In some cases I feel some don't even bother trying to Or CAN differentiate who to ask.
They just ask who ever walks by them.

All they want is money and don't care who they get it from.

This is where the status of the persons Mental Health comes into question.

Right now it's like my Pups,.

I can give them all sorts of quality time but when they jump up on my lap they are looking for FOOD.I suspect they learned early in their lives that I am a messy eater and I eat Crumby Food

 

I keep "walkin" and pay them no attention. I think in most cases they could be employed and contributing members of society but choose not to.

 

Don't give those people anything and don't feel bad about it either.

While there is a small precentage of people that are truly needy the vast majority of them are drug users and thiefs. I saw in one of the other posts on this thread that someone offers them a job but is always turned down. That is because they don't want a job, or a place to live or any help. They want money to buy drugs and or alcohol.


Next time one of them approaches you tell them to get lost and if they don't then call the cops. Their are laws, in California at least, against aggressive panhandlers.

 

Some have mental issues and get lost in the healthcare and social supports systems 'cause they don't have the capacity to look out for themselves.

 

A television station in OKC did a thing with this guy standing on a street corner with a sign in a snow storm many years back....along about dark thirty, he took his sign in hand and headed around the corner. He got in his car and drove straight to the liquor store and yep....spent all of his days handouts.....Give if you want to.....!

 

teach a man to fish

we have schools here you can learn any kind of trade you want, the government will pay your tuition and give you money for food and rent until you graduate. i have no problem with helping people that want to better themselves. we have a serious shortage of skilled tradesmen right now.

i even feel bad for the guys that are too old or crazy to take care of themselves. my uncle hit his head in an accident when he was young and wasn't quite right after that. he was the nicest guy. you wanna go on holiday he'd look after your dog for a few weeks. but he'd go off into space and couldn't hold down a job. when my grandparents couldn't look after him anymore they took him to the welfare. yes it costs money but he got to have a life and he never hurt anyone. i think that's how it should be. people that are truly needy shouldn't have to beg. we're rich enough we can look after the less fortunate.

but all these kids just hanging around begging for change isn't good for anybody. most of them have no excuse for not working and will probably still be there 20 years from now. i think giving them any kind of money is irresponsible because you're only encouraging bad behaviour. like feeding a dog from the table. if you don't want him to beg don't feed him from the table. the dog doesn't know the difference and neither does an 18 year old squeegee kid

 

Some REALLY great responses in this thread!!!

 

I see beggars in Philadelphia all the time, for as long as I can remember. I never give them money. I offer a job for a day. I have a construction company. In the last 16 years only one took me up on it. He worked but would not come back the next day. The newspapers are full of help wanted ads. They don't want to work. They want to drink and do drugs. There are a few who have a home, but beg anyway. Those are the ones that laugh all the way home at you, while they drive a car better than you.
There are plenty of shelters and places they can eat. They want to dring your money that you worked for.

When I was on a tour in Isreal with a bus load of people, we came to a place where there were a few beggars out side. The tour guide told us before we got off: "Don't you give those people anything. When they get hungry they will get a job. If you give them money you will turn them into professional beggars". There will be beggars everywhere as long as people give them something.

 

We have a shelter a few blocks from where I work and the hardware store I go to is next door to the place. I deal with this stuff daily.

I've really had my eyes opened after talking to these guys. The backgrounds are so varied, I take it case by case. I never give money. The "old vet", "bus money" or "hungry" people are amateurs to many of the street people and are kind of a minority. They are the ones that approach you though, so it makes you think they are all the same.

There's one disabled old guy that has been on the street for years. He's kind of scary looking and I've watched people I've been with tense up when we walk by him. This look is engineered, so people leave him alone. Not so much for the average guy on the street, but the druggie street noobs that aren't even smart enough to work the system and are scary stupid. I've talked to him a few times, (we both like mocha lattes - a $3 vice.)

He's been doing this for years and doesn't have to panhandle. His overhead is practically nil and the SS that comes in from the years he did work gets invested in stocks/mutual funds, direct deposit, (he sinks $600+ a month into retirement - what do you put in?) The way the market is going, he's looking forward to retirement in under 5 years. He wanted to retire earlier, but that darn crash...

He takes a vacation every couple years. Sometimes it's 100 miles away, sometimes it's someplace warm. How does he do it? He walks. He doesn't want your money for bus fare, (someone tries that with you - tell them to walk, lowlife.) Interesting guy.

There's this other old lady. She knows how to dress stylish and can wash her own cloths, so you wouldn't know she lives on the street, but would think she was married to a banker - again, engineered. I usually see her getting coffee in the morning, while I'm taking a smoke break. The problem is she's so small and petite, she has a hard time reaching to the bottom of the garbage cans to scrounge for that half full cup you just tossed. I'll reach in and give her a hand sometimes. (I scored her a mocha and a coke cup w/ice once - she was uptown with an iced mocha!)

It's the little things you can do that really help - that never involves money.

Well, almost never. Since I smoke, I'm literally a bum magnet sometimes. "Hey man, can you spare a smoke?", just drives me up the wall. I finally quite saying no. Now I sell them for a buck. If that pisses them off, I'll say no. If they can bargain, I've let them go for 50 cents. These guys always have change and can afford it - because of you "charity people". (I have a hard time using cost as a reason to quit and am slowly dying - your generosity is killing me.)

So many stories...

One guy survives the winter with a blue tarp, electric blanket and an extention cord. If there's a spare receptical, he will find it.

These people thrive, because we are a wasteful society. We spend so much cash on cell phones, internet, cable TV, multiple car payments, big mortgages, fast food, designer clothes and everything else we need to "live", that we rarely have anything left over. Yet, we still throw away enough that a segment of people out there can live without starving. Some of these street people are better off than you, any cash you give is a bonus. They feel sorry for you, but they'll still take it.