95c
Posted by D'ave under Uncategorized on October 30 2005 at 5:38 PMStanding in line at the till at Pick ‘n Pay this morning, an employee approached the lady in front of me with a raffle-looking thing. After about ten seconds she shook her head and said, rather not-nicely, no thank you.
So the keen raffler looked at me and said “Would you like to donate 95c to :: insert organisation’s name here :: charity for people with cataract problems?” “Of course” said I rather loudly, “it’s only a measly 95c.”
How can you be so tight with your money that R1 is too much to part with? If she said “sorry I don’t have any cash, I’m paying by card” that would be a different story, but to just say no is just wrong. And it’s not like this employee is just sitting on her ass like those other irritating people that shout out at you to save a child’s life when you have handfuls of bags leaving the store, she’s actually walking around getting donations, before you’ve paid for all your goods. Thinking ahead I’d say.
If you’re one of those people, shame on you. When those people get their cataracts fixed (or whatever they’re getting done to them) I hope you feel the death stares burning your soul. Just kidding, Jesus loves you all!
October 30th, 2005 at 6:17 pm
I’m not sure I agree bro, people asking for money has become something of an epidemic these days, same as people handing out flyers at traffic lights.
I used to always take the flyers, it cost me nothing, but of course all that caused was more flyers at more robots.
Sometimes it’s not just the R1 you’re saying no to, it’s the principle. Besides, people shouldn’t accost you while you’re waiting in a queue…!
October 31st, 2005 at 8:26 am
i completely disagree with you!
yes they case may be a simple 95c you say, but if donated 95c to every single person that asked me for money i’d be the one begging for money after only a week.
i regularly donate to recognised and licensed charities where i know the money will be put to good use.
i agree with Rich on this one, the more you support the vendors at the traffic lights the more there will be! remember visiting the game reserve or cape point a few years back … as soon as your car stopped it was swamped by hundreds of monkeys. then people stopped feeding them and they went away.
i’m gonna get “don’t feed the monkeys” signs made and erect them at all the traffic lights in Jozie, maybe one day i can drive home without being attacked by hundreds of people trying to sell me shit.
just my 95c ….
October 31st, 2005 at 8:42 am
Are you 100% sure that the money you donated, however small the amount may have been, will be going to a genuine and registered charity?
Most respectable and established charities do not collect money in this way, but it’s a common technique used by scammers who are taking advantage of the goodness inherent in human nature.
What was the name of the cataract charity? If it was legitimate, forgive my cynicism.
The point is, there are so many scammers around, that you can’t really blame people for being reluctant to hand over their cash.
October 31st, 2005 at 9:05 am
I understand your points, but it’s different to flyers. I don’t take flyers either, but if I’m doing nothing, like just waiting in a line, and someone is trying to help others, then i’m cool with it. Like I said, if I was busy, like walking with handfuls of bags, then I’m obviously not gonna stop. Different strokes I suppose.
Joller, I forgot about the little piece of paper they gave me when I paid. It’s a P ‘n P initiative called “Cents For Sight” (1, 2)
October 31st, 2005 at 12:03 pm
Thanks for the clarification…it looks like a worthy cause. To make it easier, maybe Pick ‘n Pay should just round off all those irritating .99c prices, and then donate all those extra cents to the charity? They’d surely get their R1-million in a hurry, and it’s not like any shoppers would complain…(insert smiley here)
October 31st, 2005 at 1:14 pm
i don’t think it is any different to flyers …
help one person now whilst shopping and before you know it there’ll be hundreds of people asking for this and that whilst you’re simply standing in line doing nothing.
it’s how the pesky car guards started too …
October 31st, 2005 at 3:19 pm
Hear! Hear! Give them money!
No, seriously, what exactly is a buck a day? Or even five a day? Compare it to what you spend on lunch/smokes/drinks every day. There are a lot of people out there a lot worse off than me and I could at least give something back.
It’s not my moral choice to where the money goes. I’m not one of these flakes who won’t give beggars money because “they’ll just spend it on booze”. Well, fuck, if you lived on the street wouldn’t you? Go ahead and drink! I’m not going to tell someone what to do and if it means having a drink on me, so what?
As a rule I always top R10 for every R 100 of fuel I put in. Why? Because petrol jockeys don’t make shit.
The only people who piss me off are these deaf card carriers. I suspect it’s a scam and I don’t like being guilted out of my cash. I giv eit freely. The same goes for perfectly abled road-side beggars. I’d rather give the cash to the bum who looks like he’s stared into more highveld storms head on than I’ve driven through.
November 3rd, 2005 at 9:43 am
Agreed with what Don & Gabbahead said. Come on people, the PnP thing is just a piece of paper with a barcode on it, so you can ring it up at the till like the rest of your stuff. It’s only R1, and it’s convenient, so why not?
Personally, I think it’s a great idea anyway. I’d suggest that PnP and other retailers create a shelf where tokens like this for all the major charities are placed, and so shoppers can just walk past and choose which one, if any, they would like to support for the day. It would make giving small amounts to charity a lot easier and more convenient, without being in-your-face and forcing it on anybody.