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 think someone shouting 'Excuse me, blonde(ie)' or 'Excuse me, brunette' is just as bad. And I'd be interested to know if they address men in the same terms.

I'd contact the charity and complain, personally. But then I quite like a fight

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

This!! ^^

Calling someone 'redhead' is in absolutely no way the same as calling someone 'darkie'. What a stupid thing to say.

The rudest comment I ever had from a chugger was 'your baby is so small, wow you have done well to shift the baby weight'.

Needless to say I did not sign up for a direct debit...

I've been called 'Blondie' and it does my fucking head in.

I can't stand chuggers.

I avoid our local shopping centre because of them and shop online instead. I don't understand why shops don't put their foot down about them harassing customers or potential customers.

I actually have a couple of DD for charities totally about £10 per month despite being hardly flush for cash at the moment.

Yet, if you say 'No, I already donate to charity.' the chuggers do the whole 'Yeah, yeah.' and thing and make you feel a) irritated, b) like a liar and c) guilty.

I'm amazed there aren't more assaults on chuggers. I'm quite mild mannered and difficult to wind up but even I want to batter them when they do the whole 'yummy mummy' spiel on me.

As a lifelong member of the redhead club and a former street fundraiser, I can say in all certainty that the term 'Chugger' is far more insulting then being called a redhead! Why is it so unacceptable for someone to reference the colour of your hair but, totally acceptable to discriminate against someone for the job that they are doing?

It is a common misconception that charity fundraisers get paid highly when in reality, they are paid only marginally more that the national minimum wage to stand outside in all weather conditions, being abused verbally by passers by to raise awareness and long term donations for charities that are doing stirling work both in the UK and around the world. And, yes, they do make these charities a small fortune, is that really so bad?
I myself fundraised for 4 long years (right up to the 8th month of my first pregnancy), I was spat at, told to go back to the brothel I came out of, sworn at and threatened with violence on many occassions.... So, forgive me if I find all the 'chugger' bashing a tough pill to swallow!!

Ready to get 'flamed' now..............

GrandadGrumps
On a serious note, yes, I do believe it's gendered, and when I say gendered I use it in the wider sense - in other words, in the sense that you can argue that a man can have characteristics that are associated with femininity. To put it at its most basic, I can't imagine that a bloke would address a more powerful-looking bloke who happens to have red hair as "Red". You only do it to someone who looks like they don't deserve your respect. Because they clearly aren't getting your respect. When you're actually asking them for money, that seems to me to be on a bewildering level of arrogance.

Finally, if we were going to rank it, yes, I'd say it's worse to use racial epithets. But my point is that we are discussing the same principle so I wouldn't let them get away with ginge or red (or grumpy!) either. Worst of all are the creepy faux-compliments like Yummy Mummy.

Justaboutenough
I don't hate chuggers. My nephew's done it. I'm polite to them.

MrsSteptoe - handshaking straight back at you!! Good on your nephew, I bet he had some stories to tell!

I can't imagine that a bloke would address a more powerful-looking bloke who happens to have red hair as "Red". You only do it to someone who looks like they don't deserve your respect. Because they clearly aren't getting your respect. When you're actually asking them for money, that seems to me to be on a bewildering level of arrogance.

Hell to the yes, MrsSteptoe.

justabout, I'm always polite to charity fundraisers and I'm horrified to hear about the abuse you've experienced. I don't use the term 'chuggers'; I agree, it's not acceptable. But I still don't think 'Redhead' (or 'blondie' or 'grumpy' or anything else like that) is acceptable either.

LittleMissGerardButlersMinion - sorry you feel this way about being a redhead.

My to dc are as ginger as ginger cake and love their colouring, they freely own being redheads and have had very little abuse in their lives because of their "so what" attitudes.

I don't understand how 'chugger' or 'charity mugger' is offensive.

They frequently use aggression and guilt so you hand over your cash. Even the 'chirpy' ones can become very forceful if you say no.

That's the very definition of a 'mugger', surely?

Yes treas, that's getting back to the point. The OP said "I hate being called a redhead", not "I object to being addressed rudely".

MrsSteptoe, if they're prepared to address a more powerful-looking bloke as 'Grumpy' I can't imagine that 'Ginge' would be beyond them, can you?

Agreed that it is not particularly clever to address someone by their physical attributes, I just wanted to show a different side to the eternal 'chugger' debate.

A friend of mine who is quite possibly the longest serving fundraiser in the UK now had this to say (for those who are interested): blogs.redcross.org.uk/fundraising-and-events/2010/08/guest-post-in-defence-of-chuggers/

I'm a brunette, my DS3 is a redhead. Surely that us just descriptive? It's not like he was calling you a derogatory name?

I think chugger is just a word for a specific type of fundraiser - it's not necessarily offensive/rude IMO, and it's definitely used by charities as well to describe these roles.

I get a lot of "scuse me miss", "hellooooo lovely lady", and "cheer up love, stop and have a chat". All from men in their teens/early 20s ie young enough to be my sons! I find it all very patronising and "gendered". Presumably they do it because it works, but that's a bit sad. I now just walk straight past ignoring them, I'm afraid, which is a bit rude but at least I'm not wasting their time.

NinjaBunny - having just confirmed this online, the 'very definition of a mugger' is in fact: a person who attacks and robs another in a public place.

Have you ever been attacked or robbed by a street fundraiser? If so, please call the police immediately and report this terrible event...

Nothing derogatory about being called 'redhead', just grossly inappropriate. I bet the chugger doesn't shout out 'oi, baldy' or 'pepper and salt' to men walking past! (to pick examples of non-offensive descriptive names).

No, I've not been attacked or robbed but have encountered a few who are very aggressive.

I've also been properly mugged.

Intimidation, demands, guilt. Not all muggers are violent. A lot of it's persuasion. They aren't that different.

Someone mentioned on here a while back about one constantly stepping in front of her/her mother and not 'letting them go'.

Not saying they're all like that. But some are. Hence their name.

I'm sorry to hear that you have been properly mugged Ninja but, surely that means you can see the difference between the work of a fundraiser and that of a petty criminal? I too have been mugged and would never compare the two things.

Not saying they're all like that. But some are. Hence their name.

Granted, not all fundraisers are wonderful in their style but, surely saying that is not a far cry from the gross stereotyping that is often cited as the justification for derogatory racial terms and various other forms of bigotry?

I'm sorry, I am not trying to start an argument or detract from OP's OP, I just think people should be careful saying things like that!

GrandpaG Fair point. I have a feeling I'm going to regret re-entering this, and I may have to withdraw at some point because we aren't going to agree and I doubt either of us has the time to play last-word-opoly! But I'm going to backtrack slightly on my own use of "powerful-looking", which is too narrow, and amend it to "a man whom the chugger perceives as being less powerful in all kinds of subtle ways beyond the merely physical". Power takes all forms. A weedily-built but cocky student, for example, may consider that they don't need to show respect to a very shabby man, even though that man may have a more powerful build. I could enumerate other examples, but it's getting a bit complicated now - I think we're not open to each other's point of view on this, which is entirely fair enough!

You're probably right.

It's still 'intimidating behaviour' though. And I don't like it.

You hear a lot about how elderly/vunerable people are convinced to sign up for these things.

It bothers me.

And the guilt aspect is awful.

"Don't you care about blind children?" That kind of thing. It's still too aggressive for a shopping centre.

And yes, it is only a few of them.

Sadly though, the naice ones are easily forgotten. We only talk about the cheeky/rude/nasty ones.

But there still needs to be more rules. Shouting "Oi, Grumpy!" at someone needs to Not Be Allowed.

One line in that piece ( blogs.redcross.org.uk/fundraising-and-events/2010/08/guest-post-in-defence-of-chuggers/ ): "A polite no will suffice, I’ll have you know", if that were true then I'd not have an issue with chuggers. But more than once I've been stopped, said 'no thanks' and had the clipboard wielder carry on trying to bug me.

That one bloke may be OK, but I have met enough of them that aren't that I am no longer willing to give my time to any of them. I also have a blanket policy of no longer supporting in any way any charity that I've been stopped by. So, no more giving to the Red Cross (Medcin Sans Frontier - spelling optional do similar work and get a regular donation from me). Ditto the RSPCA - give to a local animal charity etc.

It may be that it is worth it to the charities but it spawns a lot of bad feeling too.