I went away on holiday with minimal internet access for 10 days and when I return home, I discover that people are throwing ice over themselves, telling me that I have to throw ice over myself and criticising others for throwing ice over themselves.
Most importantly, I have discovered that Tweak and Antmonkey are the people who hate me the most.
These are some of the criticisms I have heard:
It is bandwagon jumping/just a fad
Bandwagon jumping has happened since the dawn of time. People want to do stuff that other people have done and looks like fun. Life, in my opinion, is about experiences. If someone else has an experience that looks enjoyable, why shouldn’t someone else want to do the same? Although admittedly, pouring a bucket of ice water over your head doesn’t look enjoyable. But I guess being a part of something does.
And the fact that it’s a fad? So what. So were pogs, speak and spells, bell bottoms, shell suits and the #nomakeupselfie. The world goes through fads as people try out new things. And that’s just fine.
It is silly
Lots of things are silly. Silliness is what makes life fun. And that’s just fine.
Not everyone is donating to charity
This strikes me as slightly holier than thou. Sure, some people are doing it just for the hell of it, because it’s a challenge. And so what? They’ve not obliged to donate to charity just for doing something they want to do. I always find it difficult asking other people for donations to charity for something I’m going to do anyway. People shouldn’t feel they have to donate just because they want to join in with a trend/have been nominated to do so. And that’s just fine.
You shouldn’t need a gimmick to make you donate to charity
This I can agree with. You shouldn’t. The fact that you are one of the 40% of the world population on the internet, able to read this means that you are likely to have above average wealth. As such, perhaps you should be donating a small part of your income to those less fortunate than you. Being holier than thou for a second, I donate a small sum out of my salary regularly because I can. Not everyone is perhaps as fortunate enough as me to be able to spare that regular donation. And that’s just fine.
You are donating to the “wrong” charity
There are two strands to this. The first is that Macmillan have hijacked the fad to try to raise funds for their own cause, rather than for ALS/MND. If this has been something that they have done on purpose, then it strikes me as a very bad move as it will lose them a lot of goodwill, and them issuing a statement on it may not actually have helped as intended. Having said that, people are able to donate to whatever charities they wish to, and if some people have chosen to donate to Macmillan, Cancer Research or anything else then that is fine. They are still helping people in some way, which is a good thing.
The second strand is that other charities deserve the support more. This is something that is pretty hard to compare, really. I think it just comes down to what personal opinions you have and what charities are close to your heart. Personally, I prefer to donate to charities that attempt to combat social injustice, such as Amnesty, Shelter or Wateraid. Other people chose other charities. And that’s just fine.
They will just waste the money you donate
The argument is that it will be spent on PR, staff salaries and they will just be wasting the money. So what? So will I. I will just spend it on beer. At least a portion of it might do good this way. And that’s just fine.