Street Charity

I was walking home yesterday from the tube. I saw someone walking parallel to me on the other side of the street, walking fast. I didn't really give it much thought. Then I noticed he'd crossed the road and was coming over to my side, still keeping up the same pace. I sped up. 'Excuse me mate, got any change?' he said. I turned, but kept walking fast. I'm glad I did. He was big. 'No, sorry mate.' When it became clear I wasn't even close to slowing down he stopped and turned back.

I'll give money to beggars sometimes if they're sitting down, looking weak and pathetic. And don't give me that crap about it only being drunk or injected away, even if it is, it's their choice. At the very least you've given them some peace, even a bit of happiness for a few minutes. But I've noticed I won't if they're big, active - surely they can look after themselves. I won't even reach for my wallet. I'm pretty sure in this instance it was the right thing to do, but still. I guess truly, a big part of charity is knowing you're better off than someone else.

On that, one of the most annoying, evil forms of charity sales techniques to emerge on the streets of London and other cities in the UK are the 'Charity muggers', or 'chuggers'. They're always likeable, nice, smart people in their early twenties- it's kind of like being repeatedly beaten by a pillow of guilt. I guess the evil bastards who dreamt it up realised that saying no them makes people feel like they are puppy drowning, grumpy, daily mail reading old bastards. At least until you develop chugger immunity. I bet the effectiveness of chugging has declined significantly since the halcyon days when they were a novelty.

They used to always only ask for credit card details, so the first couple of times I was honey trapped by a hot chugger I had a great get out clause right at the end. But the thing is, with chuggers, there's that degree of separation. You're not really giving money to the homeless, or starving people, you're giving it to them. It's an exchange. They spend time with you, and at the end you feel obligated to pay them. They're bright, ambitious and earning good money. I once spoke to a chugger about how much they make. The one I spoke to was commission based, and earnt £10 a sale. Not bad for beer money. He said others get paid £50 flat for the day - and if they make two sales a day they're breaking even. It's a worthy job, 'fundraising' so you get top quality, articulate kids who're motivated. The money's good enough, so they feel good about the job they're doing and still get paid - and they raise more for charity.

Good news all round I suppose. I still hate them though.