I know, that was my point. The state of their kitchen has no bearing on the sister's condition, so why mention her at all? Because it's for sympathy, and he's hoping that it'll make you click his link.
Yes, but it also has a bearing on the families' financial situation.
It provides a somewhat compelling reason for why this family would deserve the help.
If the OP did just make up the story, he's the scum of the earth.
If he didn't, he and is family are just some more people in need.
If they are truly in need, and the family got included in this, it's a good oportunity for them, and his posting this is his attempt to be sure that that oportunity wasn't squandered.
It hurts the other contestants, and makes the playing field uneven.
You don't even know how much this poll even counts toward the decision that will eventually be made by the station.
This does not make the playing feild uneven... it's a open contest, and the site itself makes obvious that the station wants this information distributed.
(It has a email forwarding link built in to it for goodness sake)
Why should the OP be penalized because he's found a more efficent way?
If the reasoning behind the action is to "help somebody in need", how do you know that the other contestants aren't more in need?
They probably are. But they aren't asking for help.
One person can only do so much... considering that the OP has posted that he is in need, he's the one more likely to get the help from those he requests it of, especially since all he asks is a trivial effort.
It's more of a moral problem then a financial one, so it doesn't matter if any money is needed. My problem is that I don't believe the situation regarding his sister (and even if it IS true, it shouldn't have been mentioned in the first place). If I were in a contest like this, and I REALLY wanted to win, would you look down on me if I made up a story about having cancer?
Yes, I would. I'd think you're the scum of the earth, and hope that you get some sort of reciprocation for your actions, be they of divine or human origin.
The same goes for the OP. Since he hasn't given a huge reason to doubt him, I'll opperate under the assumption that he is telling the truth..
if it comes out later that he was lying, I'd rip his threads to ribbons, call the station director and tell him about this scumbag that was playing on the emotions and decency of others to try to win thier contest, and I'd be sure to provide him with copious links of the scenario.
But as of yet, the OP's story has remained fairly consistant... and some people react negatively to questioning them, so I'm even granting him a degree of latitude about the few times he lashed out earlier in the thread.
What if one of the other contestants really DOES have cancer, yet we don't know about it?
You can't save everyone. That person hasn't asked for my help, so I'm not going to not help this person on the off chance that someone may be worse of than him. However, if there were a link to the situations of the people asking for help with thier kitchens and I did see someone in more dire straigthts than the OP, I'd have voted for them. Since that data isn't available, it's foolish to not help someone who has asked for your help because someone may be in a worse shape or more deserving. If you operate like that, you're far less likely to help people that actually do need help.
Sure, it doesn't cost anything for anybody to vote, but in this situation the cost wouldn't matter. The consequences for my lie about cancer could be morally troublesome, as I could've theoretically weasled a PSP out of the hands of a make-a-wish patient.
If it's a lie, yes. You can't prove the OP is lying.
If the OP is a liar, he's the scum of the earth. I've already said that multiple times. But I've yet to see a reason to believe that he is lying.
I think you missed this
I think you missed the first couple pages. Scorch broached the majority of your more compelling questions, and his converstation with the OP didn't degrade to the point your comments got to, or lead to a halfhearted swipe at the entire CAG userbase.
