I'm in the wrong business!!

[Aimhigh]

One of the things that stand out about our recent trip to San Francisco is that on the way there we pulled off the interstate to eat. We had to stop for a red light before continuing to the restaurant...there on the corner was a panhandler. Not the typical panhandler as we both commented on his attire, which was actually pretty nice (better clothes than what I was wearing). We continued on the restaurant...where we sat outside. While eating, Belinda said "look at that"...it was the panhandler coming to eat, too...getting out of a Lexus! I know that many of these people need help, but when I'm driving a Corolla and he is driving a Lexus...I'm just saying!

[etcswjoe]

A radio station in Norfolk did a piece on the same thing awhile back and it was amazing how much some of these folks brought in. I use to carry a couple of Mcdonald gift certificates around with me and I found out the ones who only want cash are usally the ones that don't really need it. I have bought a few meals for folks too, maybe I am just too naive sometimes.

[warriorhoneybee]

i love it when they have a dog with them!!!! i asked one one day where he found the cardboard and the marker at?? he just looked at me. i wont even look at them anymore.

[BoomerCPO]

The one's (panhandler's) that really irk me are those who portray themselves as homeless Veterans when in fact most of them are NOT homeless nor Vet's......Grrrrrrrr.

Boomer....who sez ya gotta ask for Vet's ID before ya toss any cash at a panhandler.....and turn de pygmies loose on the dude if he is a phony.

[Motorcycle Mike]

If they dont have on one of those funny Yaraab hats or selling boxes of Krispy Kreem doughnuts, they dont get any of my money.

[Sailor]

There was an article in the local paper last year about kids who went to school during the week then got dressed in rags to go panhandle on the weekend. Recently one guy admitted it was a poor day if he did not take in at least $200.00

[dacheedah]

John Stossel I think did a tv investigation on panhandlers and the ones they showed were taking every free handout the government has to offer and some took in 50,000 a year on handouts. When I was on the PD we had a guy standing with a "will work for food" sign. The PD had complaints and I was the nuisance abatement officer, I found the guy and told him I had made arrangements for him to work for food. I persisted and he resisted. I would sit in my car lights on blocking traffic from him. I wrote him citations for being a pedestrian in a roadway at other than a crosswalk ( a moving violation in Illinois) and he ended up with a suspended license. He had a car and a house so we just kept targeting him and he finally moved on. We even wrote him for littering once when a woman bought a burger meal and came by and handed it to him, he looked inside and threw it down.

[Trader]

There was an front page article in the Toronto Sun a few years back about a woman dressed in rags who was a "regular" panhandling downtown Toronto who at the end of the day, would get in her Mercedees and drive to her expensive home in suberbia.

 

Turned out her husband was a professional (Doctor or such)

 

It's unfortunate, because there is only so much charity funds out there and these scum wrongfully accept money that other folks really do need

[SilvrT]

Quite a few years ago here in Vancouver there was a guy who would sit on the sidewalk downtown with his 2 pre-school kids panhandling ... at the end of the day they would go to the parking lot where his expensive car was parked and drive home to their expensive house. He got caught and was charged with something... don't recall what.

 

I work downtown Vancouver and see many of the panhandlers and street bums regularly. They get nothing from me. Been approached more than once by the same person, with the same story, over a period of 4 years. "Escuse me mate but I just arrived here from Australia and while I was waiting for the bus to Whistler, all my belongings were stolen... can you lend me a couple bucks..." (in an Aussie voice). yeahsureright "MATE" ...

 

Being exposed to this regularly tends to harden a person ... or maybe just learn that it's often a form of "scam".

[flb_78]

I never give money out to panhandlers.

[09RSTD]

Well I was thinking. What do you think would happen if I stood at a very busy intersection wearing a suit and holding a sign that says: " I am wealthy. Anything helps. Thanks for making my life easy." Do you think anyone would give. If I was able to make good money doing it would it be considered dishonest gain?

 

[Hummingbird]

Linda and I were out on a jaunt somewhere, doesn't make any difference - point is, there was a bedraggled looking fella on the curb at a stop light with a sign and it read:

 

No sense lying, I need a beer

 

 

darned near made me roll down the window and flip him a fiver

[jfoster]

Don't go to Austin, Tx. They got em on every corner. Should be illegal. Oh, saw one in Ga., said he had been attacked by a polar beer in Alaska....God love em.

[Mike G in SC]

About 1986, my girlfriend (wife now) and I were playing tourist in NY City, at the west end of Wall Street going into the gothic looking Church of the Trinity (think it was in a National Treasure movie later), in the shadow of the World Trade Center.

 

There was this VN Vet looking guy standing outside. He looked bad, tongue hangin out, one eye closed the other looking wrong direction, arm looking in dis-repair,,, pretty sad looking Vet, holding a tin cup. Yep, why not, tossed in my change. He mumbled something like "Tank's".

 

When we came out about a half hour later, near noon, same guy was standing straight up, very animated, very verbal, joking with a similar friend. My wife simply looked at me and said,,,,,,,,, "they must be on lunch break."

 

Yeah, I married her,,,, got to see the fun side of life. I took no offense,, still got a good story to tell. And back then,,, probably was a Vet.

[Snaggletooth]

I got a couple that shows up at the area where I work on a pretty regular basis, like when the weather is nice. They park their newish dually crew cab pickup in the lot and drag their SS cooler and a couple of lawn chairs out by the exit. They sit there all day long with their sign out saying, "We need help!" Yeah, right. Got to be near 700 pounds between the two of them and they snack all day on food and Pepsi from the cooler and chain smoke name brand cigs all day.

 

I amazes me how many folks stop and hand over cash to these two. Just ain't right.

[RSTDdog]

Well if you think about it its pure numbers. If you have a nice high volume intersection or interstate exit, Say 10,000 cars a day, and only 1%, 1 in a 100 give you an average of a $1.00,that's still $100.00 for 8-10 hours "work" its more than minimum wage and tax free.

 

As for the people that do it and don't need it, here's hoping there's karma............

 

RSTDdog

[XV1100SE]

Sad when there are people that truly need the little change they may get and you get people who don't need it doing it.

Christmas Day... didn't see anyone panhandling at the corners where there is usually someone with their hand out. Where do these "homeless" people go for Christmas? Think they'd get even more on that day !

[Sailor]

Back when the winter Olympics were in Vancouver our then premier decided to clean up the cities by rounding up the panhandlers and shipping them to the towns out in the country. They brought busloads to Saltspring. They did not stay long. They did not want to be in a place where the same people saw them every day and knew everything they did. They wanted the anonymity ( and cash) of the cities. Here all they got was food, shelter and offers of work. Not what they wanted.

[jburrell]

Years ago when I was down on my luck I decided I would have to try standing on a corner to get a few bucks since my unemployment had run out. I decided that first I needed more information so I went to a corner and asked them what I needed to do. They said just get a sign and look ragged. I made a sign and collected fifty grand the first two monts.Now being the kind of person that prefers to excel I had went home and made a sign that read "I NEED TEN MORE DOLLARS TO BE ABLE TO GO BACK HOME". man was everyone eager to give me money.

[Trader]

Years ago (I'm talking almost 40 years ago) I was just starting out. But then I ended up on strike and lost everything I had. I had to sell my bike, lost my apartment and had to move back home with Mum & Dad.

 

Trouble is....I didn't want to live there. So I ended up in the City (Toronto) where they had closed of of the the main downtown streets and made it into a pedestrian mall.

They Called it the Younge St. mall

 

I was "too proud" to panhandle, but I figured I could put on a show so I would do advanced gymnastics on the street while my friends asked for donations for "medical expenses".

 

They would say "he doesn't need them now but if he keeps doing this he probably will!"

 

I made enough money for me and a few friends to eat everyday. But that's all I would do...once we had enough to eat I would stop.

 

One of my favourite stories about that time is about a very drunk person was very concerned about me.

He said "You gotta stop that! You're going to kill yourself! "

 

Like I said...I was doing full back flips, layouts etc. on the pavement of the road.

 

The drunk said... "How much money do you need to stop?" So I told him what we needed to feed ourselves for the rest of the day (About $10 bucks would buy 5 subs back then!)

 

He said...."OK....you gotta stop or you're going to split your head open! Here's the money.....but first..... could you do one more of those..." (gesturing circles with his pointed finger!)

 

I did, we ate...and slept on the grass in a local park.

 

I refer to that summer as my "hippie" summer....and is among the best times of my life.

Edited March 24, 2012 by Trader