Ive had similar expereinces at mall food courts and even people going door to door. Even if it was a legit charity thing.. I wouldnt trust just paying one random person and hopeing the money makes it to the charity.. if it is a real charity there are likely other ways to donate.

Originally Posted by nerual

That is an incredibly inaccurate assumption to make. Even some people born deaf can learn to speak. And you have no idea when this guy lost his hearing (if at all). Knowing whether or not someone is able to hear tells you absolutely nothing about their ability to speak.

Further evidence do suggest that this isn't the case and I stand corrected. This should, however, further reinforce the notion that he is not deceptive like others have claimed (without proofs by the way).

Originally Posted by britb

I would not give him anything on the basis he makes me feel uncomfortable and unsafe in a place that is supposed to be the opposite.

Edit: This is also different from asking for Japan, etc relief. The legitimacy of groups that do that (ie campus clubs or charities) can be verified to a much greater extent. Also, at least on campus, they are not supposed to solicit students (ie approaching lone females trying to get to class and asking for money).

Sounds like you have a hard case of physical stereotype. As a University student, one should really take it to heart the saying of "Don't judge a book by its cover.".

Doesn't seems to me that you took an effort to verify his legitimacy. From the first post, all you did was walk away and shunned him due to his physical outlook. Was it too much to even say "No thank you?".

I do agree that perhaps he made a mistake in approaching you by yourself. We all make mistakes when it comes to so called "procedures", he is human after all.

Originally Posted by PHLN

Further evidence do suggest that this isn't the case and I stand corrected. This should, however, further reinforce the notion that he is not deceptive like others have claimed (without proofs by the way).



Sounds like you have a hard case of physical stereotype. As a University student, one should really take it to heart the saying of "Don't judge a book by its cover.".

Doesn't seems to me that you took an effort to verify his legitimacy. From the first post, all you did was walk away and shunned him due to his physical outlook. Was it too much to even say "No thank you?".

I do agree that perhaps he made a mistake in approaching you by yourself. We all make mistakes when it comes to so called "procedures", he is human after all.

I did not make the assumption on the way he looked as much as the way he went about things. I do not like being approached by people I do not know, especially ones who are clearly not where they are supposed to be and are asking for money. It is entirely in my right to act cautiously (including not speaking, or acknowledging him, if I wish) if I feel my safety is compromised. I said I did not feel comfortable, and I am not about to roll out the welcome wagon for someone who's legitimacy I already doubt.

This is the practice he's been using for the time I've known about him. Clearly it wasn't a mistake to approach me when I was alone and clearly thinking of other things (ie leaving). His only "mistake" was approaching someone who did not give him money.

I shook my head, but I didn't say anything and left. I'm not a confrontational person and just wanted him to not bother me.

Originally Posted by britb

It is entirely in my right to act cautiously (including not speaking, or acknowledging him, if I wish) if I feel my safety is compromised. I said I did not feel comfortable, and I am not about to roll out the welcome wagon for someone who's legitimacy I already doubt.

I agree to this and would never dare suggest other wise. But the fact still remained, you judge him purely on physical feature and your own prejudice.

His only "mistake" was approaching someone who did not give him money.

Not much of a mistake is it? You won't know till you ask.

I shook my head, but I didn't say anything and left. I'm not a confrontational person and just wanted him to not bother me.

Did he further harass you in anyway? Doesn't seems to be the case. As such, your safety doesn't seems to be compromise at all does it?

Originally Posted by PHLN

I agree to this and would never dare suggest other wise. But the fact still remained, you judge him purely on physical feature and your own prejudice.



Not much of a mistake is it? You won't know till you ask.



Did he further harass you in anyway? Doesn't seems to be the case. As such, your safety doesn't seems to be compromise at all does it?

I judged him on his practice of coming up to me individually and asking for money. Physical appearance had little, if anything to do with it. For one, you can't tell a person is deaf by looking at them. If you are referring to the point I made about how he looked, that was meant to further describe him to new students, picking out the features I remember.

I do not give money to students selling baked good (unless I initiate) for the same reason. I feel my personal space is invaded when people approach me personally and ask for money, regardless of the cause or legitimacy. If I want to donate, I will walk up to their table/whatever and initiate myself. Approaching and asking directly removes this freedom to some extent, and undermines the whole point of charity (but now I'm going on a tangent..)

Compounding this invasion of personal space was a feeling of being less safe, which furthered my resolve not to deal with him at all.

Would he have further harassed me? I don't know, I left, as I have mentioned multiple times. Granted there are no reports of anything happening so far, but according to your line of thought, we should not pay attention to rumours and past cases.

And I deem when I feel safe and when i do not. This was a case of the latter. Hence, my safety was compromised becuase I deemed I was in a position where I did not feel safe. It doesn't matter if he had a knife on him, had ill intentions, is legitimate or not. A lone man, not attached to a club, organization, charity, etc, approached me and asked for money. If the same thing happened downtown, I'm sure most people feel uneasy as well. What if he continue approaching me afterward, remembering i gave him money that one time? What if he followed me for more later? What if he robbed me because he saw I had a $50 or something? I'm not saying these things would happen, or that he's the kind of person to do that, I'm just outlining why I did not feel safe in that situation, since you seem to have an issue understanding why, and hence the primary reason why I did not give him money.

Originally Posted by britb

...

I've never been approached by this man, but I agree with what you did. You have no obligation to give money to or interact with a stranger if you don't feel comfortable.

I've seen this guy before, and its kind of just the manner in which he goes about doing thing. From what I remember he was quite mechanical about the whole process i.e taking the cards away from people while they were in the middle of reading it and such, as well as not giving much in the way of thanks when someone did make a donation.

Just because one is deaf doesn't mean that they cannot be personable. The people here that are reporting a strange vibe are most likely doing so due to the body language that has been displayed more than the way that he looks.

Originally Posted by Kathy2

I've never been approached by this man, but I agree with what you did. You have no obligation to give money to or interact with a stranger if you don't feel comfortable.

One obligation to give money or to interact with a stranger isn't in question here. Rather the debate focus on the obvious defamation of an innocent and kind physically-disable old man without evidence to him being harmful or deceptive.

From the quotes below, you can see that this is a case of severe prejudice. The same feeling of distrust was still elicited in a face of legitimate charity group hosted by students.

Originally Posted by britb

I do not give money to students selling baked good (unless I initiate) for the same reason. I feel my personal space is invaded when people approach me personally and ask for money, regardless of the cause or legitimacy.

"Innocent and kind"? The posts on here say otherwise. Regardless, it doesn't matter how nice someone looks. No one is forced to interact with strangers if they don't feel comfortable.

Originally Posted by Kathy2

"Innocent and kind"? The posts on here say otherwise.

Which post say otherwise?

I was sitting in the student center eating lunch with a buddy when he came up and I honestly had no clue what he wanted. He kept pointing at some card so I instinctively outstretched my hand to take it and he gave me a super angry face and stormed off.

It was a very WTF moment.

Originally Posted by doug

I was sitting in the student center eating lunch with a buddy when he came up and I honestly had no clue what he wanted. He kept pointing at some card so I instinctively outstretched my hand to take it and he gave me a super angry face and stormed off.

It was a very WTF moment.

After reading this thread and realizing his true intention, do you feel a bit sympathetic toward the man?

It must be extremely difficult to maneuver through life without an ability to communication properly. Add on to the fact that we don't know the story behind his physical disability.

Thank you for posting a response though. It further shows that he was in no way harming any students. As a result, labeling him as dangerous is misleading.

Just a misunderstood soul. I'm going to attempt to locate him and do a full interview.

PLHN you're becoming annoying.. you're stuck in your own little opinion and are deaperately arguing against all evidence to the contrary.. cant tell if you're having us on or you're just being argumentative

Originally Posted by RyanC

arguing against all evidence to the contrary..

Evidence to the contrary? I still don't see the evidence even when I repeatedly ask for it.

Just to be more clear:

• How is he scamming others?
• How is he a physical threat to students?

Originally Posted by micadjems

If I wanted to be bothered by beggars, I'd go downtown.

This is the university - it's supposed to be a safe place for students.

If I choose to give to the poor, I will do that in my own time. I don't need people coming up to me when I'm trying to study.

How can I parody people like you when you do it so well by yourself?