Repulsion on the streets of London
As much as I don’t delight in work, sometimes the office is a welcome refuge from the outside world, or at least the outside world of the pavements surrounding it.
I have worked in some of the busiest parts of central London and Glasgow over the past decade and have become used to the constant flow of heavy traffic, madcap cyclists, dawdling pedestrians shouting into mobile phones, noise pollution from lousy buskers and the inevitable lost tourists. This doesn’t bother me (much). What has been grinding me down over the years though is the ongoing assault on my ability to walk unharassed down the street.
I know that ‘the street’ is public space, but over the past few weeks for example, I have been interrupted by:
- gung-ho types trying to sign me up for a chain of gyms I particularly dislike
- even more gung-ho types trying to get me to play Paintball
- street teams pushing free samples of vile Orangina in a manner that wouldn’t shame Mrs Doyle from Father Ted
- a miserable lone student on a bike trying to promote a Farmer’s Market
- noisy and whistling Climate Camp protesters
- TV crews filming the Climate Camp protesters
- desperately enthusiastic chuggers trying to sign me up to Oxfam, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, Red Cross, Barnados and the NSPCC
- sulky teenagers collecting for a local project for young people
- bored sods aggressively thrusting copies of London Lite, The London Paper, City AM, Epoch Times, Sport magazine and the Hotcourses newspaper at me
- enthusiastic sods handing out leaflets for dating agencies
- shiny young men flogging miracle hair products
- the usual assortment of panhandlers and Big Issue sellers
All this within the five minutes it takes to walk between the station platform and my office. Sometimes, particularly around the station, it’s like that scene in Repulsion where all the hands are coming out of the walls grabbing at Catherine Deneuve as she collapses down the corridor – only on this occasion its worse because they’re also waving copies of London Lite and photocopied flyers for the local pawnbrokers.
Usually I just smile, say a polite but firm ‘no thanks’ and scurry onwards with my head down, but I fear that overload is killing my politeness. I have been feeling increasingly tetchy about this constant assault on my privacy over the past year and in last month I’ve snapped – I’ve already had two arguments with chuggers and yesterday I gave the paintballing man what must have been a much darker look than intended, as he looked instantly guilty and backed away apologising. And today I’m fantasising about getting a t-shirt printed up saying ’Don’t waste your time’ that I can just scowlingly point at when people approach.
What’s happening to me? London is turning me into the kind of person I hate.
Tags: 30-something angst, hell in a handcart, rant no. 1, woe is me
September 8th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
I applaud you for being so patient and polite for so long. I don’t work in London (thankfully) but last time i ventured into the city to watch Arsenal with my son i found the very things you are talking about incredibly annoying. It’s like having your little bit of personal space violated, after two or three people i felt the words “fuck off” brewing in my throat. This is after one visit. The trouble is i thnk many many people are being turned into the very people they hate by our own selfish society. I beleive that 99% of the people around you are probably feeling the same thing about these “pushers” but what gets done? It’s a shame that reasonable people like your self (and semi reasonable people like me) have to get to the “fuck off” stage in order to just get into work or walk in the city.
September 8th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
It is a source of extreme aggravation, and was one reason why I was pleased to learn that “The London Paper” will be ceasing publication soon. One down, three to go… and they all publish low quality journalism anyway (although I will miss the “Em” cartoon).
I’ve yet to read or hear any indication that Chuggers are a cost-effective way of generating revenue for charities. I would go into more depth about this, but I may get into trouble for doing so… but let’s just say the places I’ve worked which don’t use them tend to find their presence makes the charity look downmarket, and their commission costs are not worth the supposed long-term gains. My standard reply to Chuggers these days (if I have time) is “I’d be happy to talk to you about the work you do, but if I like what I hear, I’ll do all the paperwork myself online”. It generally seems to shut them up, although one flirtatious lady did pout at me “But what about my COMMISSION?” once. I laughed at her and walked off, obviously.
So yes, Camden High Street is hell at lunchtimes and going home times, the tourists are enough of a chore to navigate as it is, and I could live without the marketing attention seekers.
September 8th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
Wow. I could not imagine all of this. I live in a rural area so I only see any sort of thing like this when I venture into the city to go to the mall, etc. Even then it’s not much. I would definitely be freaking out if I was getting stopped by all sorts of people like this. I would probably lose my temper after the first couple.
September 8th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
Carl, you’re probably right in saying that everyone else is feeling this way too – which only begs the question why do they do it?! I really cannot believe that annoying people is an effective marketing tool. And on the other side, handing out unwanted flyers really must be a depressing job. I work in marketing and I’m depressed even thinking about the idea of paying someone to be ignored or shouted at in the street.
Dave, I would LOVE you to go more into this (but don’t worry, I’m not going to insist!) – chuggers are my bete noir. The two ‘conflicts’ I had were with people representing organisations that I do actually support and I cannot even begin to articulate how much it annoys me to see regular supporters’ money going towards harassing people in the street. Their main arguments (particularly from one who actually worked for the charity, not an agency) was that this is a good form of profile raising and one of their main sources of income. I would really like to know more about this and I’m on the verge of writing to their Fundraising/Development department to find out!!
And Dave while we’re on ’causes’ and I’m getting angry about things, if you’re a fan of the EMD cinema/enemy of the council you might be interested to know that the UCKG planning application goes to council this week: http://www.mcguffin.info if you’d like to oppose it!
Keith, If this was a few years ago or even a few months ago I would say ‘you get used to it’!! But I’m afraid I’m not. And worse, I grew up in a rural area too and everytime I go home and someone stops me on the street, say to point out that I’ve dropped some shopping or they’re just being friendly, I immediately assume that they’re trying to sell me something!! It’s damaging I tell you!
September 8th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
For most I’ll just pull out my mobile and receive a phantom call, the ones that really irk me are the morning freebie ‘City News’ type space invaders – who postion themselves mid-stream amongst the emptying commuters, waving these dreary rags theatrically in your face – I can feel my finite amount of patience coming to a close.
September 8th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
Oh yes, City AM, Mondo. Who reads this?! Surely if you’re really interested in financial news, then you’ll read a proper paper like the Financial Times??!!
Grrrrr….
September 8th, 2009 at 6:25 pm
I hate the implied (real or not) implication if I don’t stop for a chugger you some how a bad person and if you work in “honey trap” spot for them you get pestered 4 times a day.
As for panhandlers I got chased by one the other day he had scam going where he pretended to be short of change for the phone and was blagging it of passersby in a aggressive way. So I took a pic of him with my phone (sorry it was bobbins) to tweet to local area. Anyway he got a nark on and came over and started shouting at me until rather hilariously some school girls started taking his picture too and he got in a huff and stomped off.
September 8th, 2009 at 7:10 pm
I really liked this post…. you are so right, we go around trying to be polite to everyone, so bite our tounge at some of these invasions of space…. but actually, it is THEM that are being rude… we never asked for it, yet get bombarded with crap.
The chuggers are the worst. I swear, in Southend High Street there is a different group EVERY SINGLE DAY…. and these people with clipboards wanting you to do a survey “can you spare 10 minutes” they say!!! I’m on a 30 minute lunchbreak, whaddaya reckon??!! THe chuggers I hate… mainly because they have been trained to do the hard sell, and make you feel guilty… yet those tossers are on a wage – EIGHT QUID and HOUR!!! yes! Really! If they REALLY wanted to do their bit for whatever cause it is today, wouldn’t they be doing it for free?? If you did happen to want to contribute to whichever charity it is, you’d be better doing in on-line or in the post, as all you’ll really be doing if you sign up to a chug is paying their wage.
They are so rude too – I was walking in the high street with a friend, and we were deep in a very serious conversation, they just barge inbetween us and start their spiel….
Come on, look there’s 7 of us… lets take em!!! ;-)
P
PS – sorry, this ended up longer than I intended
September 8th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
I’m liking the long comments here folks!
BLTP, I think that is the problem – I work in a ‘honeytrap’. Ironic since I’m in the City surrounded by bankers and lawyers… although I did see Dave Rowntree from Blur/the Labour party (!) yesterday morning, wonder if he gave them anything…
Piley, well, you’re clearly in a honeytrap too so I feel for you! It is particularly galling that these people are paid to promote a charity that they might not even believe in. Credit where credit is due though, Greenpeace’s chuggers are all volunteer members who do seriously know their stuff, but since they invented this whole thing and are back at it, I’m not letting them off. Perhaps we should ask the chuggers for other charities how much they personally give to the cause they’re promoting?! Yes, let’s take ‘em (and their annoying leery grins) Piley!
September 8th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
Let’s just say that the charity I work for is one of the fastest growing the UK, our income stream is healthy despite the economic downturn, and we refuse to waste money on chuggers. Absolutely all the marketing surveys we’ve done point towards the fact that supporters of the charity find them wasteful and annoying, and I’ve never once heard anybody contradict that point. It’s not just about revenue, it’s about the image as well – if you pay people eight pounds an hour plus commission to stand on the street hassling people and flirting with people, it makes your organisation look a bit tawdry. For every one person who signs up, there are at least twenty who remember the charity responsible for pissing them off that day. That’s not good, and it’s not raising the profile in a positive way, either. You use the media and the Internet to raise an organisation’s profile, not random street hasslers.
I really think – and hope – they’ll be a thing of the past soon. Quite a few charities have dropped them already, and hopefully the rest will see sense.
Got to defend Big Issue sellers, though. It’s better than begging, they are trying to sort their lives out, and it’s not as if they have much of a choice in most cases. They were there before the rest of them, and the amount of money they take has taken a nasty hit as a result of all the other street activity (another reason to hate chuggers, free paper distributors and the like).
Oh, and I’ll check out that cinema petition asap.
September 8th, 2009 at 9:34 pm
Argh, Dave you can’t say things like that – I am the kind of person who reads organisations’ accounts on the Charity Commission website for fun you know! I’m going to spend the rest of my days wondering what the fastest growing charity in the UK is. As long as it’s not UCKG anyway… Still you’re right and the comments on this site are another small (albeit unrepresentative) example of how chugging can seriously undermine a charity’s reputation.
And if you really, really, really want to hate the freesheets, not to mention all other newspapers, then I recommend you read Nick Davies’ book Flat Earth News.
September 9th, 2009 at 9:43 am
Can we have an artist’s impression of Cocktails giving a ‘dark look’ plz?
September 9th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
No, because then I’d have to see it for myself Empress!!
September 9th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
I’m afraid I lost patience with it years ago, so now I just let it wash over me. I know if I lived in Chichester or Bath I’d miss it though, no matter what I tell myself.
September 9th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
I can just about tolerate people collecting for charity. But only just about. Like most people, I have chosen my charities and have contributions deducted directly from my salary. I think this gives me the right to push past all but The Big Issue salesman.
That said, If anyone stops me and asks me to change my energy company I am deliberately and spitefully rude to them.
September 9th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
F-C, I think that you might now be officially mad – NO ONE could possibly miss this!!! On the positive side, there is clearly hope for me yet if you can let it all wash over you after all these years.
VS, Salespeople from energy and phone companies are in a league of their own. As are mormons and other strange religious groups knocking on the front door. Like you, they will be sorry if they come near me – particularly when I get my t-shirts printed up.
September 25th, 2009 at 3:51 am
Wow, what problems you guys have. How narrow minded can you be. The fact of the matter is, no one likes “chuggers” as you all so happily call them (whats the current word you guys are slining around for black people or Jews?), not even the selfrightous, ego massaging representatives higher up their organisations. It the dirty little habit that all organisations wish they could wash their hands of. So why do they exist, why to organisations keep handing out money to these people? Because its the only thing that works! Apathy is killing off our chance of ever assembling ourselves into a cojent thinking, self aware species and everyone is more intent on sitting on thier big pile of shinny possestions and getting fat or posing at the gym, than adressing the situation. Meanwhile the problems that we’re feeding so fast in the west are escallating. Why don’t organisations send nice little fliers through the mail, because it cost a fortune and virtually no one gets of their arse or puts a hand in their pockets to do anything. Big out lay, minimal return. Or how about a multi million pound drawn out advert with starving kids in it. Massive outlay and every self interested fcuk out their changes the chanel and complains about how hard their lot is that they have to sit through being asked to part with a bit of their excess to make a difference. A major international organisation, a leader in their field, uses a small team of in house fundraisers to do their dirty work for them, the 10-15 people they employ for the year cost less than one single 30second tv advert. They were resposible for 94% of new members to join the organisation in this country last year. Only the remaining 6% joined under their own steam. That is pathetic for a nation of people who claim we pick our own causes and give volentarily.
At least there are some people out there willing to face public abuse, threats, ignorance, pouring rain, chavs, nutters and perverts in the high street to try and drag us out of the buble for a second and think about where things are going.
We have the potential to do so much and we sit about festering thinking the reason we feel bad is that some poor kid tried to make us think for a moment. Give them a break. Yes there are some d!ckheads in that job, same goes for bankers, taxi drivers, doctors and every other proffession on earth. Yes you should find out if its a scam agency that takes all the moeny nd spends it on flights and holiday pay for managers, same as you should with your phone contract, bank account, etc, etc, etc.
You know what might just throw them and you off the normal path is if you actually do your research, know whats going on, talk to them about the pearls of wisdom you already have on their serious subject, you might find they really are well meaning and well infomed. Or maybe you don’t know about their subject and you could possibly shut your mouth for a minute and find out if they really do know what they are talking about. Or maybe you could just give some people the benfit of the doubt rather than deciding they deserve your contempt. Be nice, say sorry you can’t stop, wish them a good day and move on. Rather than seeing them as a potential vent for your frustrations, a person on YOUR highstreet faced with the difficult task of trying to stop our society thinking only about its self for 2 minutes in a day!!