post saying “a member of the SDMB needs our help” should be something that you notice, not something that makes you say, “oh great, another person trying to con people into paying for something.”
And for what it’s worth, I agree with Kambuckta that putting all such requests in the pit is cruel because it invites unnecessary abuse for those with legitimate requests. There are people here who are going to be dicks in just about any context in the pit, so why put people in need through that?
What if it’s Hitler?
What if it isn’t Hitler?
Regards,
Shodan
I recently ran into about $1800 of financial distress. The government (which supplies me with Social Security Supplimental Income and Social Security Disability each month) says that they overpaid me by that amount in 2013. I am (swear to Cecil) doing my best to get a job and off government assistance. But, at present, I cannot pay back $1800. I cannot pay my rent and other bills if the SSA goes ahead with their plan to make up the $1800 by deducting $75 a month from my payments. My social worker is going with me to the SS office to ask for both a waiver and an appeal on Tuesday. If that doesn’t work out, I will go to my family and friends for help. If I still cannot produce the needed funds, I may ask mod approval to start a thread here. I have no problem with that thread being in the Pit. I’ve done a few things that are indeed Pit worthy. I don’t see the above as one of them. Yes, some jerks would take the opportunity to make cheap shots at me. They would be called out as jerks.
Heat stroke?
Heat stroke?
[/QUOTE]
No, the crowd-funding request for food for the python didn’t raise enough.
Regards,
Shodan
No, it’s because Fenris has a history of bringing it up and twisting the facts for shits ‘n’ giggles. IOW, trolling.
Notice he hasn’t mentioned the fact that no money was ever transferred out of PayPal until the senders received their refunds? Apparently he thinks that is a lie, even though such a lie is illogical. All it takes is those who honestly sent money to claim they got it back in a separate transaction rather than a straight refund.
I did not remove money from PayPal the first chance I got, or even at all, ergo there was no “scam”.
The bunny has been dead for three weeks, cause unknown. I do not need this crap now. Or any other time, for that matter.
I see a request for bunny funeral costs on the horizon.
I know. My request for a spa day for my dog failed too. People just don’t like pets here.
And requests like this are precisely why the rules about donation threads ought to be much tighter.
I do notice that, but the issue of whether or not anybody actually got refunded and when (and whether or not Fenris believes it) is completely irrelevant. The entire point of bringing this example up is that, refund or no, pretty much everyone (even the requestor, who saw fit to just cancel the whole thing) seems to agree that the original bunny AC request was bogus. If there were a rule that people weren’t allowed to say so in the thread, refunds would never even have been discussed.