Those folks who ask for money in front of supermarkets

[braumeister]

My personal policy is never to give money. I will, sometimes, ask if I can buy the person a sandwich or something. Amazingly, 9 out of 10 times I'm told that they just want the money. Which they won't get -

That's my experience, too. I have never been taken up on an offer to buy them a meal, not once.

I parked in a strip mall and this guy stopped me while walking to the store... had a gas can in hand and said he and his wife had run out of gas and did not have any money... I gave the guy a couple of bucks and went in the store... I saw him do it to a number of people....

Then to confirm that I had been taken... I went back the next day and he was still there... live and learn...

This is the single most common scam where I live. I see someone doing this a minimum of two or three times a month.

The most interesting job I've seen lately was in September in Denver. I was walking down the 16th Street Mall in the early evening, following a guy asking for money. During the 8 or 9 blocks I followed him (maybe 15 minutes total), I watched him collect from 22 people (I was counting). All his collections were paper money, usually more than a single bill, so that's a remarkably good hourly rate of pay.

 

[FocusedInfinity]

I got approached at a gas station once. The guy started with "Do you speak english?". I replied with "No".

 

[rescueme]

And the best thing? All the "income" is tax-free ....

 

[Nuiloa]

The most interesting job I've seen lately was in September in Denver. I was walking down the 16th Street Mall in the early evening, following a guy asking for money. During the 8 or 9 blocks I followed him (maybe 15 minutes total), I watched him collect from 22 people (I was counting). All his collections were paper money, usually more than a single bill, so that's a remarkably good hourly rate of pay.

He probably saved one of the bills to roll into a tube to get the drugs up his nose.

I don't give money for three reasons: 1) it's fairly obvious in most cases that the money is for booze and/or drugs 2) the welfare system in Canada is very generous and half of the money I make already goes for social programs and 3) giving them money does not encourage them to become self-reliant. It just encourages them to keep pan-handling.

People in Canada won't starve unless it's a conscious choice. There are programs available everywhere to help the destitute.

Or they can sell the free packages of cigarettes that come with their food stamps. (that one really frosts my cookies! Why are my tax dollars paying for cigarettes!?!?!)

 

[MichaelB]

I guess things are not that obvious to me. My impression is that many panhandlers are mentally ill, somewhat abandoned and mostly untreated. Some - perhaps many - are substance abusers, but what they really need is medical care.

 

[pimpmyretirement]

Anyway, with inflation, 1$ isn't worth much anyways, so why all the fuss?

When I worked in the city, there were half a dozen beggars on my 10 minute walk from the train to work. Every day, there and back. My favorite was the 250lb woman that would sit on a bridge yelling "Can someone please get me something to eat please."

Some of them were overly aggressive, like the guy that would stand in the middle of the sidewalk wrapped in a blanket with his hands out, weaving back and forth into the paths of people trying to get to work.

Then there was the "injured" guy with crutches (i.e weapons) that would get into people's personal space and hurl insults if they wouldn't give money or hear his story.

The ones that go into a fast food place at lunchtime and work it table by table until some underpaid cashier gets stuck trying to chase them out were always fun.

It was great walking by the "street performer" that just randomly blew into an out of tune sax.

I was charmed by the dudes that would grab at my cab door as I got in or out, then hold out their hands like I owed them something

The guys that would hang out in the train station, just waiting for a suburbanite with leftovers were a nice touch too. Nothing closes a night out on the town better than coming out of the bathroom to see your wife being bothered by some smelly creep with nothing to lose.

Nuisances, all of them. As a young able bodied male, I felt harassed and at times intimidated. I can only imagine how others might feel.

The beggars are a big part of why I avoid the city for the most part, and the rare times I do go, I avoid public transportation. It must be unsettling to see them appear at the local supermarket, even if they are well kempt. To me, that's just a sign they are more resourceful and it is time to be extra cautious.

 

[Leonidas]

I guess things are not that obvious to me. My impression is that many panhandlers are mentally ill, somewhat abandoned and mostly untreated. Some - perhaps many - are substance abusers, but what they really need is medical care.

Personally, I think that drug and alcohol addictions are just a form of mental disease, but that's just my opinion.

No way would I try to hazard a guess what percentage of panhandlers are just drug fiends and alcoholics, and what percentage are mentally ill who are self-medicating with drugs and alcohol, or what percentage were driven to the streets by some other force and became mentally ill, or became substance abusers, or both, in response to what they experienced on the street.

You can feel sorry for the mentally ill on the streets. I do, and I spent years dealing with them - trying to help them as much as I could in a completely dysfunctional system that does not take care of them at all. You can read my opinion about it here: http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/help-suicide-note-on-craigslist-46083-2.html#post852211

Society is sending a message. It doesn't want the mentally ill in institutions, and prefers them out in the population where they all live happy productive lives while their illness is controlled by medication and therapy. Except that is not what always happens. They stop taking their medications, they can't afford them, they self-medicate with booze or drugs, etc.

Now, if the person's behavior rises to the level where they are demonstrably a danger to themselves or another, then they can be involuntarily committed to a mental health care facility. If you can convince a magistrate with your articulation of the facts. And if there is space available. Then of course the hold is only for 24-hours at the most, and 90% of the time they are released back into the same environment from which they failed.

And the people who are having less serious problems, are homeless, or are in situations that are not healthy? Well, the cops all have a nice list of names and phone numbers of shelters intended to help those folks. Except, they're already full and refuse to take any newcomers, "maybe next month" is the best you get. Unless a caring family member will take the person in, the only other alternative is to arrest them for one of the offenses designed to keep Bob the Bum at bay. But you help with one hand by getting them off the street and simultaneously hurt them by putting them into the giant uncaring criminal justice system. If there was some real help available to them in jail that might make it worth it, but that is so seldom the case. So, they get told "stay off the street" and are left to do their thing until the police get called again. It follows the philosophy of, "if you can't make it better, be damn sure you don't do something that makes it worse."

Give the mentally ill guy a buck and he might buy a cheeseburger with it, or he might pool it with nineteen others and buy a rock with it. Who knows if you're helping him or just fueling his destruction.

 

[Ronstar]

We grocery shop at the same store every weekend, and there is some charitable group manning the doors every time. Went across town to another store after our regular stop, and there was a different group there. They are generally kids, bringing their mothers for muscle. I usually give them a buck. I never see beggars at our local supermarkets, but usually in downtown Chicago, or recently in the Phoenix airport. I very seldom give money to beggars.

 

[NW-Bound]

I used to give a buck or two to beggars. It was for myself to feel good more than anything else, I guess. Then, I kept reading that it was just a scam. So, I stopped doing that.

I do not watch TV anymore, but a quick search on youtube found me the following video clip. Many of the homeless people simply did not want to work, period. Why work, if they can make $50/hour tax free, by just standing there with a sign? They are no fool!

I am sure there are needy people who need help, but giving money to beggars is not the way to do it. Many charitable organizations have said the same. Your money would do more good being donated to legitimate charities.

ABC 20/20 Freeloaders - Creating Dependency Segment - YouTube

 

[Gumby]

If someone needs money enough to come up to me on the street and ask for a buck or two, then I give it to them. I don't care how they came to that point in their life or what they plan to do with the money after I give it to them. I just know that they need it and I have it and can share.

 

[JOHNNIE36]

These stories are amazing. Takes a lot of guts to panhandle but it must be worth the effort. I was glad the city of Tampa ban panhandling entirely except for Sundays. Some kind of newspaper sales exception. Then the entire county of Hillsborough banned panhandling on state and county roads except for Sundays and the newspaper sales thing came up again. I don't know all the legal mumbo-jumbo relative to newspaper sales.

 

[TromboneAl]

I remember a black guy running the "I need money for gas" scam. His trick was that the first thing he'd ask is "Are you prejudiced?" It put people on the defensive, and made them eager to prove that they weren't prejudiced by giving some money.

 

[tmm99]

These stories are amazing. Takes a lot of guts to panhandle but it must be worth the effort. I was glad the city of Tampa ban panhandling entirely except for Sundays. Some kind of newspaper sales exception. Then the entire county of Hillsborough banned panhandling on state and county roads except for Sundays and the newspaper sales thing came up again. I don't know all the legal mumbo-jumbo relative to newspaper sales.

That is so funny to me. They allow panhandling on Sundays because?
I guess Sunday is a tilthing day.

 

[tmm99]

I remember a black guy running the "I need money for gas" scam. His trick was that the first thing he'd ask is "Are you prejudiced?" It put people on the defensive, and made them eager to prove that they weren't prejudiced by giving some money.

 

[tmm99]

I just hope I won't get my purse stolen with my cell phone in it and run out of gas at the same time. I don't know anybody's phone number without my cell phone, so I will be asking strangers for gas money and they would probably think I was trying to con them!

 

[eridanus]

On the way home from the grocer, I go by a corner where people beg. I always offer food and they almost always take it. I recall vividly when one woman greedily snatched some yogurt out of my hand when I offered; it was as if she hadn't eaten for days. A few weeks after that incident, I read about her death from exposure.

That said, one out of six Americans now live in poverty. Maybe they're all faking it and secretly drive BMWs but the poverty rate has definitely increased.

 

[JOHNNIE36]

That is so funny to me. They allow panhandling on Sundays because?
I guess Sunday is a tilthing day.

It has something to do with newspapers being legal to sell on the streets on Sunday? Some old law. It's being challenged. However, whats so funny about banning the panhandling? Did you miss the point? People are sick of it.

 

[FUEGO]

Another classic besides the "need money for gas" is the "need money for bus ticket". I just need $10 to get home, I just got out of the military, can you help a vet?" "No, how about a buck or two, spare change anything to help?"

I don't know if the beggars realize that no one uses cash anymore these days (at least among my 20- and 30-something peers), but "I don't have any cash" is a perfectly passable lie in general to get them to leave you alone.

Although I wouldn't be surprised to hear my lie countered with the retort "that's ok, I accept plastic too".

 

[REWahoo]

Although I wouldn't be surprised to hear my lie countered with the retort "that's ok, I accept [-]plastic[/-] PayPal too".

Updated it for you...

 

[haha]

Here we have Real Change, a weekly newspaper that mostly homeless people can sell. They pay 35 cents for a paper they sell at $1. These people are usually to always clean and sober appearing. I think if they were not they could lose the privilege of selling it. The paper is typical urban progressive, so not exactly to my taste, but I buy one a week anyway.

One black guy who sells them at Trader Joe is a real performer- and I mean that as a compliment. He has more friends than anyone else in the city I think. He is always upbeat, he is emotionally warm- and all this from a guy who sleeps on a peice of cardboard. But he is enterprising. He got some shop owner out in the North City to allow him to sleep in a protected spot, in return he sweeps the area every morning. He's got some girlfriend, and on his days off they take a bus to see a movie somewhere at a $1.50 matinee.

Another woman that sells Real Change I have known for a few years. Recently she was diagnosed with lung cancer. I suppose she could be conning me, but she is down to what looks like about 85 pounds on a 5'6"frame, and she can hardly beath, so I think she is for real. She says they won't operate on her until she weighs 90#- so I bought her a case of one of those liquid meals. When I don't see her for while, I fear that she is dead, but so far she always shows up again.

If I walk 1/2 mile, I will be panhandled 4-5 times, if I am walking where there are a lot of stores and people. I am alway respectful to these people because they have life that I could hardly imagine dealing with.

I don't encounter aggressive beggars often at all, and if I do I keep walking.

Ha

 

[yakers]

I carry around a box of pop top cans of beans & franks, spoons & a napkin. So far I get thanks and mostly the folks eat it immediately. I will not give money. Once I got the fellow with the gas can asking for money. I took him to the gas station and filled it up and said thanks, as I pulled away I saw him dumping the gas can out in the bushes. No money from me eve again. We have a food kitchen in town I support, no one needs to go hungry.

 

[REWahoo]

I carry around a box of pop top cans of beans & franks, sons & a napkin.

I know exactly how you feel. When my kids were young I often wanted to give them away, too...

 

[growing_older]

I've been hit up for the gas can thing and just need a few dollars for bus fare and so on countless times. I used to give, so maybe I still look like a mark. I'm not nearly so generous now. I've been assaulted and threatened when I was giving, and I've seen people I thought I was helping turn up drunk or drugged out the next day. I'll give through a recognized charity, but the one on one threats and intimidation have put me off any street donations. Last night I got approached inside a fast food restaurant by someone going table to table. First time I saw that. He didn't get what he wanted from the shocked diners, so he cursed us all out and left with rude gestures and sound effects.

I'm sorry for the hard life these people must have, but I don't feel like I have to take care of them or support their criminal behavior. I'm unhappy to be approached and asked to do so every time I venture out in public.

 

[Leonidas]

Good quote in the 20/20 video: Compassion without logic.

 

[tmm99]

It has something to do with newspapers being legal to sell on the streets on Sunday? Some old law. It's being challenged. However, whats so funny about banning the panhandling? Did you miss the point? People are sick of it.

I was laughing about the panhandling being OK on Sundays. I was actually sure it had something do with Sunday being the church day.

I guess you missed my point.