Don't kid yourself
What you are doing is a form of bullying - you prey on the lonely, naive, vulnerable and not very bright. Who else would stop and talk to you?

You and your colleagues fan yourselves out to make an obstacle course of walking down the pavement, and whist I have no problem ignoring you I'd hate to think of my soft-hearted old mum being pressured into signing up with you because you accost her with a question like "Do you care about starving children?".

For what it's worth I rattled a tin for Amnesty International for over ten years and know just how dispiriting it is to have people purposefully ignore you. Difference is I didn't get paid for it.

Get a proper job - selling double-glazing sounds a good fit for your talents - and donate a slice of your salary to charity. You'd do us all a favour.
( electric_goat, Thu 27 May 2010, 23:51, 3 replies)

^This.

(ifonly, Thu 27 May 2010, 23:58, closed)

I hate door to door sales, I hate sales in general.
Yes I get paid and I do donate a slice of my wage to several charities. It's not a permanant role but it is for a charity I feel strongly about and believe it or not that is why I took the job, as most of the donations they recieve come from people telling others about it on the street.
No one I know would say "Do you care about starving children" as that's a guilt trip, they explain about the charity and why it is needed.
I've also applied for another job as this one is well known for being hard to keep.
( Laird Dave Draws Now charges to take off his clothes., Fri 28 May 2010, 0:01, closed)

I'm guessing you've never attended charm classes
Chugging ain't all bad. I initially signed up with Sightsavers when I was at Uni, ten years ago. I wasn't stupid, lonely, or naive then, am not now, and had not heard of the charity until I was accosted in the street. For all that, I've been contributing - gladly - for a decade.

Plenty of people draw a wage working for charities - indeed, if they did not, it's extremely unlikely that the charities would accomplish much beyond the odd coffee morning.

Getting paid to do a job does not necessarily mean you don't believe in your job. I actually like my own job, and think it's worthwhile - but I still wouldn't do it unless they crossed my palm with silver, as I do need certain little luxuries such as food.


All said and done - if you can't politely decline, and move on your way, then that's really your problem.
( Happy Phantom has been to Hastings, Brighton, and Eastbourne too, Fri 28 May 2010, 1:12, closed)

:)
The world needs more people like you.
( Laird Dave Draws Now charges to take off his clothes., Fri 28 May 2010, 1:40, closed)

I can politely decline
and move on my way. What irritates me are the people who can't take "no" for an answer.

I give to charity. I give monthly by standing order and I declare for Gift Aid. What I don't need is someone assuming I'm not interested in charity just because I have somewhere to go - why else would I be walking along a street?
( sanityclause is waiting until, Fri 28 May 2010, 14:22, closed)

I am truely sory for others like myself who will not take no for an answer
9 times out of ten they are working on commsion, which is terrible so they are forced into trying to 'sell' a charity. In the company I work for, you are paid a flat fee and if you can not get donations you lose your job. As I have said as soon as I hear 'not today' or something to that effect, I thank them for their time and wish them a good day. As do most of the people working with me. New starts have to be trained in this sometimes, but rest assured we beat them with sticks.
( Laird Dave Draws Now charges to take off his clothes., Sat 29 May 2010, 0:26, closed)

I didn't at first
but I've now clicked "I like this" - as someone else has said, for your equanimity, rationality and tact in answering many disagreeing (and disagreeable) responses.
( sanityclause is waiting until, Tue 1 Jun 2010, 16:41, closed)