Give me your money or the environment gets it!

By now, we can all spot that clipboard and super enthusiastic grin from blocks away. There are the usual various tactics of avoidance: crossing the street, texting furiously, making a fake phone call, pretending you’re already a member. It wasn’t until last week that I truly realized how far people will go to get away from the grasp of a canvasser.

On my way to campus I was walking along Pioneer Courthouse Square where the usual Greenpeace street-team members were staked out on each corner. A businesswoman in her black skirt-suit approached the intersection quickly beside me. As the canvasser outstretched his hand with a friendly “Do you have a minute for the environment?” the woman glanced at him, appalled, then shot up her palm with a fierce “Not now!” She appeared to be so flustered by the exchange that she haphazardly leaped into the street just to escape any prolonged contact. An oncoming car slammed on its breaks, barely avoiding a collision with the woman. The canvasser and surrounding crowd stared, dumbfounded, as the embarrassed and thoroughly shaken woman collected herself and hurried on her way.

As I continued on to class I overhead the canvasser, clearly upset, say, “Jesus, she almost died just to not talk to me.” The entire event was pretty disturbing, and led me to ponder just how far we are willing to go to get away from donating.

I’ve been late to class and missed a bus because of canvassers on occasion, but I would never think about taking a car to the face just to get out of talking to one. I can think of a weighty list of things I find more threatening than a canvasser—bomb threats, food poisoning, bears, everyone on Craigslist Casual Encounters, etc. Canvassers are terribly friendly, after all, and don’t actually take any personal offense if you offer a polite “No thank you.” So what is it about them that so irks us as a general population?

I used to think that it was solely a question of money. Sure, it’s only a dollar per day to support a child in a third-world country, but for those who are extremely money-conscious, $365 per year doesn’t sound so peachy. We easily waste that much on non-necessities each year. It’s being pinned in the moment to sign on to something new that is intimidating.

After asking around, it seems that another issue on hand is time. As students, we usually have somewhere we need to be going, or already be at. Time management is already a massive headache, and any kind of hiccup, even a brief conversation, can seriously disrupt our schedule. Even if it is something we are interested in, the simple fact that they are impeding on where we need to go at that given moment automatically casts a negative light.

Americans in general don’t like the idea of getting suckered into anything. We strive to be independent and in control of where our time and money goes. What’s even more unattractive is being guilted into committing to something. Regardless of how valuable our dollars can be in aiding a good cause, handing over our personal information and a promise to donate automatically every month puts us off like nothing else.

Perhaps other approaches would be more effective. I prefer donating to my organizations of choice online. It takes me half a minute, between checking my email and browsing Awkward Family Photos, and my computer even pre-fills in the information for me because it’s so damn nifty! In the time that I’ve lived in Portland, I have never personally seen anyone signing up with a canvasser on the street. But the method must be working, or employing so many pro-environment and children-sponsoring cheerleaders wouldn’t be profitable.

Perhaps our view of canvassers needs to be given a fresh start. If you have the funds and the time, donating can be a very rewarding experience. But if you’re strapped for cash, don’t panic. I’m fairly sure a canvasser would take a cordial decline over watching you get squished by a Volkswagen van any day. ?