I drive 4 hours from school. I stand outside for hours at a time. It's about 30 degrees out and I'm holding a tin can and a sign around my neck. Without even knowing what I'm doing, I'm starting to pity me.
I haven't quite figured out what is wrong with people. Do you not see the sign that says "Penn State University-Help Kids with Cancer"? If that doesn't tug at the heart strings enough you can catch me shivering and miserable in the middle of the street and throw me a dollar, or even a quarter. I'll take anything but a dirty look.
It amazes me the things that people start doing while I'm standing outside their car window waiting for a small contribution . Miraculously someone calls and they have to talk on their cell, or it becomes time to put on their lipstick. I've even seen someone pick up a paper and start reading it while waiting for the light to turn. I don't find these distractions clever, I find them rude. Do I have to change the sign to "These Kids have CANCER (which means they could possibly die) so Please have a Damn Heart and Give the Shivering Philanthropist a Friggin' Dollar!"? Something tells me it won't change anything, however.
I have even been to towns where the people driving by will call the cops on us. The police show up and tell us someone called them and we can't collect money for kids with cancer because it's too dangerous to stand on the side of the street. I see what you're saying Mr. Policeman with nothing to do, but I think I'll take my chances.
It's also entertaining to see the kind of people that give money as opposed to the ones who find other things to do while in their car rather than just giving me some spare change. The woman in the Range Rover tends to keep smoking her cigarette and looking forward, while I actually got a dollar from the homeless man who felt bad for me. Simply amazing.
I do understand that it can look pretty shady to have some random college students on the side of the road with cans for "kids with cancer". When you think about it though, we really don't expect more than quarters or a one dollar bill. I don't think it's putting a hole in your pocket to give us caring students ONE dollar. We're not going to go away so you might as well stop looking like a jackass and just give us something.
Please stop pulling the fake-out where you start looking through the stuff in your car. I then swear you're giving me money so I stand weirdly close to your car waiting, only to find out it was so you could waste time while the light was changing. That won't work anymore, we're onto u.
And Please stop telling me you already gave to another group down the street because number one, I don't believe you. Number two, the kids could use more than one dollar, though I'm sure you feel real good about that donation. Lastly, if you didn't know, this whole canning thing is a competition and we all want to be the ones to raise the most money for the kids, so giving to our competitors doesn't necessarily make us too happy, as selfish as that sounds.
The easiest solution to this problem is to simply drop some change in the can. You feel like you did something, yet you didn't have to dig into your actual bills, and we feel like we did something, when we come to your car and aren't completely shot down. It's a practically effortless give and take.
I drive 4 hours from school. I stand outside for hours at a time. It's about 30 degrees out and I'm holding a tin can and a sign around my neck. Without even knowing what I'm doing, I'm starting to pity me. 
