Solicitation at College

[KarenH]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

Why do people solicit at colleges? Don't they know college students have no money because it is all spent on education and food? Or maybe they think we are just vulnerable because we are young.

They do it because they want to shape your future spending habits by familiarizing you with their products or services. When I was in college (late 1970s), the most notorious ones were the beer companies sponsoring frat parties--even though most undergrads are underage! I haven't heard whether campuses still allow that kind of yuckiness.

I knew certain college students that did manage to find money for non-educational stuff such as cheap beer and occasional weekend trips to Mexico.

[Billfred]

My goodness, don't get me started on the preachers.

We had a preacher set up on the green space right by the Russell House, and smack dab in front of Preston College (the most liberal and free-thinking residence hall on campus--strike one). Then he announced that he went to the University of Georgia and was in a fraternity (around here, that's strike two). Finally, he went into the classic fire-and-brimstone method, which, you guessed it, is strike three. Needless to say, some half of the building was countershouting as he preached until he moved to the Russell House patio (out of range). Even then, some of the Christians in the building were beating him at his own game (finding those parts of the Bible that he was conveniently ignoring in his argument).

As for the credit card companies, it seems that they've just quit trying on campus--now they're all in my mailbox.