But last week I was walking down the high street in Winchester and saw bunch of blue-jacketed people with clipboards and such. As I was avoiding staring at one, another approached me even though he could see I had my headphones on. Normally I would've just smiled, shook my head and carried on but he stood right in front of me so I didn't have any choice but to stop walking.
And I will admit, he was rather good-looking. Which probably does help him talking to the public.
So he asked me about myself and where I was from and he actually knew where Canvey Island is! Every person I tell always pulls a stupid face when I say I live on an island and are like, "are you sure you don't mean the Isle of Wight" and I'm like well obviously not, I think I know where I live thank you very much. It's not like I just forget where I come from. Or they say "are you sure it's an island?" And I answer well, we are surrounded by water and there is a bridge so yes, I'm pretty sure it's an island. That's why it's called Canvey Island. Honestly.
Anyway. Back to the point at hand.
He was chatting away and told me all about the charity's work (he worked for UNICEF, by the way) and all about the poor starving children and if I sent just one text for three quid then I'd be feeding them for however long. Then he did the puppy-dog eyes at me and asked if I considered sending a text. And I told him that I did give to charities back home, whenever I see collection pots and I have money on me I do give. And he just wouldn't stop pestering me so in the end I just agreed, and sent a text.
And oh my word, they won't leave me alone.
Three pounds at the moment is a lot of money. I know it doesn't seem like it but if you're as poor as me at the moment, three pounds can mean the difference between paying my rent or being kicked out of my house because I didn't have an extra three pounds to pay the rent. But I gave it anyway. Because it tugged at my heartstrings and I felt bad for the poor starving children and I do want to help in some way. But if I'm honest, it's mostly because I felt cornered and this guy would be looking down on me for being a selfish excuse for a human being if I didn't.
Every single day since I sent that text, someone from UNICEF has rung me. Every. Single. Day. The first time I picked up and the guy on the other end of the phone was like, "thanks for the text you sent, you've saved a life, blah blah blah" and I thought okay, thank you for telling me this but I know what my money was going to do because the guy practically rammed this info down my throat. And then he asked me if I had any time to spare to talk about their other work in Africa (most likely so at the end of it they could ask me for even more money), but I was on my way to a lecture so I couldn't. He pushed it a bit more but finally gave up.
And then they rang again the next day when I was in a lecture.
And they rang the day after while I was in the shower.
And just now when I was on the phone to my mum.
I don't mean to be rude UNICEF, but you have my money now. Congratulations. Go feed starving children, do what it is you say you're going to do. Don't waste your time chasing me up, telling me what a good person I am and then expecting me to give even more! Just because you now have my number doesn't mean I want an update every single day for the rest of my life.
And don't make me feel bad about my decision if I don't want to give. I don't have a lot of money. If I could give more I would have and would already be doing so. I would do it off my own back, and not because some pushy idiot with a clipboard told me to.
One of my best friends was hounded by one of these people the same day I was, but whereas I had to stop and eventually gave in she didn't because she was heading somewhere. Obviously a student, obviously in the same boat as me. And she told me the UNICEF guy that tried to get her to stop made her feel terrible about the fact that she couldn't - not that she didn't want to, but she couldn't - give him any money. She felt like the most selfish person in the world.
Sometimes they have this smug sense of superiority on their faces, "I'm working for a charity, what are you doing to help the world? You're not even giving me any money, how selfish are you, do you want African children to die?" I know not all charity workers are like that, but I've seen a few that can be.
I just think it's the worst possible way to get someone to give to charity, hounding them, making them feel bad. I know it worked on me, but I regret it. Obviously I don't regret giving money to help save someone's life, but just the method, the intimidation, the nice feeling you get when you've done some good overshadowed because you've essentially been forced into it.
It's not that I don't want to give to charity. It's just in the financial position that I'm in I can't. I think some charity workers - and indeed, charities like UNICEF itself - could be a little more aware of this.
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