Comedy Gold
Fuckers. I won't shop there for anything this Christmas, or maybe ever.
They banned the bell ringers! What sort of fucknuts do you have to be to ban something like that? I don't know if this is just an Indiana thing or not, but it really pissed me off. They don't do anything but stand there in whatever shitty weather we have and ring a goddamned bell. They're a bloody holiday tradition, and Target bans them. Fuckers.
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This one time, at Jania Arindelil camp:
Fuckers. I won't shop there for anything this Christmas, or maybe ever.
They banned the bell ringers! What sort of fucknuts do you have to be to ban something like that? I don't know if this is just an Indiana thing or not, but it really pissed me off. They don't do anything but stand there in whatever shitty weather we have and ring a goddamned bell. They're a bloody holiday tradition, and Target bans them. Fuckers.
What, the Salvation Army people that collect money for the poor?
Guess they figured any money that is donated to them is less money spent on their products.
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Jania Arindelil had this to say about Cuba:
Fuckers. I won't shop there for anything this Christmas, or maybe ever.
They banned the bell ringers! What sort of fucknuts do you have to be to ban something like that? I don't know if this is just an Indiana thing or not, but it really pissed me off. They don't do anything but stand there in whatever shitty weather we have and ring a goddamned bell. They're a bloody holiday tradition, and Target bans them. Fuckers.
They wha?!? 
That's seriously fucked up. Hell, for alot of people, that IS the sound of Christmas shopping. It's like a Pavlovian (sp?) response: Hear the bell, Christmas shop. It hits them even before they get in the door. And if they feel guilty about what they've spent, they can drop some moeny in the bucket to make themselves feel better.
Don't get me wrong, I find this morally upsetting too, but what the hell are they thinking? Financially, this sounds like a bad idea to me.
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Sorry, Santa Claus: Bell-ringers banned
The Salvation Armys red kettles and ringing bells wont herald this holiday season at the Medford Target store, officials said Wednesday.A change in national policy by Target Corp. will eliminate the charity from the department stores here and across the country.
"It is going to be true," said Kenny Farr, manager of the Medford store, who said he received a companywide memo about the change.
Thats hardly cheery news to officials at the Salvation Army Medford Citadel, where Target has been the agencys third most popular kettle collection site.
Last year, contributions at Target racked up more than $8,000 of the $100,000 in total kettle income, said Development Director Carrie Hanson.
Only the areas two Fred Meyer stores bring in more kettle donations, she said.
"Its just too bad," Hanson said. "Theyve been a wonderful community partner."
National news reports indicate that Target Corp., which operates 1,272 stores in 47 states, decided earlier this year to end a longtime agreement that allowed the Salvation Army to solicit funds at its stores.
"I understood they would no longer be able to justify allowing us in when they turn away thousands of other requests," Hanson said.
Kettle collections make up a portion of the local Salvation Armys $2 million annual budget. The Target collections in particular provided funds that paid for 356 bed nights at the agencys transitional shelter, 1,069 hot meals and 822 food boxes for needy families, Hanson said.
"The loss of income means the potential loss of services for people," she said.
Thanks not right at all.
And its not like I dont already give money to the poor. Its called Taxes.
And on top of that, Target is doing this because of customer complaints. Thats right. Thier customers.. the people who shopped there.. asked them to stop it.
Those of you claiming to pretty much boycott Target over this..
Honestly.. how often do you shop there now?
Oh yeah, forgot.. How many of you have ever volunteered to BE bellringers? I have been a Bellringer myself. I can speak from both ends of this thing, how many of you can say the same? Kaiote fucked around with this message on 11-24-2004 at 09:16 AM.
Thinking about your posts
(and billing you for it) since 2001
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Norim Stumpfighter had this to say about the Spice Girls:
it sucks, but they better not have any fucking donation buckets or anything on their property. if they're gonna cancel all charitable stuff, i can understand that, but they better not just be getting rid of the salvation army ringers
Actually, the Salvation Army was the only charity they had previously allowed on their grounds. And now they are going to be uniform about their solicitation policies and not allow them there anymore.
I dont see anything wrong with it. What happened is that they probably got enough complaints from customers.
I've been on the recieving end of kindness from the salvation army. I nearly died a year ago and couldn't work. My kids nearly didn't get Christmas.
Oh yes, And a BAH HUMBUG to you too!
I, on the other hand, do give to the bellringers if I have some change in my pocket. I have done bellringing before, and let me tell you, its not really all that fun. People think you're begging from them, when really all you are doing is making the charity more accessible. Standing out in the cold, ringing a bell is probably not someone's idea of a fun way to spend your night, but they do it anyway.
The only problem I have with bellringers is when they actually start asking you for money. Standing back and ringing the bell is fine. Everyone knows what you are out there doing, and what the collection kettle is for. When you start asking passers-by for money, thats when it annoys me.
Lyinar Ka`Bael, Piney Fresh Druidess - Luclin
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Lyinar Ka`Bael Model 2000 was programmed to say:
I've never had a bellringer ask for anything, just say thank you and merry christmas and such when I put money in the kettle. I've never gotten looks if I didn't put any in, either.
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Lyinar Ka`Bael spewed forth this undeniable truth:
I've never had a bellringer ask for anything, just say thank you and merry christmas and such when I put money in the kettle. I've never gotten looks if I didn't put any in, either.
Ditto, and they're outside just about every large store in the area here. (Which is a lot, I live in the capital).
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Lyinar Ka`Bael had this to say about Reading Rainbow:
I've never had a bellringer ask for anything, just say thank you and merry christmas and such when I put money in the kettle. I've never gotten looks if I didn't put any in, either.
^^^^ I've also done bellringing before. Fun times. Okay, not really. But people are really nice to ya, one guy got me a cup of hot chocolate. 
--Satan, quoted by John Milton
My Mom used to go to the Salvation Army church back in Greenville. Had a lot of friends, did a lot of work with the SA. They have rules about not guilting people, not panhandling, etc. You ring the bell, you're polite to the people. It's not a guilt thing. Likewise, unlike giving to things like the Red Cross, an insanely high percentage of the money the SA takes in goes to charity rather than getting gobbled up by the bureaucracy. I've never felt giving to the SA was a bad idea. I don't always have cash on me, especially since I've started using my debit card for pretty much everything, but if it's me buying a drink at school or dropping a buck or two in the kettle, I'll go the kettle route.
Most people go on about how they feel guilty. If you feel guilty, it's in your own head. Some creepy SA ghost isn't going to chase you to your home and rattle their bell all night like the spectre of Jacob Marley. Give if you feel able or willing to do so, feel good. If you can't or don't want to, don't feel bad. Take some responsibility for yourself.
As for the commercial...eh. Target commercials tend to be fairly boring. The red and white theme on everything gets old. Not as bad, commercial-wise, as say...Old Navy, but pretty close.
sigpic courtesy of This Guy, original modified by me
It isnt that big a deal to not be right at the door.
Being 10 or 20 feet away, especially if its a covered area, gives you more space and more people will walk to you instead of hurry'n past.
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Elvish Crack Piper had this to say about John Romero:
Old Navy commercials are full of the great satan :-/It isnt that big a deal to not be right at the door.
Being 10 or 20 feet away, especially if its a covered area, gives you more space and more people will walk to you instead of hurry'n past.
exactly
sigpic courtesy of This Guy, original modified by me
- People who stand in front of your car in your own driveway and demand money.
- Panhandlers who stay at atms at night. WHat the fuck is wrong with them. These people piss me off more than any other, especially becuase i know at one point a scared old lady will be withdrwaing her money alone as they stand right where the camrea can't see them.
- People at the gas station. "Here, smell this perfume." Here jackass, look at my finger. The wrost of these are the most common - "i'm scared of the city and need money for gas to go home." Then they offer you their lisence or some shit to prove they will pay you back, knowing they will say no. Some don't even have the common decency to remember they tried you a few days ago.
- The people who say they haven't eaten in days etc etc at the mall. My favorite was when the guy just stood up and walked away full of energy when he realised we knew he was full of shit, turning from bum to homie in a few seconds.
- People pretending to be part of charities asking for money. I broke out laughing when the guy he tired before me saud "wait, i thought he was asking for money for CANCER research."
It's people like this that drove me out of the city (7th dangerous in the nation, according to last week's news). I now live in new britain. You know what, I can pump gas or buy food at the store without being harassed. In fact, people smile and wave and say hi and are generally friendly. I was only asked for money by a stranger while pumping gass ONCE in my new area.
Anyhow, because the expreicnes that made me jaded, my problems with the bellringers would be.
- If they approached customers and asked for money
- If they aren't verified that they work for the salvation army.
- Not knowing how much of the money goes the salvation army vs overhead costs.
Now if Target could verify that the money went to the salvation army and they do nothing more than ring a bell and not come up to people though, then I don't see a problem with them staying. However, it's Target's choice weather or not to follow up on that information, which costs resources. diadem fucked around with this message on 11-24-2004 at 03:53 PM.
--Satan, quoted by John Milton
2. The Salvation Army in every area maintains a list of where they are and are not, and usually the local Sergeant (the duder in charge in a given area) goes and checks up on them. Likewise, the SA doesn't just put people in front of a store; they ASK PERMISSION FROM THE STORE. I know of one time someone was running a scam in Greenville (I lived there for fifteen years and never heard of it any other times). There was an SA guy outside a Kroger, and the Kroger manager was sort of miffed that the SA didn't ask before stationing someone there so he called them and they said they'd asked the night manager, the night manager had said no, so they didn't have anyone there. Turns out the guy was a scam artist and he got arrested.
3. The SA in your area can usually produce relatively up-to-date numbers on percentage used on charity vs percentage used on bureaucratic costs. They're pretty proud, as I recall, of being one of the big national agencies that's usually in the top three or top five that don't "lose" massive amounts in the bureaucracy, so they're usually not too shy about sharing information. I know the SA in Greenville used to talk to the newspapers in Greenville every year after Christmas to let them know how much they had raised in the Christmas Season and they always told the newspapers how much of the gathered funds went to charities and how much were swallowed in the bureaucratic costs.
If you've had a bad experience with troublemakers, that's okay. You don't have to feel guilty with not giving to the SA. If you don't mind giving, that's fine too. But insinuating the SA are "panhandlers" is an inaccuracy, and a rather negative one at that.
sigpic courtesy of This Guy, original modified by me
I wish there were more organizations that were run like that. From the sound of it there are so many bad apples running their bad name.
Did target give a reason for no SA, or was it just to stop favoritism?
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diadem had this to say about Optimus Prime:
Did target give a reason for no SA, or was it just to stop favoritism?
Apparently they're just sick of dealing with having charities and organizations camping outside collecting donations or selling cookies.
It happens at the mall in Hampton all the time. I dont carry cash much, and it makes you feel like an ass when you say out loud in front of 15 people, "I dont have any money for you."
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Ja'Deth Issar Ka'bael thought about the meaning of life:
If you've had a bad experience with troublemakers, that's okay. You don't have to feel guilty with not giving to the SA. If you don't mind giving, that's fine too. But insinuating the SA are "panhandlers" is an inaccuracy, and a rather negative one at that.
Umm..
Somebody stands there, outside a place where they assume you will have money, and asks for money, without giving you anything in return, but thier thanks, and a smile. If they have a tin cup, worn out clothes, and a corn cob pipe, they are a begger, and not worth your time, but if they have a BELL...
OMG, I see your point.. Its not panhandling if you do it with a santa hat on, and a bell in your hand.
Just because its for a good cause, doesnt mean its not begging.
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From the book of Kaiote, chapter 3, verse 16:
Umm..Somebody stands there, outside a place where they assume you will have money, and asks for money, without giving you anything in return, but thier thanks, and a smile. If they have a tin cup, worn out clothes, and a corn cob pipe, they are a begger, and not worth your time, but if they have a BELL...
OMG, I see your point.. Its not panhandling if you do it with a santa hat on, and a bell in your hand.
Just because its for a good cause, doesnt mean its not begging.
You need a big cup of STFU.
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Arrenn Lightblade wrote, obviously thinking too hard:
You need a big cup of STFU.
Whats wrong? Truth irritate you?
Did you miss the part where I mentioned I had been a bellringer for SA before? It IS begging, its just begging for others. Bell and a Bucket dont change that.
And just to add more fuel here.. My wife and I give to the salvation army ANYWAY. Just not at christmas. Because at Christmas, they annoy the FUCK out of me. So we give at other times of the year.
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Arrenn Lightblade wrote this then went back to looking for porn:
Truth? No. The fact that you are being a total douchebag is what is irritating me. You have no obligation to give to the SA. They are simply there to remind you that some other families are not as fortunate as others, and can't afford christmas things on their own.
And thats my fault how?
And they are there to ask for money. Why else would they have the little bucket for holding the money?
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So quoth Kaiote:
And thats my fault how?And they are there to ask for money. Why else would they have the little bucket for holding the money?
You're right. Not your fault. How foolish of me to think you had emotions.
They are tariff'n Mcdonalds.
But Fuck Be all If I have to Walk through the little Midget squads of sports teams/cheerleaders panhandleing all year round and the asswipe parents make comments about not giveing money. What really pisses me off is most of the teams and or Cheerleaders are from Public school, were they already get a loins share of the danmed funding, Fuck them all, I already give them more than enough in my danmed taxes.
