… with donated proceeds going to my local humane society.
What I would like to do in the Spring is dress myself in wizard’s garb (a la Gandalf, yet not mentioning anything about the movie/book franchise); set myself up in the corner of a convenience store less than a mile from where we live and offer to cast spells on patrons’ lottery tickets for a small donation of, say, a dollar or just whatever.
Is this possible from a legal standpoint?
What if I bought “Gandalf” gear? The staff, the beard and the hat and robe? THEN would I need permission - after all, I’d be supporting the whole franchise, right?
I’d be interested in your thoughts and would appreciate your advice.
ETA: I would of course, have a sign that not every spell will guarantee a winner!
I think considering the area that you live in ( which obviously I know well ), and considering the crap that I took on a regular basis ( and that friends still take ), I wouldn’t risk it. I was cornered by two little old ladies at the grocery store and, among other things, told that people like me shouldn’t be allowed out on the Lord’s Day, and my crime was having a pagan-related bumper sticker… I don’t see your plan going over well.
People have such a weird cognitive dissonance there when it comes to the lottery ( gambling is the devil’s work, after all, but it’d sure be nice to win! ), and extremely little sense of humor when it comes to anything with the appearance of ‘witchcraft/wizardry’ that I think the benefit isn’t going to outweigh the cost. And what I’d hate to see is someone getting their panties in a big old wad and starting a campaign against the shelter for being in league with the devil’s minions.
You’d need permission from the store, which seems unlikely, and you might run afoul of the law. I think some places have laws against fortune telling and the like.
You should probably check with a friendly law-enforcement officer to make sure you aren’t violating some ordinance. I doubt many people care for a fund-raiser, but all you need is some whacko complaining about illegal fortune telling and then the cops have to come in and do their job. But even down in Bugtussle where you live, I doubt many people would be bothered by an obvious fundraiser, but maybe it’s worse than I know. All it takes is one crank to spoil it for everyone.
It’s worse than you know. I was fired from an organization in that county because an anonymous person called my boss’ boss and accused me of being a devil worshipper ( because I wasn’t Christian ), and said organization felt it was better to illegally fire me than have the reputation as an organization that condoned such heathenism. There are a lot of folks who just don’t have sense, period, let alone a sense of humor, regarding this topic, and I would hate for a good cause to be slandered by them.
One thing that might make it a bit more likely to go down well is the donation part is optional. You’ll spell the person/ticket donation or not. And make sure to give off the vibe its all in fun!
To me the biggest problem is how do people know that its a real donation and not you trying hard to not work for a living?
… for the advice. I’ve thought about it and came to the conclusion that you’re right: not a good idea. And Bobkitty, unless I am mistaken you live in the area so you know what I’d be dealing with.
The idea came from a local friend who was thinking of a new kind of event to do in order to raise some money for the animals. To be honest, I’m kinda burned out on stuff like the bike rides anyway. The attitude was “Sounds great, Bill. Do it. Do all of it; the PR, the ride, etc. Do it all, give us the money and bye.”
I’d prefer to just write a check, make sure it goes where it’s supposed to and be done with it.
Sounds like I’m jaded, doesn’t it? :D:D:D
So thanks again. Don’t know what I’d do withoutcha.
Well, going by their description, it would actually be true, and they’d’ve ended up firing nearly everyone. LOL.
Probably not as funny as you imagine.. I just sued the hell out of the for wrongful termination, and there was an out of court settlement. They did get rid of two other people in the aftermath, and one more quit. It was quite the scandal.
