History Main / EvenBeggarsWontChooseIt

* Military rations are called MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat, often joked to be "three lies for the price of one"). According to some the letters stand for [[FunWithAcronyms Meals Rejected by Ethiopians]] and countless other variations. The seriousness varies immensely by era, country and specific item.

* The Goodwill thrift store chain offloads the junk, broken items, and other crap they won't even sell in their thrift stores in "outlets" where the brave or crazy can buy it by the pound. One of these outlets (the one on 6th Street South in {{Seattle}}) was one of the shops {{Music/Macklemore}} used in his "Thrift Store" video.

* Military rations are called MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat, often joked to be "three lies for the price of one"). According to some the letters stand for [[FunWithAcronyms Meals Rejected by Ethiopians]].

-->-- '''[[ThePhilHarrisAliceFayeShow Phil Harris]]''', "The Thing"

* Little costume buddy from ''WesternAnimation/FatDogMendoza'' is initially such a bad salesman he couldn't sell water to a man dying of thirst in a desert. In contrast to Fat Dog selling ice to eskimo's.

** Another episode had Homer trying to tip a bellboy with a Grammy, only for the bellboy to reject it and drop it off a balcony, and it gets thrown back by a guy how calls it garbage.

Compare EvenEvilHasStandards, EvenNerdsHaveStandards, EveryoneHasStandards, TooSpicyForYogSothoth. Contrast EvenTheRatsWontTouchIt, which is specifically about substandard food.

* Lampshaded in Literature/InHerShoes, where Maggie informs Rose that she tossed out some unfashionable clothing of hers into the garbage. Rose questions why Maggie doesn't donate them to a secondhand store, the latter answers "Just because someone's poor, doesn't mean they have to be unfashionable."

->''I wandered all around the town until I chanced to meet\\

But when I showed him the [BOOM BA-BOOM], he turned around and ran!''

-->'''Dorothy:''' If this would have been offered to the [[AintNoPartyLikeADonnerParty Donner party]], they still would have eaten each other.
** Subverted when they actually eat it and it tastes delicious despite it's terrible smell.

* The Goodwill thrift store chain offloads the junk, broken items, and other crap they won't even sell in their thrift stores in "outlets" where the brave or crazy can buy it by the pound. One of these outlets (the one on 6th Street South in {{Seattle}}) was one of the shops Music/Macklemore used in his "Thrift Store" video.

* Inverted in ''Film/MaterialGirls''. The beggars ''would'' choose the beautiful Dolce and Gabbana clothes HilaryDuff's character donates to charity, but not many homeless people are a size 0.

* Lampshaded in InHerShoes, where Maggie informs Rose that she tossed out some unfashionable clothing of hers into the garbage. Rose questions why Maggie doesn't donate them to a secondhand store, the latter answers "Just because someone's poor, doesn't mean they have to be unfashionable."

It's easy to be picky and choosy about the brand, make, prettiness, country of origin and such of something you want if you already ''have'' access to a million of it. If you ''don't'', on the other hand, you're more likely to be desperate for it - especially if "it" is an essential need in your situation - and be willing to take whatever you can get. To paraphrase the old saying, beggars are hardly ever choosers.

* DesperateHousewives. When Martha Huber is collecting clothing for Edie (after her house burned down), Lynette apologizes for the unstylish quality of her own donated items. The older woman states "Beggars can't be choosers", then sees some items of Lynette's and reiterates "Of course we don't need to rub salt on the wound."

* Aziz Ansari pointed out that, when given a tip of over $1, the employees of Cold Stone Creamery must all do a short song and dance. "Five people are singing and dancing ''for a dollar!'' That's 20 cents a person! If you were to go outside and ask a homeless guy to sing and dance for 20 cents, he'd tell you to go fuck yourself, cause that's degrading!"
** Which is why there's a sign right next to the song list stating that if you just want to leave a tip and don't want to hear the employees sing, that's fine, too. Cold Stone Creamery fully understands this trope.

** Another episode had Homer trying to tip a bellboy with a Grammy, only for the bellboy reject it in disgust. Homer then angrily throws the Grammy off a balcony, but it gets thrown back.

-->'''Dorothy:''' If this would have been offered to the [[AintNoPartyLikeADonner Party Donner party]], they still would have eaten each other.

-->'''Dorothy:''' If this would have been offered to the Donner party, they still would have eaten each other.

* On ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', Meg is desperate for male attention, but even she wouldn't go out with Neil Goldman.