"Guilt" donations. What I said/What I wished I had said.

[johnaries]

I was in El Paso on a business trip, and was running late to get back to the airport to fly back to my beloved home Nashville, the most beautiful city in the most beautiful state in the world. Please feel free to disagree with me, we have enough non-Nashvillians here already. Say anyhing you want about Nashville, just don't move here. It's getting too crowded. It's a secret! Nashville sucks, you don't want to come here. Because once you see the beauty of Mid-Tennessee, you'll never want to leave. This is the area of the country that three different Native American tribes fought over and came to truce deciding all tribes had to share because it was too sacred for only one tribe to own. (Hmmm, a peace treaty about sharing property. And they were considered "savages?"!!!)

Anyway, I was in a hurry to get to the airport to get home and was stopped at an intersection. A very pleasant volunteer who had been standing in the median walked up to my window and said "Good day, sir! Would you like to make a dollar donation to the El Paso Church of....?"

As soon as he said the word "church", I cringed and knew I would not give him any money. I told him "sorry, I don't have any change" which was a lie. If he had said any other charity name, I would have scrounged in my pocket and given at least 2 dollars.

To be honest, I feel more guilty about the lie than about refusing the donation. I should have asked "what will you do with my donation?" at the very least. But, as I said, I was in a hurry and basically said the first thing that came to mind to get him out of my face. Even though he was a very pleasant fellow and I probably would have liked to know him under different circumstances.

So, my question is, when you are "trapped" at a red light and someone approaches you soliciting funds for a cause that you are opposed to, what would you say to them? Something polite, of course, but that lets them know you disagre with their cause and are not just a "tightwad".

[Straight Shooter]

1. I ask for some of their literature so I can take it home, read it over and think about it.

You were basically ambushed, albeit in a nice manner. Who knows, maybe if you knew more of the church, you would have been inclined to give money.

But it's odd, to be soliciting in public for a church.

I lived in East Tennessee for a few years. Yes, a gorgeous state! :hi:

[cynatnite]

2. Fell in love with the beauty of this state when I was a kid...

I'm in E. TN, a RW stronghold, but the beauty of this state still takes my breath away.

You aren't the first person that's lied like this and won't be the last. I would be curious as to know where the money went.

Don't beat yourself over it. :)

[johnaries]

4. Isn't it incredible? Have you been to the Big South Fork?

Most people go to the Smoky's, which are one of the oldest mountain ranges on earth and incredibly beautiful.

But so many people miss the beauty of the Big South Fork area and the Cumberland Plateau!

It almost makes me sad for non-Tennesseans.

But again.. shhh, if everyone finds out it will get too crowded and spoil it for the rest of us.

My church? Virgin Falls. Only God could have created that work of art. I might have been an atheist if I had never seen Virgin Falls.

[MADem]

3. Sorry, I give to my own house of worship....I gave at the office...I make it a policy never to

contribute to organizations I haven't researched...give me the name of your outfit, I'll look you up and if your filings are in order, I'll consider mailing your organization a donation....

Why should you feel guilty because some sumbitch accosts you on the street and demands money, using the "church" word to guilt you out of your dough?

It's like "crippled children" or "abused and abandoned pets." Give a tug at that heartstring, it's attached to the wallet. I mean, come on--organized charities don't send bozos out grabbing people off the street with a line of fast patter. About the only exceptions are the well-advertised ones, like UNICEF at Halloween and the Sally Army at Xmas, or the Jimmy Fund at the baseball park....you know them when you see them, because they have a HISTORY and they've let people know via the media that they're out there looking for dough.

If you don't know them, you shouldn't feel guilty. The odds are better than even that the charmer was a con artist.

[johnaries]

5. Yeah, the "captured audience" at the redlight and then the "guilt"

if I'm sitting "stuck" at a redlight and someone comes up to my window, I'm much more likely to give them a buck or two if they're obviously homeless or even a national organization I'm familiar with - like Big Brothers or the Shriners.

Donate to your church that I've never heard of? I don't think so!