To be annoyed at the chugger who shouted excuse me redhead!

[LittleMissGerardButlersMinion]

I always say no thank you to chuggers, as when I donate to charity I do it myself, never when I am approached.

Anyway one today shouted 'excuse me redhead' which I thought was very rude!

AIBU to think this was rude and get annoyed? I hate being called a redhead.

I still politely said no thank you and walked off, but inside I wanted to say 'did you mean to be so rude'

I'm not sure it's rude as such to say redhead. I've been called out to as 'Hello, Grumpy!' by one chugger. If I wasn't grumpy before he spoke to me....

Between my office and station you have to run the gamut of about 5 chuggers usually all from the same charity. What baffles me is that they must be worth it to the charities otherwise this loathsome new feature of our high streets would have died out by now....

You should have replied, 'Can I help you, knobhead?'

I am very good at avoiding them as is dd. I have taught her well.

I am howling with laughter at this thread.

Chuggers are amazing. I can't work out whether I hate them for their general annoyingness or admire them for their outrageous cheek.

Ah yes, the fake flirt as someone said upthread. I had this recently from a 21 year old used car saleman. I'm 43 and really not his type.

I thought "come on, son...."

Are you a redhead? Surely it is purely descriptive if so?

Would you shout "Excuse me, darkie" to attract a black person's attention? Surely that's also purely descriptive?

Ditto fattie, skinny, horseface, beanpole, shortstop, foureyes... Any number of "purely descriptive" terms that are actually not very nice at all

I just tell them ive not got a bank account, soon shuts them up.

I'm going to remember some of these replies for next time :o love the Vicky pollard one!

Yes I am a redhead, but don't like being referred to as one. After years of being bullied for it maybe it makes me more sensitive than I should be!!

Did you also know that "chugger" is a very impolite term too?

Chugger is impolite yes but boy do some of them deserve it!
I think it's the way they home in on you or seem to spring out from behind street furniture that means the name suits some of them.

YANBU. After years of abuse for my hair colour I have now learnt to love it.
As purplepidgin days, you wouldn't call "excuse me, darkie" to get a black person's attention would you. What's wrong with "excuse me Miss/Madam/Sir"?

surely it is purely descriptive

I'm prepared to put money on the guess that no charity collector would address a bloke by saying "oi, red" or whatever it was. "Oi, specky foureyes" - possibly.

Very bad form.

I was told very solemnly by one the other day that actually it is a good way of raising money and very cost effective. I congratulated him and told him to enjoy polishing his halo...

If I don't manage to avoid them I always hate whichever group they're collecting for. I've hated puppies (well, animals in general), children, old people, foreign people ... you name it I've hated it. I count it a win if they shout 'weirdo' after me down the street. (I think I give to charities that work with all of those groups in real life)

It has to be a horrible job, but I do try to avoid them, they have to make an effort to talk to me so I don't feel too bad about messing them around.

'Hellooooooo squinty eyed lady' was what I got at the weekend, they are wankers they really are.

*Yikes, badly expressed. The point was not that any chugger would really address anyone as foureyes in the real world. The point, which probabyl doesn't need to be made clear but I will anyway, is that it's an arrogant way to address someone in the same way that four-eyes would be!

I had "hello yummy mummy" the other day. He was very lucky to leave with his nose still attached to his face.

I don't think that being called a redhead is even remotely as insulting as being called 'four-eyes', 'darkie' or 'fatty' is it?

It seems very odd to address someone by a characteristic like that but I think that anybody who objects to being called a redhead is being very unreasonable. It's something to be proud of.

They are paid pretty well though, much higher than minimum wage. People must sign up otherwise the charities would stop doing this.

YANBU it's seriously rude, for the reasons pp have said.

The thing I hate most is the over-familiarity. They turn up at my house around 7pm (just as I'm about to take kids up for bath etc) on an almost daily basis. I am always polite but they unfailingly look at me with undisguised disgust and anger when if I say sorry, no. Wtf? You have turned up at my door and are pissed off with me for not just signing away money because you ask?? Wankers. It's bad enough when they try and grab you on the street, but knocking on people's doors is an appallingly aggressive tactic.

Some of them also say, as soon as I open the door, "oh don't worry I'm not here for money" Well what the fuck else do you call asking me to sign up for a direct debit, you knob?

GrandadGrumps
It's not about the perceived level of insult. It's about the assumption that it's acceptable to address someone by a definition of a physical characteristic, which has overtones of an assumed power balance, usually gender related. Would you seriously expect to see a male charity worker addressing a beefy red headed bloke as "excuse me, red?" No, but it's fine if it's a male charity worker addressing a woman.

It's not just the nature of the "redhead" description that I would be offended by if I was the op, but the fact that a stranger would think it ok to address me by using a description of my looks. Overfamiliar and inappropriate to do this to anyone.

YANBU. I hate chuggers. None of them are 0.1% as cute or funny as they think they are.

I wish they'd all fuck off and die.

It's obviously not good social etiquette but having seen the poor bloke chugging on 100% commission on Benefits Street this week in desperation for work, it's not surprising that the people doing the job go a bit mad and act inappropriately. Perhaps this tactic is actually more successful than being polite?

The government should really do us all a favour and make chugging illegal, then desperate people won't turn to it when they can't get a proper job.

I agree MrsSteptoe, it's a very rude way of addressing someone - but not on the same level as 'darkie' or 'four-eyes' as suggested.

I assume from the other comments that these people are actually trained to address people in this way. That's the only explanation I can think of for anybody saying anything like "Hello, Grumpy!" or "Excuse me blondie" to someone they don't know. Don't they do this to men as well as women then? Is it really a gender thing?

Thinking about it I might quite possibly have been addressed as 'Grumpy' by one of them at some time. No doubt I responded appropriately.

In fact I clearly remember it now and never having been spoken to like that before by someone in the street I spent the next few minutes checking my reflection in shop windows to see if I really do look grumpy when I'm not.

It turns out I do.