[andreas_g4]

All of us are more or less often confronted with the situation, where a person beggs/asks for a little money on the street.

How I deal with it: There are people that I don't even consider giving them something. To these belong drunk persons, punks, (drunk) persons in groups, agressive persons. I have no nags with that, it barely reaches my attention.

However, I can't refuse giving at least some euros (and it happend a few times that I gave quite a lot) when it comes to: Kids, old people (see below), people that make an authentically needy impression, mentally and/or physically disabled people.

And that is what I never really can stop thinking about: Do I really give money to help them or to help me? Don't I just buy ease of mind for me? I am far from what you can call rich, I am a student. But I have more money that I need to live. I can afford a Mac, I can afford cinema, food (sometimes expenive), a nice small flat, an iPod, special clothes and 20 pairs of shoes. I can afford DVDs, visiting my parents by train, examinations by a doctor for my cat, I can afford to save money. Does it hurt me the slightest bit when I give someone some of my money? No! Do I care for these people? I don't know! I think a lot about this and I suffer from pangs of conscious, since I (and everyone) should try to change things. Why don't I ask: "Why do you have no money - do you have problems with the auhorities? Do you have a place to stay? Do you have familiy?" This sounds naive, right. It isn't! In the end, I'm just to glad to - be me. The world will not be changed by me. But if I can help one or two pepople, and someone else helps one or two, and so on, the world would be a better place to stay. Not perfect, but better. There are people who won't appreciate or even want help. And there are people who will always loose in life. But I really need to change something about my attitude.

So how do you think about this? I know there are many aspects of this issue. I'd love to talk about this.

[nredman]

i think i have only given someone money once, it was after a baseball game and some guy was playing guitar...just jamming...i gave him a buck. other then that i don't gave to people on the street. its my opinion that the government should take care of its citizens

[sek929]

One time in Boston I was fairly wasted and I gave a crippled (as far as I knew) man a 5 spot.

If I got change I'll probably hand it over. Whats 75 cents to me?

[ThinkInsane]

Depends on my mood, mostly. If someone was polite and respectful, I might give them some change. More often than not, I just keep on walking. Most of the panhandlers in my area know me from work, so they make it a point to steer clear, which is just fine by me.

I'll probably become increasingly less charitable since it seems that lately, I can't make it three steps out of my building without getting asked for a cigarette from 5 or 6 different people.

I also can't stand Canadian panhandlers. Not because of them or their nationality, but just because I always forget about the $1 and $2 coins. I think I've found a good way to get rid of all the change rattling in my pocket, only to realize I just donated a hell of a lot more than 79 cents. Last year in Ottawa, my girlfriend felt compelled to point out "You do know that you just gave that bum about $25.00 don't you?". No, no I didn't, but thanks for pointing it out so I can be good and pissed about it.

[khufuu]

Giving money only encourages them. Make a mental policy not to give money and you'll find that most of your inner conflicts go away.

Buskers, however, are a different story. A lot of buskers make their living this way and I have no problems giving out money if I've enjoyed what they've done.

[Mr. Blur]

I generally will not give to a beggar/panhandler - there are enough social safety-nets around here (as far as I am concerned) to help them with basic food and shelter so anything I give is just going to feed their bad booze/drug habits.

Buskers though is different - they are often *very* talented and it is there way of ***earning*** their living. Even in this small-ish city we have mime artists, string duos or quartets, the usual assortment of singer/guitarists, artists etc etc and I drop my coins in their cases quite frequently...they bring life to the streets.

[iMOTOR]

Generally speaking, if someone begs me for money, I will offer to buy what they need. In other words, if someone asks for change for a coffee, I'll offer to go with them to McDonalds and buy them a coffee. No one has ever accepted my offer though.

[JoshuaZ]

Here in 日本 people usually just avoid them.

[turtle777]

No money.

95% buy alcohol or drugs for it, so helping their addiction doesn't help them.

-t

[IceEnclosure]

I spend a lot of time in downtown Ft. Lauderdale and Miami as well..

Totally situation specific though. Sometimes I'll give a buck or two (if they purposely entertain me, etc), sometimes nothing. Sometimes before he gets his first word out of his mouth, I'll tell him to beat it.

No matter whether I give or not, I'll usually let them know there's always a restaurant around that'll hire dishwashers for minimum wage or more, 30+hrs per week. That's decent money, and an honest living.

This happens 3+ times a week for me.

[Randman]

Didn't Cody have a thread on this a few weeks ago?

[m a d r a]

i never give to beggars. the ones i hate most are the ones who sit next to the cash machine while you're withdrawing your money, trying to lay some kind of guilt trip on you. it's all i can do to stop myself kicking them in the face.

on the other hand i've given money to pavement artists or buskers [at least they're trying to do something to earn their money - not just sitting there in a pool of their own piss, waiting for the rest of the world to bail them out] - and i once bought an old tramp a couple of bottles of beer, coz i struck up a conversation with him and he turned out to be a really witty intelligent guy, who basically told me [in answer to my question "how did someone as clever as you end up like this?"] that he was trying to drink himself to death because his wife had died of cancer some years before and he couldn't live without her.

on a lighter note, one christmas many moons ago when i was a starving and penniless art student, me and a mate went out and did a bit of pavement art in the centre of manchester - really cynical stuff, for a pair of confirmed atheists, drawing these angelic nativity scenes - but we made about thirty-odd quid between us in a couple of hours, which pretty much let us get the necessaries together for a bumper chrimbo dinner and a few bottles of booze to wash it down with.

on another occassion i was sitting on some benches outside a supermarket in the city centre with my dog when an old woman came up and tried to press a fiver into my hand to "buy something for the dog". it took me ages to convince her i wasnae a beggar and me and the pooch were just taking a breather, as we'd been wandering round town for about an hour! even then she trundled into the shop and returned wi a packet of biscuits for the dog. [ah! - the perils of being a scruffy punk!]

[Ω]

When a beggar asks me for a dollar, I tell them I have a $50k student debt. Then I ask them if they have a $ for me.

[tooki]

The last time someone started a thread to ask this same question, I pointed out that here in Baltimore, they did a study and found that none of the "homeless" beggars were actually homeless. They just made more money begging than by working a low-wage job, so they'd pretend to be homeless and haggard to get more money for alcohol and drugs.

If you want to help the needy, give to a carefully selected charity.

tooki

P.S. A lot of people at soup kitchens for the needy aren't needy, either. They're just lazy and greedy.

[wdlove]

Originally Posted by Randman

Didn't Cody have a thread on this a few weeks ago?

Chances are she dd. Cody can always be counted on to bring up very interesting topics.

[teney7]

There are ways to give besides giving money...

Ditto to Ω's comment about student debt, though... !

[BlueSky]

I carefully assess the situation when asked, then tell them that I'll give them money only if they promise to spend it on liquor or drugs.

[teknopimp]

i give if i get something in return. ususally to a hispanic for a bag of oranges or black guy for a windshield cleaning. i'm not buying the old bearded white guy sitting with a sign doing nothing ex-soldier routine.

[moonmonkey]

Originally Posted by tooki

The last time someone started a thread to ask this same question, I pointed out that here in Baltimore, they did a study and found that none of the "homeless" beggars were actually homeless. They just made more money begging than by working a low-wage job, so they'd pretend to be homeless and haggard to get more money for alcohol and drugs.

If you want to help the needy, give to a carefully selected charity.

tooki

P.S. A lot of people at soup kitchens for the needy aren't needy, either. They're just lazy and greedy.

reminds me of this Sherlock Holmes Story

http://www.familymanagement.com/lite...isted.lip.html

[loki74]

Nope. Not unless I have a damned good reason.

Tooki pretty much summed up everything I think on the matter. Some peoope make loads of cash off this stuff on the Strip here in Vegas. Its obscene, if you ask me. Also, AFAIK they don't need to count it as income, and thus do not pay taxes on it.

Heres an example: my brother shops at Hot Topic from time to time. Well it just so happens that he saw this $40 (I think it was 40, could have been more) pair of pants at Hot Topic. Quite unique, I suppose, given that he was able to immediately recognize them on this guy begging on the street. This wasn't even on the strip, by the way. (It was on Sahara and Hualapai, for you other Vegas ppl) I don't think an authentially needy person would be walking into Hot Topic buying up $40 pants.

(just for the record, "damn good reasons" include things like stranded/abondoned kids, crippled people, disabled people, mentally challenged people, etc.)

EDIT:

Originally Posted by teknopimp

i give if i get something in return. ususally to a hispanic for a bag of oranges or black guy for a windshield cleaning. i'm not buying the old bearded white guy sitting with a sign doing nothing ex-soldier routine.

Agreed. This shows that they are not looking for a free ride, and that they wish to take responsiblity. They want to earn something, as opposed to have it handed to them on a silver platter. Responsibility... often times, that's what it's about, if you ask me.

[ThinkInsane]

Originally Posted by m a d r a

on another occassion i was sitting on some benches outside a supermarket in the city centre with my dog when an old woman came up and tried to press a fiver into my hand to "buy something for the dog". it took me ages to convince her i wasnae a beggar and me and the pooch were just taking a breather, as we'd been wandering round town for about an hour! even then she trundled into the shop and returned wi a packet of biscuits for the dog. [ah! - the perils of being a scruffy punk!]

kinda sucks, don't it?

A girl I used to date and her father were walking down Hollywood Blvd, when a vagrant walked up and asked them for $3.00. Her dad gets out his wallet, counts out three bills, and says "I'm going to give you this three dollars, but only if you promise to buy booze with it". The bum thinks about it for a minute and agrees. As the guy is walking down the street, her dad yells, "I'm serious. You better buy booze with that! I don't want you wasting it on food!" He replied, "Don't worry mister, I will".

[ajprice]

I saw a great t-shirt yesterday, saying:

"Yes I have got spare change, you homeless sh*t, thanks for asking."

Made me laugh.

[ThinkInsane]

There are two sign carrying cretins around here I'd consider giving money to, just because their signs make me laugh. One has a sign that says "Not gonna lie, I really need a beer" I actually gave him one at a stop light when i was on my way home from the supermarket once) and the other dude has a sign that says "Need money- crack addicted" with (at least I ain't robbin you" in parenthesis.

[iMOTOR]

Originally Posted by ThinkInsane

"Need money- crack addicted" with (at least I ain't robbin you" in parenthesis.

Yeah, what a great guy for not being a criminal.

[demograph68]

I hope some of you would at least help volunteer once and a while in a soup kitchen like I have. There are some nice people among them that, gasp, aren't drunk petty thieves.

[Philip J. Fry]

Originally Posted by demograph68

I hope some of you would at least help volunteer once and a while in a soup kitchen like I have. There are some nice people among them that, gasp, aren't drunk petty thieves.

[ThinkInsane]

Originally Posted by iMOTOR

Yeah, what a great guy for not being a criminal.

never said he was a great guy, just said that the sign amuses me.

[iMOTOR]

I never said I though you said he was a great guy, but he must think he's a great guy for writing what he wrote.

[11011001]

I'd rather donate to some charity helping homeless people than give away money on the street. It seems more likely that money would be put to good use. However, I am weak, and if they are persistent I usually give in :/

When I was in Korea, people would get onto the subway playing really loud pathetic sounding music. Then they would go from car to car, asking each passenger for money. It's very annoying.

In this one district I stayed in, there was always this legless guy pulling himself around on a cart, staring at the ground with one of those speakers blasting the sad music. I felt quite bad for him. I haven't been to a lot of places, but I think that is the saddest homeless guy I have ever seen.

[production_coordinator]

I hand out bottles of vodka... and cut out the middle man.

[SirCastor]

I try to give when someone asks. I figure that there's little to be lost in being generous with what I've been blessed. I know that it won't be counted against me if I give genuinely, regardless of what the receiver will do with the money. That's me. Let God sort it out.