Besieged by canvassers!
I'm going to resist the temptation to embellish this story so I seem either really nice or really witty--I want to know what people think about exactly what happened.
I went to Whole Foods to pick up some lunch, and also buy some supplies to bring home for Thanksgiving. After waiting in line for a somewhat long time, I got run up and realized...I didn't have my wallet.
My journey to work today was pretty hectic, with a particularly crowded bike shuttle and getting stuck in a rain storm, so I was worried I'd left it somewhere crazy. I walked out of the store, dialing my boss as I walked to see if I'd left it on my desk. At this point I'm pretty concerned and also angry and hungry which makes me even more angry.
There were two canvassers from the ACLU outside. One of them gave a canned "Hello!" as I walked not particularly close to her while ON THE PHONE. As I didn't reply, she proceeded to complain loudly about me to her fellow canvasser. I turned and said--
Me: Does being passive aggressive make people want to give you money?Her (furious): Does ignoring people trying to say hello to you make you feel better about yourself?
Me: No, but sometimes I'm in a hurry or don't want to talk...I just lost my wallet, and right now I'm trying to find it.
Her: Well you can at least say hello.
Me: Have you ever been on the other side of this?
Her: I get canvassed all the time! All the time!
Me: And you always stop whatever you're doing to have a full conversation with them?
Her: I say "hello."
Me: It's a really awkward situation either way...I don't know how saying "hi" and then ignoring you would make it any better.
Her: ...I'm sorry. It's just been a really rough day.
Me: Yeah well...you don't know what anyone else's day was like so maybe you shouldn't judge them.
I biked back to work, got my wallet, and came back to Whole Foods and bought my groceries. I told the person at the customer service desk that the canvassers were behaving inappropriately (and she said she'd ask them to move further away from the entrance.
When I came out, they were gone.
What do you think?
I'll be the first to acknowledge that drawing her into a prolonged surly conversation is kind of over the top and somewhat undermines my claim that I was in a hurry.
But more significantly, I think people have a fundamental right to not engage with strangers if they choose not to. I dislike canvassers in principle-liberal arts grads working on commission for a private company trying to talk strangers into a charity scheme that doensn't really make sense-but I do think they have a right to do what they're doing. Don't I have a right to not engage with them?
I went to Whole Foods to pick up some lunch, and also buy some supplies to bring home for Thanksgiving. After waiting in line for a somewhat long time, I got run up and realized...I didn't have my wallet.
My journey to work today was pretty hectic, with a particularly crowded bike shuttle and getting stuck in a rain storm, so I was worried I'd left it somewhere crazy. I walked out of the store, dialing my boss as I walked to see if I'd left it on my desk. At this point I'm pretty concerned and also angry and hungry which makes me even more angry.
There were two canvassers from the ACLU outside. One of them gave a canned "Hello!" as I walked not particularly close to her while ON THE PHONE. As I didn't reply, she proceeded to complain loudly about me to her fellow canvasser. I turned and said--
Me: Does being passive aggressive make people want to give you money?Her (furious): Does ignoring people trying to say hello to you make you feel better about yourself?
Me: No, but sometimes I'm in a hurry or don't want to talk...I just lost my wallet, and right now I'm trying to find it.
Her: Well you can at least say hello.
Me: Have you ever been on the other side of this?
Her: I get canvassed all the time! All the time!
Me: And you always stop whatever you're doing to have a full conversation with them?
Her: I say "hello."
Me: It's a really awkward situation either way...I don't know how saying "hi" and then ignoring you would make it any better.
Her: ...I'm sorry. It's just been a really rough day.
Me: Yeah well...you don't know what anyone else's day was like so maybe you shouldn't judge them.
I biked back to work, got my wallet, and came back to Whole Foods and bought my groceries. I told the person at the customer service desk that the canvassers were behaving inappropriately (and she said she'd ask them to move further away from the entrance.
When I came out, they were gone.
What do you think?
I'll be the first to acknowledge that drawing her into a prolonged surly conversation is kind of over the top and somewhat undermines my claim that I was in a hurry.
But more significantly, I think people have a fundamental right to not engage with strangers if they choose not to. I dislike canvassers in principle-liberal arts grads working on commission for a private company trying to talk strangers into a charity scheme that doensn't really make sense-but I do think they have a right to do what they're doing. Don't I have a right to not engage with them?