Yea, apparently they can make some good coin.
Chiselers
Panhandlers piss me off!
by Nosferatu 62 Replies latest jw friends
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luna2
There was a television program some time ago...I don't remember the name or if it was on one of the news magazine type shows or what. What I do remember is that, like that gal in Canada with the BMW, there are panhandlers who make a nice living from their begging. I don't consider panhandling a legit career and have no desire to help them pay for their fancy car or house when I have all I can do to make my own bills. I also don't want to help fund someone's addiction. I will buy people a meal, though...and I once paid for a kid's gas (prolly a scam but I'm a sucker for kids).
I really like the idea of those donation boxes in San Fran.
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Scully
there are panhandlers who make a nice living from their begging.
Not only that, how much do you want to bet that these people are living off "the system", collecting welfare, and not paying a dime in income tax? I have no problem with people who actually need "the system", but it really bugs me when I see people abusing it, just because they don't feel like working, paying taxes, or earning an honest living. Whenever I see one of these guys panhandling near my workplace, I just remember that 30% (sometimes more) of my wages goes to income tax and remind myself that these guys are probably already getting enough from me by way of social programs.
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looking_glass
Luna - PBS Frontline did a special on it once. Those signs that say "will work for food/money", they would go to the person and say I have a yard for you to cut and would give the person a push lawn mower. Only one guy took them up on their offer.
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lovelylil
This is a true story:
My dad was the only support for us five kids as my mom was disabled and could not work. He had surgery for a tumor in his liver and was out of work a long time. Workers comp. just did not cover all the expenses of a large family so my mom and us kids were forced to beg on the street for money for food and diapers for my little sister. Believe me it is not pleasant to have to beg for money. We were so embarrassed and we had many people treat us like scum for doing this. But we had no other choice. Thankfully most people were nice and gave us a little change. Since I have been in that situation and know how down and out you have to be to beg strangers for help, I now always carry expendable cash in my car or on my person and will give some to all that ask. While some may be alchoholics or drug addicts, well they have to eat sometime too and you never really know what a person's story is. So I don't judge or get angry, my heart goes out to them and I give.
Also, I try to look at my situation now. I am truly blessed. Buth my hubby and I are former ghetto project kids and we now live in a beautiful suburb of Boston in a nice home which we own. Drive two nice cars that are paid for and have great paying jobs. Our kids get all the latest style clothing and can participate in school activities. They also get to eat every day which is a luxary we never had as kids. I know many here may not be able to relate. But hopefully you have a heart and if you are blessed with material things and can help others, please do it - no questions asked. Lilly
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EscapedLifer1
Regarding the lady panhandling and driving a BMW:
This is nothing new, one of the original Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes stories, "The Man With The Twisted Lip", was about this exact thing. A hunched over beggar who "sold" matches during the day in the high brow busines districts of London, quoting poetry and great writers. Come to find out, during the course of the story, that he lived like a gentleman in the country, had a wife who thought he was a businessman in London, etc. All his money was from panhandling and investing his panhandling money. The whole hunched over beggar thing was a disguise he would put on after getting to London every morning. Cool story.
I personally don't give money to any panhandlers, because there is plenty one can do to EARN enough money to get by, or there are social programs to take advantage of. I have personally been out of work and abandoned by friends and family (while exiting the JW's), where we lived in a cheap motel and I did odd jobs for enough money to buy some food and pay the rent on the weekly hotel room. I never had to panhandle, ever. I EARNED every dollar I got. We delivered phone books, did odd cleaning jobs, etc. Whatever we could find until I was able to find another job. So I have no sympathy for, or patience with, beggars.
I have done the same as another poster mentioned above, when confronted with someone offering to "work for food", I've offered them a job, for cash and food, to clean up a yard, or mow a yard, or help paint something. Guess how many of these folks every accepted my offer of work? You got it, NONE. Every one of them had an excuse why they couldn't do whatever job it was I was offering. Sorry, but this is a wealthy country (USA), and there is enough work to find if you are willing to work.
Brandon
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Warlock
That's why they call you lovelylil, Lil.
Warlock
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Satanus
Lovelylil
I know that there are some panhandlers like that. That is why, in my post, i said 'many' are bottomless pits. If a handler works mainly in one spot, a person can sometimes get to know them and find out their situation. I spent several yrs when i actively helped street people. I got into their lives. It was interesting, what i saw.
S
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kid-A
I find its usually easy to spot the fakers and malingerers from the genuinely needy, but even this is getting tricky.
Toronto is a city with a beggar on almost every downtown corner. There was an infamous case a few years back of the "Shaky Lady", who sat wrapped in a disgusting filthy blanket, "shaking" all day on a downtown corner faking Parkinsons. An investigative journalist followed this woman one day after her family drove up to pick her up in their nice sedan to take her home to a very nice apartment building where she lived quite comfortably with her family. She had apparently been raking in a small fortune over the years with this routine, complete with the requisite "no home, no money, please give" cardboard sign.
So, my "panhandler criteria" requires either 1) the beggar is making some form of effort such as music to "earn" a donation or 2) They are very clearly and severely disabled, missing limbs, obvious paralysis, etc.
The punk-ass teenagers sitting on the street in their 300 dollar Doc Marten army boots begging for change are usually the most obnoxious. Saw one the other week with a sign that read "need money for pot, please give". LOL
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SPAZnik
"...I told them in perfect Spanish, Sorry I only speak German, then walked in, and it worked they said sorry and let me go in. Sometimes I'd use Russian, or Polish, depending on my mood. HA HA HA,..."
That's funny! :D