Wednesday, October 23, 2002

There's a guy who stands at Kilburn station, collecting money for charity, holding a sign saying, "Help us save the last 4,500 wild tigers". This number has remained unchanged for at least the two years that I've lived in Kilburn, so judging from his sign, the tiger population seems pretty stable. If they're not decreasing, why give money? And if people have been giving money for at least two years and the tiger population has shown no increase, why keep giving money to his organisation? Anyway, a quick web search seems to indicate that the number of wild tigers is probably somewhere between 5,000 and 7,500.

Of course, the protection of endangered species is a must, and a very worthwhile cause. But my issue is with his stipulating a number; and an unchanging number at that. Perhaps I'd be more inclined to donate if every time I saw him, he'd crossed out the number and made it a bit smaller. "Help us save the last 4,500 4,499 4,498 4,497 wild tigers".

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