Falling on deaf ears...

I've said it before - several times, probably ad nauseam -but people don't want to talk about cancer. Last year, I was approached by Macmillan volunteers asking for a charitable donation. I gave one, saying that I felt it was a good cause because I had had cancer myself. The volunteers looked horrified and ran away as fast as they could, the instance I'd made my donation. The same happened when Cancer Research UK volunteers came to my door asking for a donation.

Today, I was shopping and, at the checkout, the cashier asked if I'd make a donation to support research into childhood cancers. Since it's not long since my last donation, I said that although it was a good cause, I had already donated recently and, even though I had recovered from cancer myself, I wasn't going to donate again so soon. Now, whether it was my (unexpected?) refusal to give an additional amount via my debit card, or whether it was the fact that I mentioned having had cancer, the atmosphere cooled tremendously! If it was the former, then I'm afraid that's bad luck - I don't give in to moral blackmail! If the latter... well, bad luck again! Making a charitable donation, or collecting them from others, might make the cashier feel good, but it doesn't mean that she won't ask for money from people who've had the very condition she's collecting for... And, guess what! Making a donation doesn't make you immune from developing cancer!

I suppose I used to make donations to cancer (and other) charities because it gave me "the feelgood factor". I'm a lot more discerning now - I only donate to causes I believe in. If volunteers aren't prepared to discuss the work of the charity in whose name they are collecting, I'm certainly not going to make a contribution! Not talking about cancer isn't going to make it go away...