What say you?

[Grace]

I absolutely agree. Retired, on a fixed income, I'm really careful where my extra money goes. We give to two animal welfare organizations and church.

If that fireman thing had happened in my town, I think I would have called the police and complained that traffic was being obstructed.

My biggest pet peeve are the phone calls from all sorts of charities - some I've never heard of before. I usually interrupt them and say we don't respond to phone solicitations - then hang up.

[cassiesmom]

"The Stoplight Stickup" - Chicago Tribune, 9/1/10

Green means go. Yellow means caution. And red means roll down your window and donate your parking meter change to a worthy cause. Weekends, it seems, are all about running errands and dodging solicitors in intersections.

Firefighters urge motorists to "fill the boot" to fight muscular dystrophy. Teenagers plead for donations for the marching band's trip to California. Volunteers ask for support for the local homeless shelter, for cancer research, for unwanted pets.

But that traffic signal is there for a reason: Intersections are dangerous places. The busier the corner, the greater its potential for fundraising — and for trouble. A few weeks ago, Homewood village trustees voted to ban fundraising at intersections. Other communities are considering tighter rules or outright bans.

Homewood officials say they just want to shepherd the solicitors to safer locations, like storefronts and train stations. A representative for the Muscular Dystrophy Association who attended the meeting said, not surprisingly, that collections are three to four times as high at intersections. No wonder they're so crowded.

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I put in a buck to help fill the boot. I also put in a buck for Kiwanis, VFW poppies, Misericordia tag day, and the Lions. If it is kids raising money for their youth group trip I might think twice. I guess it just depends on the organization and what the traffic is doing.

I walk past tables with Girl Scouts and their parents selling cookies and Boy Scouts and their parents selling popcorn. No can do.

Requests for money in the mail usually get tossed. If I want to donate I know where to find you. Also, I've found that they tend to multiply.

[Catherinedana]

Street solicitation AND selling of newspapers in the middle of the street is now illegal in St Pete, FL. woo hoo!

[Laura's Babies]

When I lived in Pensacola, there was always someone at the traffic lights collecting for something and I didn't like it and thought it should be banned. Bad enough you got crazy drivers out there without having to deal with that too!

I give where I WANT to, not where I am cornered. If they were at my bank door, I would have left and called the bank and voiced my opinion and warned them if it happened again, I would be finding another bank!

[Medusa]

If they were at my bank door, I would have left and called the bank and voiced my opinion and warned them if it happened again, I would be finding another bank!

Well, they weren't at the bank doors but to the entrances and exits to the bank parking lot. You couldn't drive in or out w/o them stopping you. Pretty clever, huh? I guess they figure when you come out of the bank you'll have money on you. And I did complain to the bank. I told them that it's unsafe, especially considering that they're standing not on the side of the street but right in the middle of it and that I give b/c I want to and not b/c someone shoves a boot in my face for the fire fighters. One teller there agreed w/me but the bank mgr. wasn't there today. (Of course. Any other day she's there and chats w/me.)

[Medusa]

Homewood officials say they just want to shepherd the solicitors to safer locations, like storefronts and train stations.

Better but not good enough. I'm tired of being accosted and a train station is hardly a safe place to take your money out. My local grocery store is one of the worst offenders; girl/boy scouts, HS soccer teams, disabled veterans, the blind, the deaf, church groups, you name it. They ask you when you go in AND when you come out. Inside the store there are sales people trying to get you to buy their product. One man walked up to me yesterday and actually walked beside me as I shopped down the aisle. Finally I said "May I shop now?" and he left me alone after that. It isn't even so much that they ask for donations; it's the manner in which they ask. I feel as though I'm in a live video game or a pinball machine, dodging all these people.

[Husky_mom]

I hate (sorry if word is too strong).. when they ask, as Mary said, on your way in and in your way out.. it even happened to me at my work place, which I went in and out like 10 times or more and all times I was asked.. come on!!..

some causes are worth giving... IMO school trips and such are not.. at least for me.. I give but only when I feel like it.. there´s always this feeling i get with certain people young or old.. disabled or not.. I just get it sometimes adn it makes me give...

at the supermarket they always ask if you wanna round up your tab which I mostly do.. and maybe I wouldn´t because it´s supposed to go to an organization but it never shows up as you donating.. it all ends as the store donating and a way for them to get taxes back .. but since it´s almost a few cents which you won´t get back in change anyway.. (the lowest coin in cents we have is 10 so if it´s not rounded to that... and even at times, it almost always gets rounded to 50 cents )

[Medusa]

I hate (sorry if word is too strong).. when they ask, as Mary said, on your way in and in your way out.. it even happened to me at my work place, which I went in and out like 10 times or more and all times I was asked.. come on!!..

some causes are worth giving... IMO school trips and such are not.. at least for me.. I give but only when I feel like it.. there´s always this feeling i get with certain people young or old.. disabled or not.. I just get it sometimes adn it makes me give...

at the supermarket they always ask if you wanna round up your tab which I mostly do.. and maybe I wouldn´t because it´s supposed to go to an organization but it never shows up as you donating.. it all ends as the store donating and a way for them to get taxes back .. but since it´s almost a few cents which you won´t get back in change anyway.. (the lowest coin in cents we have is 10 so if it´s not rounded to that... and even at times, it almost always gets rounded to 50 cents )

Yep, I forgot about that. Our grocery store always asks "Would you like to donate $1 or more to the literacy program?" or the "Harvest for Hunger" program or whatever one they come up w/that week. The only one that I welcome is the Salvation Army during the holidays. Yet they're not allowed to ring their bell b/c the store says it annoys customers, so they hold up a sign that says "Ding" on one side and "Dong" on the other side. Oh but it's ok for girls to scream right at your face "Would you like to buy some Girl Scout cookies?". I told one girl "I'm standing right here. There's no need to shout. And no, I wouldn't." The local Pizza Hut has young girls in short shorts holding signs and yelling at drivers to come in for a $5 pizza. It's just ridiculous!

Maybe I should set up a table at the grocery store or stand in the middle of the road w/a shopping bag and say "Would you like to donate to a 14 year divorcee who is short of funds b/c she donated so much money to everyone else?" Think they'll fall for it?

[happylabs]

I think it is very inappropriate to solicit money in that way.

I worry about giving to these fire companies and other organizations because there have been so many inside thefts from employees or representatives handling the money. It seems almost weekly we hear on the news here in Pennsylvania that someone handling the money has taken money from the fire company, school function, business, etc. Even charities!

[Freedom]

Hmm, I am really surprised at this thread. But reading through the comments, I can understand, I guess.

We don't have solicitations around here. So every Labor Day weekend, it is traditional to see the firefighters out there to fill the boot for Muscular Dystrophy. Jerry Lewis hosts (used to host?) the weekend telethon. Which I grew up watching, either at home or away on camping trips -- where the whole campground tuned in.

And, whether home or camping, we all wait for that "big moment," when some of our local firefighters show up in the local station to turn in what they collected from our community. CHEERS, APPLAUSE and at the campground, we used to go really crazy as we knew the fellows at the small station which served the area.

All part of Labor Day weekend, like having a parade for July 4th. As I said, it is a tradition. So coming from this background, the whole thread surprises me.