Aug 27, 2009

Heckled

Have you ever been heckled? I can now say that I have. Although it came from quite an unexpected source...

Last weekend we decided to head to the Great Falls Balloon festival in the late afternoon to check out the music and crafts and such for a bit before the balloon launch...the real treat we were after! I thought it would have a "folk festival" kind of feel. You know, camaraderie, creativity, community. Not so much. It had more of a state fair or carnival feel. It was that sort of crowd, that sort of food, that sort of entertainment etc. Not to mention we were bombarded with people wanting us to sign political petitions!

But the icing on the cake was when we were strolling past a booth that was raising money for children's cancer. As we approached I could hear the woman associated with the booth asking, "Donate $1 for children's cancer?" As we neared and passed the booth it ramped up like this:

"Donate a dollar for children's cancer? (Then it changed to a statement) Donate a dollar for children's cancer. (Then aggrivation entered her voice) C'mon! Just a dollar. (Then she passively addressed us.) Families, help us out. C'mon, donate a dollar. (Then she pointently addressed us) Hey, you've got a baby, c'mon. Oh C'mon, like you can't afford a dollar. (Then a disgusted sigh as we passed) Geeeze!"

OH MAN WAS I MAD. But I bit my tongue! So glad I have this blog to tell you what I would have like to said. It would have gone a little something like this....

"Look here lady. Your cause is a very, very worthy one. But I can guarantee you that with this attitude and tactic, you're doing far more harm for it than good. And that's an absolute shame!!!!
You have NO IDEA what my or anyone else's financial situation is! So don't sit there and TELL US what we CAN afford! I'll have you know that I have not ONE CENT on my person because...well, plainly put... we're poor! We came here to do something family friendly that was FREE. And we specifically had to figure out if it was in the budget to afford the extra gas to get here!
Furthermore! You have NO IDEA how much we or others give to charity and let me tell you it's built right into our budget...they're the first checks that get written each paycheck! So don't you dare sit there and pass judgment when someone doesn't drop a donation in! Go back to the hole you came from!"

Needless to say, I wouldn't highly recommend the Great Falls Balloon Festival.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

what was the specific charity? i would let them know...

Esther said...

Yeah, I know EXACTLY what you mean! I had this lady call me the other day about donating money for some Indian food program. I don't even know if she was talking about India as in the country or Indian as in Native American. Anyway, she worded it really sneakily and asked if she could send me a letter with a commitment form for $50. I told her that I didn't know if I was going to give any money, but she could certainly send the letter and I'd look it over. So then she went down to $25. Then I said, again, that I didn't know if I would be giving $25 but she could send me the info and I'd look over and decide. This went on until I got very firm, trying not to be rude because I honestly felt bad for her, saying that I was going to hang up now, but she was free to send me a letter, but if she kept asking me to make a commitment I was definitely not giving anything. Charities should not feel like telemarketers!!