Tuesday 30 June 2009

Don't give generously

I lived in London for four years now. Considering the number of people on the streets who are trying to make you give to charities it is very surprising that not one of them approached me ever asking me to give to charities.
I can think of a number of reasons actually-
1. Let us start with the most basic. They were so busy with others that no one ever had time to approach me
2. They looked at my great appearance and fathomed instantly that I should be the receipient of a charity(something like an Indians in London fund) not a giver.
3. They have a futuristic device in their hands which instantly scans my face and tells them that I myself am a slave in a multinational, and so shouldn't be approached.
4. The first thing they are taught in their training is to never approach a brownie. Particularly, one that looks like he could be from south Asia because the first thing he/she would do is to convert the amount( even as small as a pound a month) into his/her(see you can't call me sexist) currency and say there is no way he/she is giving away that much. And the clues to find out if one is actually from south Asia is by the face, by the hair cut, by a horrible dress sense, by the accent, by the walk, and etcetra... Mind you I am not saying these things, I am merely suggesting that these are taught to the charity collectors.
5. Or they know instinctively that I will say "Do I look like I give to charities?"
6. Or they know instinctively that I will say
"I heard you get £10 per hour, and you talk like you are doing social service. Why don't YOU work for free for charity and then approach me?"

Could be any of these reasons, but the bottom line is I was never approached.

P.S some of my Indian friends who were approached were so startled that they were even approached, they gave instantly and generously. This should be the new tactic for the charity collection agencies.

1 comment:

  1. Nannaa, this is a good piece. Why don't try writing to Indian press. They would jump to publish this type of articles. Keep it up.

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