Paid to Harass?
New submission from Nixy
So there’s this guy collecting for a charity, I don’t know which one but they wear lime-green shirts. As per usual he’s trying to charm me with the intent of getting my money.
When I told him I wasn’t interested, he asked if I had a boyfriend. I said that was none of his business. He stepped in front of me as I tried to walk off, and asked me out. I said NO THANKYOU, I’M NOT INTERESTED. He said, ‘What, not interested in a guy like me?’ And I said, ‘A guy like WHAT?’ and he goes, ‘a guy with a JOB!’ I was furious. ‘NO, I’m not interested in a guy who THINKS IT’S OK TO HARRASS WOMEN IN THE STREET!’
I then crossed the street to where a woman stood, also collecting for the same charity – I assume they were part of the same team. I watched the man’s face fall as I told her what happened, and she profusely apologised and said she would tell a manager.
I take issue with any organisation that encourages staff to go out in the street and collect money. It’s become a huge issue, especially in London, and getting harrassed in the street is bad enough when strangers do it, let alone the fact that there are now people who are PAID to do it.
3 Responses
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You should definitely have taken down the name of the charity, and his name. Chuggers generally have to carry around cards with the number of the head office that they are meant to give out to anyone they speak to. His actions reflect on his job and his superiors would have taken serious action, probably resulting in him not having a job anymore. Let me tell ya, their turnover is very frequent. As a previous employee of a chugging company (for whom I wore bright green shirts) you get asked out on the street a LOT. Once, in uniform on the street I was felt up by a toothless man who worked at the pizza hut nearby after he offered me free pizza. That really shook me up. I’m not sure what people are thinking, employing others to harass people on the street “for charity”. It is an awful job through and though. I’m sorry you had to deal with such a creep.
I was texting a friend on the way to the library and one of those charity collectors went ‘Lady in red! You don’t need to text me, I’m already here!’. I think they’re being trained to hit on people these days as a attention-grabbing technique.
I’ve experienced this as well – either they’re encouraged to do it to get people’s attention or they’re using their job as a chance to try their luck. Either way, completely not on and it’s about time the companies behind them did something about their tactics.