Don’t Force Your Services on Me!

By Alina Popescu on July 27th, 2007 in Thoughts I Came Across

I have a huge problem with people forcing me to accept the services they offer. I need to feel free about what I want to buy, it is my decision alone. Therefore, I am leading a personal war against window washers! You all know them, you see them at the traffic lights, coming to you with a bottle of 80% water and 20% detergent (the best cases). If you are not paying attention, they’ll just throw the detergent on your car and start cleaning. And you are left there, making desperate sings and screaming at them to stop.

When it is grown ups, I have no problem honking and making them go away. But when it’s children we’re talking about, it all becomes a huge problem. I feel guilty, because I know they rely o the money they make. They might genuinely need it or be forced to work hard by parents or other caretakers. I still do not want their detergent on my car! I do buy it myself occasionally and only get the good stuff. So why would I need someone to clean my windows when it takes 2 seconds to do it myself with no real effort?

I’d rather they asked for my help. I would help, whenever I could. But having a certain service imposed on me, being forced to pay for something I didn’t want in the first place leaves me full of anger and frustration. Angry at those who are imposing (the grown-ups actually doing it or those forcing children to act like that), angry at the system and myself for not being able to do more…

How would you feel in such a position?

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This post has 8 comments

  • Radu C
    July 27th, 2007

    Erm… When starting to read the article, I thought
    you talked about marketers, but reading I noticed you are talking about
    something else. If they’re gypsy or par of a gypsy-like social
    category, then they’ll downright lie to you that they need that money. They’re not as poor as they’d like you to think.
    They tend to exagerate every idea that comes out of their mouths,
    regardless of the benefit it gets them. They KNOW people are easy to
    manipulate. Shed a few tears, and they’ll open up their wallets. Won’t
    pay up? The tears are replaced by obscenities addressed to your mother,
    your God, explicit sexual innuendo, you name it. Suddenly, they’re no
    longer crybaby and they want to tell you their colorful vocabulary.
    If they’d ask for you help you’d help them? Think again.
    They don’t need any help. Desperate people go to the state, go to the
    press, they don’t wash windows and tell you to, erm… go forth and
    multiply, if you don’t give them money.

  • Radu C
    July 28th, 2007

    Here’s an idea. Carry a bottle of “window and car
    washing detergent”(tm) with you, and when they come for the money, just
    spray them back, saying they you are returning the favour :)

  • BiBi
    July 29th, 2007

    just gave the “poor guy” some money.
    Simple, if that is not too much for
    your “car owner” pocket paying
    for expensive gas.

  • ali la loca
    July 29th, 2007

    This is a difficult situation. People do the same
    thing with washing cars in Brazil, and here in Maputo. I agree, I want
    to consent to a service before I am expected to pay for it. Or, if it
    is all about a handout in the end, I’d rather someone just ask for what
    they want rather than swindle me into having to pay for something.
    By the way, you are tagged over at my blog.

  • Safiya
    July 29th, 2007

    I would feel exactly the same!

    Love your new blog btw. :)

  • Alina Popescu
    July 29th, 2007

    Radu, I’ve had my share of “give me some money or
    I’ll spit on you, trust me! But still there are people in genuine need.
    Loved the idea about spraying some water and detergent on them! It was
    hilarious. Bibi, if you would have written this carefully, you would
    have noticed your solution was what I had proposed in the first place.
    But you still cannot do that pretty often. Simply because I don’t make
    a habit for carrying a lot of change with me or a lot of cash. And I
    pretty much doubt they take credit card payments or that they have
    change for large bills. Ali you are right, it is difficult, and I can’t
    seem to be able to find an approach to work for all cases. I will check
    the tag asap. Safiya, thank you, nice to see you here!

  • Raluca
    July 30th, 2007

    Oh, I know so well what you’re talking about.
    What’s worse is that they get your car in a worse shape than before it
    was “washed” or that they use detergent that is damaging to the car
    paint/polish. It helps to have someone with an intimidating face next
    to you - it worked with my boyfriend :) I think the police should get
    involved in stopping this. It is just an abusive way of trapping you
    into something you don’t want. There are some cases of kids doing that
    here as well (they’re collecting money for their team t-shirts, for
    instance), but they don’t dare touch your car unless you give them “the
    green light.”

  • Alina Popescu
    July 30th, 2007

    Raluca, you are right, this should be controlled somehow…I am not sure how, though…

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