What do you guys do when there is a beggar on the street? Do you give them money? do you not? Do you buy them a sandwich?
And for the religious, doesn't it say somewhere that you never know when it's an angel in disguise? What do you do?
What do you guys do when there is a beggar on the street? Do you give them money? do you not? Do you buy them a sandwich?
And for the religious, doesn't it say somewhere that you never know when it's an angel in disguise? What do you do?
Do, or do not. There is no try. - Yoda
A couple weeks ago I was heading towards Dallas. There was a couple at a gas station with backpacks and a sign that said "Homeless, trying to get to Tyler, Please Help". Now I was going in the opposite direction so I was good. Had I been going in their direction I still probably wouldn't have given them a lift, but I would have felt a slight twinge of guilt.
Do, or do not. There is no try. - Yoda
When somebody on the street asks me for money I’ll generally make a snap judgment that goes something like this: Is this person panhandling by choice or out of necessity?
I almost always fork over a few pesos if I’m in a tough town. On the other hand, if I’m in a place like Portland or San Diego and an able-bodied twenty-something with a guitar and a backpack asks me for money, I’ll usually hang on to my dough (unless of course he can play The Yellow Rose of Texas and sing it – with feeling)
A year or so ago I had a guy ask me for money as I going into a McDonalds in NYC. I brushed him off, but then as I was ordering my meal inside and the girl behind the counter said, “Anything else, sir?” I said, “Oh yeah, gimme a Happy Meal and a Coke, take-away.”
I gave it to the guy out front and said, “Hey man, I got you some stuff.” I half expected him to throw it in my face, but he said thanks and dug right in.
Uhhhh...
My dad was a busker, he was famous in our hometown as The One Man Band , as a kind of salute to his memory I usually give buskers a bit of change if they look like they are making an effort (you do get some pretty rubbish ones).
However I tend to avoid out and out beggars as some of our local ones can be intimidating and rude, but occasionally I buy the big issue.
Anyway most of the time I am out with just the "plastic" so I genuinely can't "spare a bit of change, love ? "
Once when I was visiting London I saw an old man rooting through the litter bins and drinking a bit of left over orange juice, it nearly broke my heart to be honest. I thought about him all the rest of that trip and felt so bad for just walking past when my friend who was with me ushered me on.
There but for the grace of God and all that.
There was a guy sat next to our bus stop today - forties, not scruffy, but perhaps drunk. I didn't give him anything because I thought it would just go down his neck.
Recently I saw a posting on our local police twitter, (yeah I'm an up to date guy now), showing a picture of a beggar who had been fined/ jailed for aggressive begging in a nearby city. This bloke was a complete pain, and had been done in our city for the same, and had moved elsewhere to do it, where he had also come up against the law. I think he's got mental health problems - it certainly seemed that way the times I've seen him - but giving him money certainly wasn't the solution. He's been at it at least 6 or 7 years. In the current state of things it's pretty insoluble. It said he'd been done for drug and alcohol abuse too. There doesn't seem to be any system for dealing with a bloke like him.
On the other hand I've been to India where kids beg on the street. What do you do? They were probably run by gangs anyway. We used to give them sweets.
I saw my first begger when I was fifteen on a student exchange trip to Toronto, it was a lot of our's first begger. He was standing outside of the CN tower, uber dirty, long hair and beard, cardboard sign, the whole shebang. Most of us had only seen them in movies, it was a bit of a culture shock. Some of us couldn't wrap our heads around it. "Why don't they have jobs? What if they get sick? Why doesn't the city take care of them?" I move around a lot nowadays and have seen a lot of beggers since turning eighteen, whether I give them money or not depends on whether I have any on me and if I feel like it.
__________________
"Personal note: When I was a little kid my mother told me not to stare into the sun. So once when I was six, I did. At first the brightness was overwhelming, but I had seen that before. I kept looking, forcing myself not to blink, and then the brightness began to dissolve. My pupils shrunk to pinholes and everything came into focus and for a moment I understood. The doctors didn't know if my eyes would ever heal."
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I hadn't eally seen any until my first trip abroad. At that time in the UK - early 90's, you'd only see the tramps - those who travelled from place to place, or an occasional mad person. You didn't tend to get them in the small cities I used to frequent, though no doubt there were plenty in the larger ones.Originally Posted by JuniperWoolf
They became more prevalent in cities during the 90s in the UK. Oddly enough they seemed to grow in number during the boom years up to 2008.
The local authority has adopted a no begging policy for the city, on the grounds that there are agencies who will deal with them, and the social security net. I know that the local agencies get together during very bad weather to, between them, provide extra beds, but there are always a few addicts and drunks. Fewer now though. The no begging rule seems to generally work. So long as it is backed by some kind of provision or opportunity, then perhaps it's a good thing.
I don't because I'm disabled, as weird as that sounds. And not because it's a "I'm disabled and I've done something with my life so I don't feel obligated" mindset, it's actually because I'd just find it an odd situation for me, someone obviously in a not-so-great situation (not financially, but otherwise) giving money to them. Maybe they'd feel weird, too. I don't know. I just don't bother with it.
To be honest it's shocks me, as it's not a familiar site here. I believe there are substance abuse issues behind the majority of these cases and homeless shelters do not tolerate substance and alcohol. No easy answer there, but there should be an answer:
I think by focusing on treatment for drug and alcohol abuse in a robust manner rather than the criminality of possession would solve 70% of the problem.
More importantly, on a community level, it would be encouraging to see the same Energy that the churches put into opposing gay marriage and other social issues, instead put into helping other people(granted even the self inflicted ones). They are so organized in these social/family value effort(s) - it would have great positive impact on the problem. Plus given local problems are best handled locally - it is the best fit in terms of solution.
On a personal level, I tend to offer to buy food. I can appreciate how one can get lost in the shuffle and make bad choices in terms of behaviour and direction.
Then again, I can see if I did come from a big city my sensitivity would be dulled. I hope that never happens on so many levels.
Last edited by tonywalt; 08-18-2012 at 09:16 PM.
I usually buy the big issue and it also depends on my frame of mind. When I see the same people over and over again, I'm not inclined to help them.
Before sunlight can shine through a window, the blinds must be raised - American Proverb
There was a time when I'd flip them a coin, but then I saw an investigative television report and discovered that most of the local ones were making more begging than I earnt busking.
Now I keep my coins and one day I'll buy a new yacht with the savings.
I’m an easy mark for kids.
I had to pay this little guy 20 or 30 Rupees before he’d let me pass. (That’s Mrs. Sancho to the left, almost out of the picture, grinning)
Here are a couple of mini-buskers down in Buenos Aires. The second I snapped the photo the little girl was all over me. That snapshot cost me 5 Pesos. (That’s me in the ball cap in the window reflection)
These two little sweethearts were hanging on the side of the cab in heavy traffic in Mumbai. They got about 50 Rupees out of El Sancho (and they almost got his camera too).
Uhhhh...
Damn kids! Makes me think of that overrated movie Slumdog Millionaire.
P.S. You're wife looks like a looker, Sancho.
Yeah, you and Mrs. Sancho look like a handsome couple. although I always thought of you as a burly guy for some reason.
Sometimes I give. I actually haven't seen any beggars for awhile. I used to take a toll road to work and there was one guy there every day for most of that year. I gave him a dollar occasionally. My son, bless his heart, once threw a beggar some money from the school bus he was on. I'm not sure if that was the same year he got kicked off the bus for misbehaving. Kids.
I have a friend who keeps blankets in her car to give away, which I think is an awesome idea. I never think about that when I'm at Wal-Mart, but I think I'll pick up a couple in October, when the weather is about to change.
Last year when we had parties at the end of the school year, the teacher in the room next door had a lot of food left over after one, and she took the food down to a place where a lot of indigent people hung out. That was a cool idea, I thought.
"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its' own reason for existing." ~ Albert Einstein
"Remember, no matter where you go, there you are." Buckaroo Bonzai "Some people say I done alright for a girl." Melanie Safka
It depends on how they ask and whether or not I have much money. When I have money I give generously to the right beggar. There is one guy in town who begs and who I've gotten to know and I often give him a few dollars. I have busked before and I will busk again, though only when I'm so poor I literally need the money. So when I have money I give it away because when I don't have any I often rely on the generosity of friends and, on the occasion that I busk, strangers.
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