Published on 12, July, 2020
I had to go into work this morning and deal with a customer, I can act really slick and spend 15 minutes talking in a way I’m expected to. It leaves me drained, my wife was with me and we went to the nearest supermarket afterwards, I know in hindsight, I shouldn’t have gone. The supermarket was very busy, I started to lose words in sentences and spike.
What I have noticed is in the entrances, there is always a charity collection, last week they had covered 3 different entrance points, I’ve noticed, the same people are there for different charities. What I really struggle with is that they actually approach people and ask for a few minutes of time, I find it a big struggle to engage, it’s hard sell. I can’t blurt it out to them but, I’m autistic, please leave me alone. They don’t want some change, they want a direct debit signup. It can upset my day for hours. I can leave feeling physically sick. Has anyone else had to deal with this?
I’ve never thought these “chuggers” (as they are sometimes nicknamed in the media, it’s short for “charity muggers”) should be allowed, full stop. As an autist I share your feelings about being approached and find supermarkets to be an especially hideous experience every time, so the absolute last place they should be allowed. Also why would anyone give their sensitive financial information to a stranger on the street? an utterly stupid thing to do. I once looked into this practice in detail having been cursed by these people on my daily train commute to Manchester and established that the fees taken by these people are so high that it takes typically a whole twelve months of donations from an effected chug before the charity it is supposed to support sees any of the money. I hope the NAS don’t use this tactic.
Market St in Manchester is full of them, even after 8pm, as I used to work there for 17 years - the council claims they can’t legally stop them but they won’t even try, even though I’ve seen them hassling tourists - they and the police are only interested in handing out fines to people for littering but they are too lazy to bother doing anything else - no one is allowed to object “because we are not allowed” and it’s the same with protests, religious stuff, etc - Sat from Midday - 8pm is a nightmare down there