Do you give money to panhandlers?

[bertha katzenengel]

I mean people asking just for money. There are many types.

Folks on the road with hand-held signs.

Folks hanging out at the gas station, ready to pump your gas for you.

Folks offering to wash your car window.

Folks who need bus fare/train fare/cab fare/car repair.

Folks on the street holding cups.

Etc.

Do you give?

(I predict 80% of replies to this thread will contain the words "it depends" or similar.)

[ScreamingMeemie]

1. Yes I do.

And it doesn't really depend. The only qualifier I will make is that once I gave a man $10 at a gas station (the story was they were trying to get to his mom's house and had run out of gas) and watched him hop back into his truck and take off. Now, at the gas station, I will offer to pay for gas if they are at the pump already. It's what you get out of giving than what actually happens once it's given.

[Chan790]

2. Yes, I carry a good amount of change for this very purpose

I've been indigent myself on more than one occasion, although never fully homeless because my friends are awesome people and my family sucks. Now that I'm doing better, it feels wrong not to support others the way I needed it. Yeah I hear it from my family..."you make minimum wage, you can't afford to send money to charity and give it away to people." and "They're just going to spend it on crack, hookers or booze anyway." You know what? I don't care...if I was living under a bridge or my life went to shit (again), I'd probably want to self-medicate heavily too.

I always offer food or assistance as well. I mean I worked in the NPO sector with at-risk populations...I know the right people to get them whichever form of help they'd like.

[terrya]

3. I do.

There's a guy with a styrofoam cup sitting on the sidewalk on the way to the Red Line CTA I take to and from work. I give him a dollar every day. I know that may not be a lot for some people around here.

I've given people money many times.

[LynneSin]

4. I use to give to the Vietnam Vet that would sit by the exit ramp where i would get off of 95

but in a nutshell - no.

I live & work in the city - too many times a handout means a person will follow you around or will end up going to buy drugs (I live in a nice neighborhood but I'm only about 6-7 blocks from a neighborhood that has crack houses in it - that's city living).

I would rather (and I have) donate to locate outreach charities. When I had my DU gathering, a woman who definately looked a bit out of it on some chemical, stopped by my house because we were all sitting on our porch that evening. She was hoping to get hands out and thankfully no one gave anything to her. If she knew she could get handouts from my house she would have been there all the time. Instead I told her that if she continued up 2 blocks there was a Catholic Church and a Hospital that would help her out.

[CBHagman]

12. The other aspects of this include...

...the people who give you the same emergency story week after week. That happened to me in D.C. on a couple of occasions. One week this man approached me and told me he needed to get to a particular Metro stop to join his wife. I gave him a card with some fare left on it. The next week the same guy, without recognizing me, came up and told me that he was trying to get to the same Metro stop where his wife was...

...the possibility that any money you give will be spent on drugs or alcohol.

...aggression of all types, against other panhandlers and passers-by.

[LynneSin]

15. well the homeless vietnam vet was pretty legit - he didn't have any legs below his knees

Not that having a handicap makes one a better candidate for handouts than another.

Ironically one of the first panhandlers in my neighborhood that I met wanted $2 so he could get home to Newark (DE). I happen to be at a Drinking Liberally gathering and the one girl worked for an outreach program and knew this was a kid looking for drug money. She tried her best to get him to a shelter for help but he insisted it was for money to get home (although $2 would not get you a taxi ride to Newark and this was after 11pm so there were no buses you could take).

About 2 weeks later the same kid showed up on my block as I was getting out a car with my friend. He asked for the same $2 to Newark which my friend was going to give until I stopped her and told her that this was a regular scam. She did; however, give him a lighter. BTW, the kid was some white kid who looked like he dropped out of college due to severe addiction - just goes to show that addiction and panhandling comes in all shapes & sizes.

[Fran Kubelik]

34. So what if they spend it on drugs or alcohol?

If they have an addiction, they need it as much as they need food...if not more. I used to insist on actually buying the food they said they wanted money for...but really...is that my business?

[Lyric]

5. If I have money, yes.

Sure, there's a chance I could be getting scammed for beer money, but to me, it's better to give money to someone who might use it for beer than to withhold money from someone who might truly need it for food, soap, toilet paper, etc. I'd rather err on the side of mercy, because I have no 100% accurate way of ascertaining the truth of the matter.

It's kinda like the death penalty, to me--I'd rather see a hundred truly guilty murderers get prison time rather than a death sentence than see ONE innocent person executed for the sake of "justice".

[La Lioness Priyanka]

6. if i have any yes. sometimes i buy people food.

[IndianaJones]

7. it depends on what they look like. nt.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

8. ...

:thumbsup:

[xchrom]

9. yes. nt

[CBHagman]

10. I stick to things, generally.

I'll sometimes buy someone food or water or some other non-alcoholic drink, or gloves on a cold night. I've called a shelter too. And I might put some cash in the poor box at church. But I generally don't give money to panhandlers.

[malta blue]

11. I did yesterday...

We don't get many in our area, more in the summer though, and yesterday there was a man with black jeans and black shirt, surrounded by plastic bag and a hand-written sign that said "Vietnam Vet".

Something about him triggered something inside me.

I went to the grocery store near where he was sitting and bought him a gallon of water (it was 96 here) and a $10 giftcard so he could get food or whatever he wanted with it.

He was very appreciative....

[distantearlywarning]

13. Typically, yes.

But not the aggressive ones.

(And if this post is referencing that other thread, I totally agree with the OP on that one.)

[bertha katzenengel]

16. Sniffa's thread inspired this one. I'll show no judgment here.

I hope everyone follows suit.

[terrya]

18. Thank you for saying that.

I've given money to panhandlers, but that doesn't mean I'm the reincarnation of Mother Teresa. But if someone doesn't give money to panhandlers, that doesn't mean he/she is evil personified. I refuse to show judgement about this.

[easttexaslefty]

14. Of course

[Starbucks Anarchist]

17. I did yesterday.

Being in NYC, it's impossible not to run into the homeless/panhandlers, so I obviously don't give money to every one of them, but yesterday was different.

I was walking to the train and noticed a woman sitting on the ground with a sign that mentioned she had four kids.

Now, it may have been possible that she didn't have four kids, but I didn't want to risk that chance -- plus, I'm usually wrong, anyway.

So I gave her $5 before heading to the train.

[Tyler Durden]

19. Every single one I pass, every single time.

Tolstoy said that the answer to "What then must we do" is "Everything we can."

I'm not here to brag, by the way.

I carry ones and change for this purpose

Could come from having been homeless once, but I did it before then too. Just seems like the right thing to do.

[tigereye]

20. I mistrust the folks with the "I need gas money since ____" stories

but everyone else, yes, or I give them a food gift card, or some food.

I'm thinking that the "I need a dollar for cabfare or gas" stories won't make much sense now.

[JVS]

21. I was asked for 5 bucks at the gas station back by a guy w/family at a gas station when gas was $2

We were in South Eastern Ohio, about 44 miles from the border. He said they needed to get to W Virginia. They drove an old Chevette. I put my credit card into the pump next to their car and pumped 3 gallons into his tank. But unless I can buy the product they claim to need directy for them, I am skeptical.

[Tyler Durden]

22. I figure I can afford a buck....

And as judgmental as I can be, I was standing in those shoes one time, so I don't judge THEM.

[tigereye]

23. that was a kind thing to do!

I've never had anyone ask me for money at the gas station itself -except for a guy who offered to put air in my tires for a few bucks.

[jonnyblitz]

24. yup, but not always. Once I got into it with a homeless lady

early one morning in downtown Long Beach, CA when I was trying to get on my bus to go to my navy ship in the shipyard there. she wouldn't let me get on the bus and kept grabbing my arm and yanking me back, yelling at me. I was probably ruder than I needed to be (looking back) but i was running late and they frown on tardiness in the navy. If this happened recently and I was mean like I was that time I doubt I would start a lounge thread about it unless my intention was to stir shit knowing how things go here. I would expect to be trashed by others about it despite whether I felt deserved to or not. :shrug:

that all being said, I tend not to judge how others behave in this situation because I would be a hypocrite. if the pan handlers don't take no for an answer and want to push it and start physically grabbing me and getting in my space I might be an asshole right back. I don't always have money to spare.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

26. hey there.. how are you>

i have missed you

[jonnyblitz]

29. I am doing great. I took a break here because I got tired of the

hillary supporters vs obama supporters stuff going on. I wasn't really a fan of either one. I prefer not to participate here so much anymore and just read and lurk although I didn't even do THAT for a good chunk of time until this weekend. my offline life has been quite busy also, mostly family related. :hi:

[Starbucks Anarchist]

35. Hey, jonny!

:hi:

[jonnyblitz]

38. hey!!11

it's almost time for a visit to NYC, btw. :hi: :smoke:

I hope you have been well.

[OmahaBlueDog]

25. Sometimes

I will tell you, when I lived in Berkeley, I became more hard hearted because a) there were so many homeless (at least in the 80s) and b) I was darn near broke myself.

When I was in Berkeley, I had a friend who came up with what I thought was a better solution. He had a homeless person regularly sleeping in the alley by his apartment, and there was a fast food place (BK, if I remember) across the street. THe guy obviously had a drinking issue, so he didn't want to give him money, but he'd ask the guy if he was hungry, and get him a burger and a drink.

[NewJeffCT]

27. I used to give more often

but, now I don't very much.

I practically got tackled once by some security guards who saw me give money to somebody once, and they told me that if I give money to panhandlers, it means they will assume I can afford to give money - which might not be wise in some situations.

[Fran Kubelik]

28. Yes I do, and I know that once that money leaves my hands, it's not my business...

...what they do with it. It's their money then.

But I also understand that there are situations people might face where it wouldn't make sense. And I don't get all this fucking drama around sniffa's thread. Your thread is great, Bertha, and I appreciate the way you have worded the question. I wish everyone would follow your example.

[Iggo]

30. Yep.

I've been there.

[Maddy McCall]

31. Here it's mostly people asking for money to eat. And yes, I give them money.

Every time.

[LeftyFingerPop]

32. Yes...if I can spare it. Always. And I've done it multiple times...

during a day. And I don't really care how I am approached.

I would imagine that sleeping on concrete and having a drug addiction might make you a little cranky. :sarcasm:

If I feel I have given to the point where it becomes onerous to my own financial situation, then I just say "no, sorry" and move on.

[Wcross]

33. Never.

I give to charities that help the homeless (Nashville rescue mission) but I do not give cash directly to people on the street. I don't know where my donation is going to when its handed to an individual. I can't help but think I am hurting them more than helping if it were to be used for their addiction.

[KG]

36. yep, if they approach me and talk to me.

guys with the signs at the exit ramps? not so much.

[applegrove]

37. Only if money is handy. I used to give money to people with sob stories at the bus station but

most of them are crack addicts bullshitting me.

[Carnea]

39. opps

[Shell Beau]

40. If I can. I always try to imagine myself in that situation.

[MrCoffee]

41. Nope.

[WinkyDink]

42. Yes, I do. Whatever occurs after that, is not on my conscience.

[petronius]

43. Sometimes - it's pretty random whether I do or don't

Either way, I try at least to acknowledge (with a smile or a "hello" or a "sorry, not today") that someone has spoken to me. Generally, I prefer to donate to food banks and other services, so that I can feel like my money will be used most efficiently (economies of scale and all that) and by people more experienced than I at not enabling addictions...

[Coyote_Bandit]

44. Rarely

I used to know someone who was a beneficiary of a rather large trust fund and I saw her panhandling with some frequency. Same woman was sent to prison for trying to steal a bronze statue from the company that managed her trust fund.

I have also encountered spouses of co-workers panhandling. Co-workers who were well paid middle managers.

I know there are truly needy people who panhandle but I don't have the ability to know who really is needy and who is simply scaming for a few easy bucks.

I prefer to either give directly to folks I know need a bit of assistance or to give to organizations that work directly with the truly needy.

[LeftyMom]

45. There's one in my neighborhood who is covered in burns- his skin looks like melted wax and his hands

are all twisted up. I give him money, because he obviously isn't in any condition to work, and he's a nice guy.

[av8rdave]

46. I do unless I know it's a scam

They are easy to spot. "Sir, this is my car right here. I'm locked out and need bus fare." I used to give for that until I returned to the parking lot several hours later and watched the same guy doing the same script, except he was pointing to a different car! In those cases, I don't.

Otherwise, yes.

[NJmaverick]

47. As a rule of thumb no

I generally don't, I prefer to give through charities instead. This hardly makes me a saint, and it's certainly not something I would brag about.

It's really hard to give a good answer though. In my current situation I don't come across many people looking for money. In fact I can't even remember the last time it happened. When I was going to college in NYC, I used to encounter the situation regularly. The problem was I wasn't exactly well off myself, as I was just a poor college student.

So who knows, maybe I would give now. Really hard to say.

Beyond that, I already donate 1000+ hours a year as a volunteer on my local emergency and rescue squad, so I often wonder when is it enough (as I said, I also donate regularly to charities).

[redqueen]

48. Sometimes.

It does depend... on so many things. I've given money, sandwiches, beer... it just depends.

[Enrique]

49. depends on their lipstick

[bertha katzenengel]

57. Heh

:thumbsup: good one

[Carnea]

50. I donate to single mothers going to college.

$1 at a time......


:evilgrin:

As for panhandlers no. I will give them food however or buy gas for their car however when I offer their car is always somewhere other than they said and they are mysteriously not hungry.

[rockymountaindem]

51. Yes

And I've never had anybody be aggressive, follow me, get mad for "not giving enough" etc.

One time I was out on the streets of Toronto not far from where I was living at the time. It was another typical -20 evening, and this dude in jeans and a windbreaker came up to me and asked me what intersection we were on. I told him, and then he said he was blind and needed help crossing the street. Now, he didn't have a cane or glasses or anything, and I was puzzled how he was getting around without any help or whatnot at 10pm. Furthermore, it was frikkin' freezing (as usual) and he didn't even have a real coat. So, I helped him cross the street in the direction he said he was going, said "now we're on the southwest corner of Bay and Charles", and started to leave. He thanked me profusely and then asked if I had any money because he would like some coffee. I had a five and a ten in my wallet. I was originally going for the five, then I thought, "he needs it more than me". So I put the ten in his hand and said "this is ten dollars". He thanked me profusely and then just started walking away.

Thinking it over later, I arrived at this conclusion. If the man was actually blind and really needed the money, then I helped someone in need and I did the right thing. If he was lying, and wasn't blind and didn't really need the money, then he did something very wrong and that's his problem for him to live with, and if that's the way he lives his life (by lying about being blind and needing money) then he's in more trouble than he knows. Meantime, I bet ten bucks that he was telling the truth. Maybe I'm out a tenner, but that's it.

It was one of the more interesting experiences of my life, for sure.

[Carnea]

60. Next time (Yeah like this will happen again I know)

Hand him the five and say I'm giving you a ten. If he doesn't object then give him the ten as well. B-)

[AngryOldDem]

52. No.

Because I work at a homeless shelter and know for a fact where the money goes, because I know the panhandlers.

I'd rather encourage them to get the help they need rather than enable them by giving them change.

[pdx_prog]

53. If they look in need....

yes by all means (even if they aren't you always end up getting good Karma from it).

On another note, I saw a guy with an army coat on one day at an off ramp. I turned and went down to Costco which was about 1/2 mile from the exit. After about 20 minutes I turned the corner and behold....the guy from the off ramp was pushing around a cart and had it half filled, which in the Costco world means about $150.00 worth of food.

How many homeless people do you know that have Costco memberships?...lol

[BklynChick]

54. I give to homeless people all the time, in the subway, on the street, etc.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

55. Sometimes

especially if I happen to have money in my pants pocket as opposed to reaching for my wallet. It's not that I think someone will steal my wallet, it's that opening my wallet and giving them a buck or two seems so condescending.............. :shrug:
I generally won't give to the same person more than once, though I can't say why.

[galledgoblin]

56. sometimes, but not as often as I should. (n/t)

[Mutley]

58. If I have it, yes.

I don't always have cash on me, though.

[Zavulon]

59. Never. EVER.

My girlfriend used to work at a bank and told me how panhandlers would come in and deposit surprisingly large amounts of money (tax free, of course). Some of these guys had balances well into five figures, while I'm busting my ass and being overtaxed to fund a government and war I don't approve of.

Because I have no way from distunguishing professional panhandlers from those who are temporarily down on their luck and intending to go work and pay taxes, I don't give anything. I have nothing but seething contempt for the professionals who take home more than I do without paying taxes.

Oh, and the "bus fare" thing is merely one of many strategies of the pros. The D.C, Metro system has a lot of these people who claim they're 30 cents short or so, and when the donor is out of sight after coughing up the change, these clowns hit up someone else. I actually take pleasure in turning these people in.

I will never cut professional panhandlers a break. Not only do I not give them money, I do everything possible to chase them away. I tell store managers that they have pros hanging out in front of stores, I rat on the Metro pros, and if I thought it would result in anything I'd turn in every last one to the IRS.

[Fire Walk With Me]

61. Ruprecht the Monkey Boy? I don't like the way he handles his pans.

Soon, he will have no pots and pans left.

Edit: http://www.filmsite.org/funniestscenes5.html

[Carnea]

62. Just found this link How to Panhandle it's a riaot

http://www.wikihow.com/Panhandle

My favorite bit

Cyberbegging is becoming increasingly popular, and there have been some amazing success stories, but don't expect great results. While there are some sites on which you can beg just by putting up a brief ad, if you're looking to make any substantial money you'll probably have to build your own site and invest the time and money into it to make it successful.

[sniffa]

63. It depends

[ForrestGump]

64. Not usually, these days

When I first came to the US (extreme budget travel, the only way to go...for most of my life I've been a student and money's been in short supply) I was taken aback by all of the panhandling in the cities I traveled through, starting with Los Angeles, and I usually gave money to people who asked. This was back in the mid '80s, hard on the heels of Reagan emptying out psychiatric facilities, and it seems like the demographics of panhandlers have changed to a great degree since (and, to me, it seems that there's less of it but far more in the way of families -- rather than the classic alcoholic urban 'derelict' -- on the street these days).

My attitude started to change after a while. In Los Angeles, then and years later when I lived there, many of the panhandlers tended to be extremely aggressive. Downtown, in particular, it wasn't unusual for a man to basically push way inside my personal space and demand money. I'm big but, still, it felt more like a mugging than a request for money and I can only imagine how intimidating it'd be to someone physically slighter than me (though I admit that I very obviously do not exude an air that in any way suggests I'm streetwise and I know petite women who'd probably feel less concerned by such an encounter and probably handily deflate the belligerent accoster).

Also, most especially during my time in San Diego (partly a function of my staying there a while, barely surviving in the process), I saw panhandlers who'd earlier told me all sorts of elaborate sad stories drink up their profits at the end of the day and then try again with me a day or two later. In San Antonio -- in all my travels, I never encountered more panhandlers than I did in that city, at that time -- some dude who tried to get money off me at a bus stop asked me, when I refused, if I wanted to team up to go panhandling with him. I said no...really, though, I could have used the money right about then. A little time in Tijuana, watching the mother-with-baby racket in action, didn't do much to improve my view of panhandling.

The fact that I had no money had a lot to do with my not donating to their cause but I also began to see that a great many of the significant number of panhandlers running around then were con artists to at least some degree, regardless of their housing situations. That's not to say that every panhandler was, but I began to resent the cheats because they created the perception among many that panhandlers were all grifters who probably made more money each day than the average working person. I'm sure we've all heard that, and heard it as justification for not giving time or money to legitimate efforts to help the homeless. Certainly there are such people, unfortunately, but they're a small number compared to the growing number of people out there who're in need of real help.

So, yeah, I very rarely give money to anyone on the street these days. I sure as hell don't give it to people who outright demand it, which seems increasingly common in this nation of ever-declining civility.

Working on the Las Vegas Strip has been an eye-opener, too, in more ways than one. For the most part, the 'street people' here who're wasted on drugs or alcohol, or just otherwise fried by the excesses of the city and the sun, are not homeless. Well, many of them are not, anyway -- I obviously have no fixed percentage available on this. There are homeless people in Vegas but the most high-profile of people who look like the archetypal homeless people, in the touristed areas, are burnouts most of whom are probably mentally ill in one way or another, but they live in apartments or otherwise have housing. Many of them are well known to hotel security -- some specialize in stealing purses (and drinks) from distracted gamblers and others just wander about causing trouble and doing things like tossing cups filled with unknown fluids at people -- and they have fixed addresses. Sometimes security officers will even take them back to their apartments, if they're on semi-friendly terms with the more benign of these characters who're pretty much fixtures on the Strip. Some of these people are pretty scary and I've had a couple very aggressively demand money from me on the assumption that I'm rolling in it and that they deserve a cut of that supposed wealth.

Not every street character in Vegas is on the prowl for money, though. There's one man -- haven't seen him in a while -- who is outright rich (inherited a fortune from some relative and his parents are extremely wealthy) but prefers to live on the street where he regularly causes all sorts of problems and seems hellbent to start fights that he won't win. The Strip is loaded with mentally ill people (and, no, I'm not hinting that all gamblers are among them...some are just optimistic) and all sorts of people indulging in skulduggery ('boosters' who steal from stores and flagrantly resell on the street, working girls, and hordes of Vegas street hustlers and con artists...even gypsies, who may or many not be Romany, who threaten to put a curse on you unless you pay them for an unsolicited fortunetelling), but most are not actually homeless. Hell, if I were homeless, the Strip is the last place I'd want to be.

EDIT: typos

[littlebit]

65. No

If they are hungry I will feed them. If the need gas for their car I will buy it. If they need drugs or alcohol they are on their own.

[CreekDog]

66. no, but instead i give through paycheck deduction to homeless and food charities

and the last time i stated this in a thread at DU, i got flamed big time.

and it was because of what i'm about to say: :hide:

with substance abuse so frequent among the homeless, i'm leery of giving money that might support that. some people could be genuinely in need, but i think it's more effective to give to St. Anthony's, the food bank and Second Harvest instead. I give more than I would hand out walking down the sidewalk that way too.

i also think that you don't run into working homeless on the street during the day because they are working and not visible.

and i think a few of the homeless are undercover beat cops, at least around here.

[Texasgal]

67. No I do not.

I volunteer frequently in the medical clinic at several of our cities shelters.

Shelter's and city caregivers WISH people didn't give the pan handlers money, if you are going to give money... give it to you local shelter!!!

[Sequoia]

68. Yes, but watch out for the gas pumpers.

These days some people will pump your gas, then gas their own on your card when your gone. I've heard it being done.