CAN YOU SPARE SOME CHANGE, AND OH YEAH, GO VISIT MY GOFUNDME.

How people ask for "spare change" is changing and I'm not sure how I feel about it.
By Courtney Antonioli (Playwright/Storyteller)

On a Tuesday afternoon I took the C train from the Franklin Avenue stop in Brooklyn to Manhattan.

A stop later a woman.  She addressed the train, Ladies and Gentleman … and I recognized her voice immediately.  I could not see her face, her back was to me, but I knew that voice.

The times I have seen her she is asking for money.  Her story is a little different than others I have heard.  She explains to the train that she was a victim of domestic violence; she left her husband some time ago, but is still recovering from her wounds and trauma and unable to work.  She is a single mother.  She needs help because she is unable to take care of her family.  Can you spare some change, a dollar, gift cards, food, and all of that kind of stuff.

But this time she did not stop there.  She proceeded to tell us she had a GoFundMe campaign and we could all go online and donate there.  We could give more money there, larger amounts.  It accepts credit cards.

At the same time she spoke, she finally turned to my side of the train as she was collecting money.  That’s when I saw it.  She had printed up an 8x10 paper with the green GoFundMe logo large and bold at the top, a picture of a woman (I am assuming this was her) with a bruised face, and then all the information about how I can give online.  It was laminated.  She was wearing it around her neck like an over-sized lanyard.

We are being asked for money all the time:

• online with a friends Kickstarter or Indiegogo for their newest play, idea, film, or album,
• E-blasts, emails, and regular mail asking for money for the theaters we go to, museums we attend, nonprofits we support
• political campaigns
• walking down the street
• outside the local shop
• your college is literally stalking your every move and hitting you up every 17 seconds
• the subway

I’m accustomed to people asking for money on the train and yes, I do allot a certain amount each money and give.  I do not believe it is easy to ask for money or for help from strangers when you genuinely need it.  It doesn’t feel good as an adult to say, “I can’t do this”.  But this “ask” felt different.  Please do not mistake me, she has every right to do this, I’m just saying it has left me with questions I don’t have the answers to yet.

Is this just the beginning?  Has this been happening for a while now and I’m just seeing it?  Will someone now pull up an app and the square card and ask me to swipe on the spot?  Am I going to be offered a tax deductible donation form soon?  Has the subway or street ask become more of a business model, thanks to technology, than ever before?

Is it that technology has made it more efficient and effective?  You can now accept more forms of payment and be available to a wider audience.  You could only be on one subway car or corner at a time, but now with crowdsourcing you can maximize your presence and profit.   There is only two minutes before the next stop, so if you want to hear more you can click on this link for the full story (with pictures and video!).

Is this the way it is going to be now?  I am leaning towards yes.  With the rise of crowdsourcing and fundraising, I do think I’ll be seeing more people direct me to their webpage.  Something about this is bothering me.  I’ll be honest, I’m not sure I have figured it out yet.  But the simultaneous “asking for spare change and please visit my website” has left me feeling strange.  Maybe it is the proliferation of what sometimes feels like everyone asking for money online and now the stranger on the subway us now too.  Maybe what I perceive to be a shift in expectations given the new technology, standards, and resources available in society right now.

I’m not sure.

I just know that something feels different.  I know I’ve thrown a lot of questions out there and a lot of maybes. 

I tried to find her GoFundMe page – and I’ll be upfront, not because I intended to give money – to see why.  I couldn’t find it.  However, I do think I’ll probably see her on the subway again and maybe this time I’ll just ask her in person.

Courtney Antonioli is a playwright, storyteller, and producer living in NYC. Recent projects includes Stay Golden, her rebooting The Golden Girls in 2015 www.courtneyantonioli.com
EMAIL HER |  FACEBOOK | TWITTER | OTHER POSTS BY THIS AUTHOR

Comments

[Stephen Bishop Seely (Actor, Writer, Director)]

Thank you for sharing your experience. I have told a few of my friends about this and we find it to be a truly incredible story that is unique to living in New York. You are asking all the right questions and I can't wait until I come across someone with a GOFUNDME page riding on the subway or walking down my street.