4 ms·
> (e.g. in London my experience is that you'll get a positive response from pretty much any random stranger on the street unless you come across as representing
by UVB-76 12y ago
> (e.g. in London my experience is that you'll get a positive response from pretty much any random stranger on the street unless you come across as representing a charity; in England there's a word for people collecting for charities on the street: chugger - a contraction of "charity" and "mugger").
More generally, I think people just dislike being engaged in conversation by people with obvious ulterior motives.
It devalues the whole exchange when you know it's only being conducted because the other person wants to relieve you of your money.
- wpietri 12y agoYeah. Here in SF there are a variety of friendly people who hang out on busy sidewalks and try to start conversations. They are doing it to raise money for various charities. They will look miffed if you ignore their polite opening lines. Now any time somebody chats with me on the street I have to do a quick what-do-they-want evaluation. I dislike them for it; it seems to me that they're strip-mining politeness. Each time they bug me, I get a little less polite to strangers, a little more wary. I think it's especially ironic when they're begging for environmental charities, saving natural resources by spoiling human ones.
- vidarh 12y agoAbsolutely. I brought up the "chuggers" because of the contrast, mainly - Londoners have an uncanny ability to play deaf/mute/blind while walking whenever passing certain categories of people, and people often think that's the reaction they'd get if they approach someone here to talk to them too.