WIBU to ask a perfectly valid question?

[CrapBag]

Watching some fireworks last night when a bloke comes up shaking a collection bucket and asking if we want to donate to charity.

I had literally nothing on me so I mentioned it to DH who was stood a little way away as I didn't actually want to say "no thanks" as it wouldn't sound very good to a charity collector.

Whilst DH was looking for some change I asked the man, in a chatty tone of voice, which charity he was collecting for and he seemed surprised and put out that I asked. He just said "oh loads of different ones" then when I just looked at him, he said it got split between them, one was for a local band, mumbled something about meals (but didn't make it clear it was something like feeding people who couldn't afford it which would be far more deserving than a band). He really didn't seem to like my question which I felt was valid and would affect how much money I would give (I know I didn't have any at the time but I would have specified to DH, who couldn't hear me talking to the man, if it had been a good cause).

I am all in favour of charity but I am quite choosy about them. There are too many to support them all so I like to choose ones that really matter to me, a local band does not.

WIBU? I do think he was genuine btw and not some random person with a bucket.

Doesn't sound genuine to me. Someone with a bucket collecting money for...himself maybe?!

Yanbu. A chugger I knew used to wear her bib thingy at festivals and collect money for herself. I would have reported her only I was afraid of her and she lived in thw same house!

Unfortunately sounds a bit dodgy. People who collect are usually well informed and enthusiastic promoters. I think the round table share their collection with a few different local charities (as I was with the Beavers collecting last Christmas and found out our local group was part of this charity. We were all given tabard with this on but I wasn't able to give out much information just that Beavers we receiving a part of it along with other local charities - a lot of it is good faith). If its a single collector they usually wear a lanyard with identification on it.

It was one of those charity buckets, with the lid where the money slides down inside, not a random garden bucket. I really thought he was genuine and just pissed off that I was questioning the charities the money was going too, unless he wasn't genuine and was pissed off because he had a shit answer.

He was a random person with a bucket. I know someone who used to drag her kids into the city centre every Children in Need day - with her bucket. She spent it in the pub.

He probably nicked that charity bucket - that's what the woman above did.

He might have had something on (lanyard type thing), I can't remember as it was dark and I was trying to watch the fireworks, I think he had some sort of tabard on.

If he was genuine he could have shown you his ID and told you the actual name of the charity.

Definitely dodgy.

I think you are right to think this way. Could have been some bloke collecting for his beer money. Difficult one really as even if he did give you the name of the charity how do you know it was genuine. I sound really mean but there are so many dishonest people out there now days which give the nice caring real charity collectors a bad name.