Please Sir, May I have some more?

It seems ludicrous, to me anyway, that there are three charities having their annual appeal this week. The Blind Foundation, CanTeen, and Keep Kids Safe, all this week.

While sitting down to my cheesy talk shows, ads with Pio, for Keep Kids Safe, jumping idiots wearing bright bandannas for CanTeen, and an effective ad using ‘what’s that sound’ for The Blind Foundation were all shown. Now what’s up with this? Don’t they realise that three charities is hard to accommodate?

Now me being poor, when I do give, it’s usually to something I have some sort of connection with. I have a CanTeen bandanna, a bright yellow one, that I wear proudly (or did until someone pointed out to me it was a bit silly wearing a bandanna for a cancer charity when I smoked... how about we just put that down as an investment?) I wear the bandanna because two friends of mine used to have Leukemia and one of them has 2000 of the things to sell.

I’ve also got stickers all through my memories scrapbook from charities I’ve given my spare change to, and a butterfly that I got from another... I’ve had roses, daffodils and poppies, and I hate passing by buskers without giving them something.

It’s almost become like a gang war... You’re walking down the street, wearing your poppy and a daffodil seller comes up to you and you feel you have to get one just so you can walk on both sides of the street without being harassed... “nah man, I’m already a daffodil!”

Giving generously has it’s personal benefits, and it doesn’t matter whether it’s helping a mate in finical troubles out, giving to a busker or one of the appeals people, it makes you feel good, and often the benefits will come back to you ten-fold.

But still... THREE charities goes beyond insane. Can’t there be someone, who co-ordinates these things, there are 365 days in the year, 52 weeks, there’s more then enough to go around, they can have my money, it’s better to give it to them, then to spend it on some of the crap I spend it on myself, and I know it’ll come back to me one day, just when I really need it.

but three charities?