Posts by Lucy Stewart
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Is that why no one is funny?
This parallel universe you inhabit must be a very strange place.
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Or when the supermarket checkout person asks if you'd like to donate a dollar for whatever good cause it is. Easy.
Wearing my retail worker hat: these schemes are great if and only if they're run for limited periods. I can safely assert that by the third week of "would you like to add a dollar?" customers range from impatient to aggressive, having usually been asked this question multiple times at multiple stores. It's not fun for anyone, especially the workers.
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Mahal - I encountered that problem (a rude ex-serviceperson) in CHCH last year - and yes, I already had my poppy on too: they couldnt blame yooof (I'.m deservedly greyhaired) but maybe they didnt like my response to their 'for god, queen, and country' spiel-
I think one of the major problems with this sort of charity collection is that people (especially people my age or younger) genuinely *don't* have cash on them very often these days. I never, ever do, unless I've got it out specially to top up my bus card or...pretty much never. I don't have a lot of spare money, but I wouldn't mind giving my spare change now and again; I just never have any. I imagine this must be a barrier to casual donation for a lot of people, I just can't work out how you remove it without changing people's money habits in a pretty major fashion.
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Why is it that NZ kids always do so poorly at international maths and science 'elite' competitions, and always do so well at maths and language comprehension in OECD ratings?
I believe we do quite well in science as well - I know that we brought back a few International Chemistry Olympiad medals in 2004, for instance.
If you want Nobels, then barrack for university funding - Nobels tend to be awarded for theoretical discoveries. I doubt this government has much time for those, though. Not enough money in them.
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In our house we refer to this as 'the six o'clock gnrrrrghs'.
A most eloquent description.
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Yeah. If you have a problem with something and want to distance yourself just mention Drugs. Same as if you want funding for research, just mention Global Warming or second hand smoke.
What made me incoherently angry was the TV news report last night which showed an Afghani woman and her kids who'd been to rehab and then gone back to opium explaining that it was because opium was cheaper than food and quelled the kids' hunger pains. Your problem here is not drugs, your problem here is they have no food. They're not doing it recreationally, for fuck's sake. And did the news report highlight this at all? Noooo, it was all about the Evil, Evil Drugs. Gah.
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It sure did. I'd be interested to find out just how much cash AirNew Zealand, FlyBuys, The Warehouse, 2°, ASB, Mazda, etc. put in - and I don't just mean that colected from their customers - because they sure got a truckload of coverage.
FlyBuys' "change your card and we'll donate TEN WHOLE CENTS!" in particular felt like a cheap advertising gimmick.
OTOH, as others have mentioned, it was also a chance for lots of groups to have a moment on the national stage, and I found the cultural groups especially quite neat. Yes, the government shouldn't be leaving kids in the position where this was necessary; yes, it's silly; but that doesn't mean that the $2 million which did get raised is going to a bad place. Maybe I'm too young to be cynical, since I don't even remember the last one, but I quite enjoyed what I saw.
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The early promos said they were not doing the pledge requests this time - people didn't always pay up.
Hey, I'd be happy to front up in advance.
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re Telethon. They've already raised $450, 000 - pretty good, I reckon.
After the opening few minutes, I've decided the obvious culmination of the whole thing would be for John Campbell to pash Richie McCaw. I'd donate for that.
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They fight hard (read yer Kipling) & they destroy often.
Roll to your rifle, etcetera. It's the ultimate land war in Asia.