I met the most disagreeable man today. I was outside Potsdamer Platz, heading onto the u-bahn and within 2 seconds of speaking to him, I wanted to punch myself in the face for stopping. Punch myself hard.
It was one of those cases of He wants money. I don't have any. How long do I carry out this charade for? Oh dear God this is going to be awkward?
Anyway, to cut a long story short, he gave me a long spiel, said he was raising money for people in Iran that have been subjected to torture under Ahmadinejad. I listened to him and found most of what he had to say interesting so figured I'd give the guy whatever change I had. Afterwards he asks me for a donation, showing me "receipts" of other donations, all in the region of 300 euros. So I politely explained to the man that I really don't have much money and although I am happy to give a small donation, I am not in a position to be giving large amounts of money. This is obviously when he turns nasty. He told me I could donate next month if I really wanted to by giving him my bank details. My bank details? He must have thought I was completely stupid. Anyway, he was so fucking rude to me. Apparently "I am not honest" and "I do not care". He abused me for a bit, made me feel like utter crap and, all in a fluster I gave him three euros and ran off as quickly as I could.
That guy was clearly a lying prick. That money was not going to help anyone. I hate myself for a) giving him any time, b) any money at all and c) not telling him what a twat he was. He wasn't raising money for anyone... all in his own back pocket. And even if it wasn't, fuck him for talking like shit to me when I didn't thrust a fifty in his face. I gave him my time and what money I had to spare and suffered abuse for it. Next time I'll just walk by... so if he was genuine, or if the next person that tries to stop me in the street is, and I just walk on, that's fucking shit. People like him turn people away from charity and how fucked up is that? This got me thinking about a conversation I recently had with a friend about street fundraisers making people avoid charity, and I think there is a lot of truth in it. I know a couple of people who have had fundraisers make them feel like shit when they say they can't sign up. Now they cross the street or pretend they are on their phone. So people are actively avoiding charity. How fucked.
Anyway... rant over. Y'know, I think that is the first time I have been angry about anything in... well, weeks.
No comments:
Post a Comment