Clipboard Warriors and Chuggers

Clipboard Warriors and Charity Muggers seem to be popping up more than Pound Shops at the moment in our town squares and city centres.  I sometimes nip into my local town centre for a quick walk during my dinner hour and seem to be pounced upon three or four times in this short period of precious break time to see if I have a “Few minutes for a chat”

As they slowly approach with their optimistic smiles, I always try to find either an alternative route or shop to dive into (usually a pound shop!) but then realise their flank tactics have worked and I have been forced towards another Clipboard Warrior armed with the dreaded question, “Have you got a few minutes spare today sir?”

Now I am generally not a rude person and I love a chat, but when I am out and about, I am usually (as any warm blooded male) going to a specific location for a specific item with the money ready so I can get back home as soon as possible.  The interference that I assume will not take “just a few minutes” completely disrupts the planned purchase.

I usually say, “Too Busy!” whilst continuing to walk, grab my phone and avoid eye contact or, based on my Vegas experience of the “clickers”, just blanking them completely.

I know that the Charity Muggers (Chuggers) are generally paid by an agency and do not work for the actual charity they are collecting for.  They are interested in the initial collection of information as they will be pressured from their managers to hit results  I also appreciate that people are struggling to find jobs at the moment and at least these guys are working instead of sponging off the system.

On an annual basis I donate money to The Christie charity by means of some task involving sponsorship.  The Christie did a lot for me and my family when I was young and I feel I will always owe them.  So, I am not averse to giving to charity, but giving over my bank account details in the middle of the street to a random stranger collecting for a bizarre charity is not a thing I want to do on a regular basis

In relation to my other nemesis, the Clipboard Warrior, what do these guys actually do? Has anyone ever stopped to chat to them?  Does it only take a couple of minutes? What are they actually going to achieve in that time?  These are questions I do not know the answer to as I have never stopped to find out

Now as some of you may now, I like to challenge myself to do things and don’t mind a little embarrassment.

So with this in mind, I am going to set a few parameters to ensure a valid challenge and have a little chat to see if I agree with what they are actually doing or stand with my initial opinion that they achieve nothing apart from ruining lunch breaks or hindering pre-planned shopping trips

1)      The next Clipboard Warrior to stop me in the street and ask “Have you got a few minutes” will get that precious time from me

2)      I will not approach a clipboard warrior for test purposes, I must be selected by them

3)      I will ask them if I spare my few moments with them, do they mind appearing on my blog as research into Clipboard Warriors, which may involve video and photo’s

4)      If they accept my terms then we will continue.

5)      Any amount of sarcasm will be used if necessary

The final result of our encounter will be reviewed in terms of what I had intended to achieve before being stopped, if the encounter was worthwhile and what the result of my time spent with the warrior actually achieved, and the results posted here

If anyone else feels that they could help me carry out this study and provide results on their experiences with Clipboard Warriors in different areas.  

Hopefully this study will provide the answers to so many questions

Do Clipboard Warriors in different towns achieve different results?

Do they actually achieve something or just waste our precious time?

Is any amount of sarcasm unnecessary?

Only time will tell