I love Scouts. I think it’s great that a group of kids is trying to raise money to go to Washington DC to participate in (insert wholesome educational activity here). It’s very nice that your church youth group is having a bake sale for a mission trip. I really do love kids, I swear. But …
I really, really hate being hit up to buy something as I enter AND leave the store, though. I have actually pulled into a store parking lot and left to go to another store when I saw that some group was having some sort of sale at the front door.
I can’t really give a coherent reason why this irks me the way it does. It just does.
This sort of thing has become a problem for me too.
Just walking from the North Sydney railway station to where I work I encounter up to 4 different groups of people asking me to support their charity. The charities are all worthy causes but they will not accept a one off donation. They all want me to subscribe for a monthly direct debit from my bank account or credit card of at least $35 per month. I really do feel for those who are less fortunate but my employment is not stable at the moment. I don’t know if I will be able to hang on to this job.
I suffer from social phobia and find it difficult to talk to strangers, and even more difficult to turn down someone who asks me to help. So I have to keep and eye out for charity workers and often need to take a circuitous round about way to get to and from the train station and the office.
Then there’s the shopping mall. Nothing is simple anymore.
I thought this was going to be about those assholes that accost you while you’re walking in a mall and try to slap some of their trial cosmetics on you - piss off! I’m either walking alone and don’t want to be bothered, or I’m walking with my husband and we don’t want to be bothered. At one mall (Cross Iron Mills), there was three different ones in the mall - by the time the third bunch were annoying me, my Canadian politeness had completely worn off.
Scout sales are probably safe, but it’s not a good idea to give your money to a charity on the street anyway. (And I certainly wouldn’t give them credit card information - Imasquare, I’ve never even heard of that before!) I used to work for the Red Cross, and we had problems with scammers gathering money in our name. Animal rescues in particular seem to have problems with this too. It’s much safer to mail a check or donate online.
Back on topic, yes, I really dislike being accosted on the way into the grocery store too. Thin mints may be the best thing ever, but I don’t appreciate being guilt tripped into anything.
I don’t want to be accosted, either. Not by the scouts, not by the Salvation Army, not by anyone. I particularly don’t like to be chatted up by people trying to get a donation. I do give to certain charities, but they are carefully chosen, and I don’t make those decisions on the spur of the moment, as a general rule.
I don’t mind. They need to learn that some people just look at them and say No. I help everyone with that. Matter of fact I don’t contribute to anything…ever.
A while back, the Safeway in Daly City (south of San Francisco) was always collecting for something or other, either officially in the store at the checkout, or some other group at the door (obviously with the store’s permission, since it was on private property) or sometimes both. I got so fed up with this that I stopped going there.
Then they had a long remodeling process where there was no room in front for solicitors, and then they had their grand re-opening, and there hasn’t been any of that soliciting since then. I suspect other people more vocal than I made it clear how annoying it was.
Roddy
There’s a lot of baseball playing going on here in Flori-duh. Apparently a lot of teams need a lot of stuff. If they were selling something, I might buy it. If they were offering a service, like a car wash, I might use it. But no, they just set up a table with a big jar in front of the store and beg. “Will you give our team some money so we can…” Really? You’re not capable of selling a product, you just want me to give? I look at the adults, who are always sitting off to the side in lawn chairs, and I want to ask them WTF do they think they are teaching these kids.
My standard response is “Not today” and I keep walking. If I respond at all, that is. Like **Lynn **said, I have causes and groups I support and I donate to them directly. I’m not going to buy cookies or popcorn where the lion’s share goes to the company making them rather than the group. I’m not buying wrapping paper or magazines or whatever else you’re pushing.
Thinking back to the olden days when I was in high school and we needed to raise money, we did bake sales and car washes and spaghetti dinners - by golly, we *earned *the money we took in! Kids these days… [/geezer mode]
My current annoyance is the kids that want to pack your groceries so you’ll give them a donation. Well, not an annoyance, but I don’t know how to say uncomfortableness correctly! In my experience, kids aren’t the greatest when it comes to packing groceries and I have my own established system. I always try to say no politely, and I give them a donation, but I always feel really awkward with them just standing next to me whilst I pack my own.
I don’t mind being solicited coming and going; the people soliciting can’t be expected to remember who they’ve asked. It also makes sense because people often walk into a store with no cash, but get cash back at the register.
But I agree with the skin-care people. I bought a jar of their stuff once and it made me break out. (I have sensitive skin and have to be very careful about what I put on it.) Those people are very aggressive. I’ve just learned not to make eye contact. That seems to help.
So true! I’d forgotten about this other way they’ve figured out to guilt people into giving. Yes, cans on top of the rolls, etc. And if I’ve just saved fifty cents because I had a coupon (and we have to watch our money VERY carefully) do I really have to give it up because they want a trip to wherever? I can’t even afford to go to the other end of the house.
I don’t mind the kids pitching stuff outside of stores because it is easy enough to just say “no, thanks” and move on. When I was in BJ’s recently though I wanted to punch this bitch that kept pestering me in the store about replacement windows. Yes, yes, I know they are starting at “only” $67/month (for an unmentioned number of months) but I came here to purchase toilet paper not a several thousand dollar upgrade to my house.
This makes me crazy. I just want to wander along in my own time!
(Speaking of Canadian-ness. When we went to Vegas recently, we ran into a very very nice fellow, but soooooo Canadian it made us laugh. I mean, he was there for a hockey convention, he was wearing a Wayne Gretzky uniform, he said, “eh”, and as I said, he was super-nice. After he left the elevator my SO and I looked at each other and said “Was that a candid camera or something?” He was so stereotypical!)
If they’re at the supermarket, I feel they’re probably legit because they have to have permission to be there.
The ones I really hate are the folks on the sidewalk asking for help saving the ____ animal/rain forest in some far off place. While I’m all for that in concept, I’m not sure how my signature on a piece of paper is going to help save some animal on some other continent. If I give a real address, I fear I’ve just signed up for a bunch of junk mail & if I give a fake one, it’ll probably invalidate whatever they’re petitioning for anyway. As for giving them money; yeah, right. The only thing that makes them look ‘official’ is that they spent about $3.99 on a clipboard.
When I worked in the city, there was an older (60ish) man who ‘worked’ around the corner from me - he was a professional panhandler. He had a regular spot. His appearance was clean & he was frequently in different, respectable-looking outfits, indicating he was not homeless. I think he was retired & stood there with the outstretched coffee cup as a way to supplement income instead of getting a PT job. I’m sorry, bud, but you’ve ruined it for everyone else after you.
I don’t mind the charities outside, I can just tell them no if I’m not interested. but what grinds my gears is the product representatives that have started showing up in stores, pushing their brand. Our Petsmart is really bad at this. I don’t want to be hard sold when I’m shopping. Leave me the fuck alone.
If someone approaches me in such a situation, I refrain from making eye contact and just barge around the side of them. No need to say no. Saying anything is, indeed, an invitation for them to try to change your mind.
I also recommend learning how to sign “I’m deaf” in ASL while shaking your head.