Pennie in her bed
Is my dinner ready yet
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Pennie - my 15 year old dog
Thursday, 8 March 2012
SELLING BIG ISSUES ,a honest profession.
Its my opinion that selling Big Issues is a honest honarable way to make a living.Ive been doing it on and off from the very begining, sure Im critical of the way its run but the benefits far outweigh the negative aspects.So the wages are not the best in the world but your rewards come in the form of the great orduinary people that you meet.Im not the sort that pushes it in peoples faces,I like to think that people who buy from me do so because they want to not because Ive put pressure on them or made them feel guilty in any way.In the past year Ive had a professional fundraising org headhunting me,telling me I could make 4 times as much for less effort.Truth is if I was to shake a bucket claiming the money was for starving third world children well thats where it would have to go,not in my pocket.Im no angel and while selling Big Issues if anyone asks I tell them the money is for me and if asked I tell them my housing status.Like I say Im honest like all the other venders, we dont make a living from other peoples misery - only our own.My advice before parting with money to a charity think about how much reaches those that need it.
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I agree completely. We had a guy who used to sell BI on Greenwich Church St and it was great to see him (watching from afar) slowly getting his life together. My wife and I used to give him change(whatever 'goldies' we had in our pockets) and have a quick word whenever we saw him. However, we realised one day that he was no longer around. Did he get his life together? Did he get another job, another house? Then my wife bumped into him in the local pub. He was half cut and was looking unkempt again. When my wife spoke to him, he said that he'd been threatened and told Church St was no longer his patch. We then noticed there was a young woman selling BI, she had a baby and was quite agressive about selling. If you watched carefully, you would notice a burly man come up to her and she would hand something over. I think the Big Issue is a fabulous organisation but how do they stop this sort of thing? I understand that some immigrants from Eastern Europe (I'm making an assumption here, but I think it's a fair one) are homeless and need support but it just seems to be against the idea of the BI. I am so disappointed in this situation.
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