I don't personally find the bell ringing nearly as obnoxious as their discrimination and religious message. The iPad giving sounds like a good idea, but I agre

I don't personally find the bell ringing nearly as obnoxious as their discrimination and religious message. The iPad giving sounds like a good idea, but I agree with Livney, I hope people don't use it as another way to avoid human contact. Even when I don't give to beggars (which is most of the time), I look people in the eye and say, "I'm sorry, I don't have any," and genuinely wish them luck. I've NEVER had a negative response from that, and mostly very positive results - "Thank you, that's ok, have a good evening, god bless" etc. I can only imagine how much it sucks to be treated like a non-entity all day, regardless of why you're there. Sometimes it's best to think: There but by the grace of god go I. (Uncapitalized cuz I don't believe in anything, but the sentiment is a powerful one.) We don't know sometimes how just one little bit of turned luck could have landed us in their position. Sure, individual initiative and blah blah is great… or is that just an excuse we give ourselves for not caring?