Always crossing the street to avoid charity collectors rattling tins

Quot Consumer Affairs expert Octagon Whittery writes:

” ….and probably ‘Big Issue’ sales people , students in charity tabards with clipboards wanting to get into your bank account , and characters lurking in doorways muttering something about  spare change . On so-called ‘flag days’ the only reason for crossing the street is to avoid the embarrassment of  getting that reproving look the collectors give you when you walk past them without putting anything in their tins. The simplest solution is to deposit a small contribution with first collector you meet so that you get a sticker or a poppy or something by way of a receipt which enables you pass all the other collectors without guilt. Some people manage to brazen it out by just walking past tin-rattlers and pretending they haven’t seen them . But crossing the street is a coward’s way out says the ancient city guild, the Worshipful Company of Cheapskates, Skinflints and Pennypinchers . In a statement from Cheeseparers Hall they advise that there are other ways for tightwads to get out of giving money without embarrassment or guilt. One is to look around on the pavement for stickers which will have fallen off more generous people  and to pin them to your own lapel .Then one should keep them  to re-use year after year and wear them on the appropriate flag day.

However this requires you to find out who’s collecting in advance  , so it might be better in the long run to invest in a Quotmart ‘Meanie-jacket’ which has the stickers of all charities known to fund-raise by street collections already incorporated into its design.

(Wilma Snetherington, Pangbourne) - QQQ**