Post by The Lazy One on Jul 1, 2011 16:23:23 GMT -5
I wasn't sure whether or not to put this here or in Flame and Burn, but it's about a current political issue, so I'm putting it in here.
So, everyone's heard by now about how there are groups who want to make abortion illegal and defund Planned Parenthood. And that there are groups trying to counter that agenda. My rant is on the latter.
Look, I get that you're concerned about abortion rights, and that you want donations. But one, I'm broke, and two, it goes against my own standards to give my money towards something that I think is morally sketchy. Even if I didn't have that reservation, though, I still wouldn't give this group money- I've never heard of them before, and they don't even have a website, as far as I can tell. I have no idea whether or not they intend to use the money for their stated purpose- how do I know they're not going to take my money and use it to go to Vegas or something? So I politely told the women who were soliciting donations that I wasn't interested, and that I was only at the shopping center to buy some fireworks for the Fourth of July (which I was).
Immediately, both of them started trying to guilt-trip me. "Oh, you know, women are going to die if you don't give us this money! Do you not care that your rights are being taken away?" Again, I repeated myself that I did not wish to make a donation, and then I went towards the fireworks stand. And they followed me. They didn't say anything else to me, but sort of hovered around watching as I picked up some fireworks, shooting me glares.
When I got home I tried to look them up on the Internet, but there's no record of them anywhere online, which makes me think it was a couple of scammers, but in case it's not, is it even legal to harass people for money in public places? Because that was extremely irritating. I don't need a rant on why I supposedly hate myself when I'm trying to pick up some damn explody things. And because I don't know whether or not this organization was legitimate, I'm struggling with whether or not to call the police.
Has anyone ever had to deal with anything like that? Is the behavior even legal? I mean, as far as I know, my state isn't even trying to defund Planned Parenthood or anything, so did I just piss off some scammers?
So, everyone's heard by now about how there are groups who want to make abortion illegal and defund Planned Parenthood. And that there are groups trying to counter that agenda. My rant is on the latter.
Look, I get that you're concerned about abortion rights, and that you want donations. But one, I'm broke, and two, it goes against my own standards to give my money towards something that I think is morally sketchy. Even if I didn't have that reservation, though, I still wouldn't give this group money- I've never heard of them before, and they don't even have a website, as far as I can tell. I have no idea whether or not they intend to use the money for their stated purpose- how do I know they're not going to take my money and use it to go to Vegas or something? So I politely told the women who were soliciting donations that I wasn't interested, and that I was only at the shopping center to buy some fireworks for the Fourth of July (which I was).
Immediately, both of them started trying to guilt-trip me. "Oh, you know, women are going to die if you don't give us this money! Do you not care that your rights are being taken away?" Again, I repeated myself that I did not wish to make a donation, and then I went towards the fireworks stand. And they followed me. They didn't say anything else to me, but sort of hovered around watching as I picked up some fireworks, shooting me glares.
When I got home I tried to look them up on the Internet, but there's no record of them anywhere online, which makes me think it was a couple of scammers, but in case it's not, is it even legal to harass people for money in public places? Because that was extremely irritating. I don't need a rant on why I supposedly hate myself when I'm trying to pick up some damn explody things. And because I don't know whether or not this organization was legitimate, I'm struggling with whether or not to call the police.
Has anyone ever had to deal with anything like that? Is the behavior even legal? I mean, as far as I know, my state isn't even trying to defund Planned Parenthood or anything, so did I just piss off some scammers?
