DescentBB

We all see them, or have done.
DO you give money to them, or go and buy them a meal?
Or ignore them?

why?

This topic popped up on another forum I frequent, very interesting!

Me, personally, I give no money - for a number of reasons: for a start, i'm skint. other reasons include them attacking me for MORE money, other homeless folks following me, and of course, the fact that at least 7 times out of 10 the money will go towards a bag of smack.

In the past I have given them food or drinks - if I havent finished a pizza at pizza hut, me and my gf would give our leftovers to someone closeby. other times I've offered to buy them something - some have accepted, some have told me where to shove it.

thoughts and experiences?

i usually ignore, because the homeless people that i usually see claim that they got their leg chopped off in vietnam while they just tied the bottom half of their leg to the upper half.

they should try and at least get a job

Very, very rarely I ever encounter homeless people. Honestly I don't know what I would do if I saw someone sitting on the streets. I might lend a couple of bucks if they asked or just keep my distance.

TigerRaptorFX wrote:Very, very rarely I ever encounter homeless people. Honestly I don't know what I would do if I saw someone sitting on the streets. I might lend a couple of bucks if they asked or just keep my distance.

why would your distance? and would it not seem logical that the money you do give them is furthering your fera of them? (since it could possibly just go to smack, and they'd still be on the streets)

I never give money to homeless people. Once in a while one will ask me to spare a cigarette, and I'll happily oblige. I'll also donate to people playing music in the subway. But when you have to deal with homeless people everywhere you look (yay New York) you realize that the only way to honestly tackle the problem is through a large scale program. Giving money to one dude is more likely to hinder, not help.

Sure giving money to a homeless person might not be a good idea but whoâ??s to know. I wouldnâ??t say I fear them I just normally keep to my self. But like I said I donâ??t know what I would do in that situation.

i give occasionally. i once a took a homeless person out for chinese food. charity is important.

sometimes it's not about how the charity will be used. someone who has nothing typcially appreciates anything.

i avoid those who appear mentally ill or potentially violent.

i might tip out a homeless guy who points out a parking space downtown on a busy weekend. sometimes they'll even watch your car for you if you're real with em.

theyre people - humans like the rest of us. sometimes the greatest gift of charity you can give is acknowledgment of their existence.

i have many stories about the homeless from working in downtown austin - some hilarious, some sad.

lately i was thinking...these guys (and gals) can actually pan handle a fair amount of $$. But what if they had a better sign....hmmm.

so many of their signs are crap. "homeless vet. anything helps. god bless."

...

Boring!

I heard a story about a guy who couldn't get a bum to sell a funny sign even for $10. Then i got this idea...i could start a business selling better signs to the homeless. i could do market research on my signs and show the bums the bottom line and how my signs could improve their income.

You know like,

"The End is Near...You Can't Take It With You."
"My Other Sign Is A Neon."

Not to hijack but, post your own bum sign if you can think of one.

My friend and I once saw one at the light, holding the cardboard sign, but there were no words on it, it was completely blank.

I got off the freeway once...and a Goth kid was standing on the corner with a sign....

It said Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah....You Know the Drill...

with a bunch of dollar signs around it....I just about died laughing...gave the kid a fiver.

I work downtown. I get asked for money all the time. The new trend is to start the rap with: "I know you don't owe me anything..."

After a while they know you can read them and they leave you alone. If it is extremely hot outside I will buy them cold gallons of water and give them a towel. In the winter perhaps a cup of coffee.... never money.

Money is for charitable organizations. The united way.

I was in Denver once and saw a snaggle-toothed homeless lady on the corner with a sign that said "Will give head for food."

I don't give money to homeless people here.

yea yea call me cold and all that.. whatever.

All I have to do is look at their shoes and know where their 'need help' money is going.

Around here homeless are bold. When they stand in the middle of interstate traffic, I tend to get a little pissed. I don't give to the people on the streets, I have before but not anymore. I would rather donate my time in a soup kitchen, which I keep putting off. >_>

No way, but I do give out free advice: "Hey moron if you need money go get a job!!!"

have seen signs that say "Need money for drugs and alcohol," and similar variations. Nice to know who the honest ones are.

Give time, not money.

By the way, for those wondering... our friend from the previous thread lived in that motel room (and a larger one in the same building) for a total of 5 weeks. She then got her housing voucher from the state, which is completely paying for a 3-bedroom duplex. The state also sent movers to help her get moved, and she's gotten a ton of free furniture from friends, charities, and craigslist.

Her little girl turned 8 not too long ago. We went to her party. I held the baby while the kids played with their friend, and the womenfolk talked about random stuff.

So yeah... I don't give money to homeless people who are standing there on the street with a sign. But I do know some homeless people, and I give them whatever I think will help them best.

I'm an easy mark. I pretty much give everyone who asks something until my change runs out.

You are a good man Lothar, wish we lived closer together because I would like to know you better.

Yeah, the appropriate thing to do for those standing w/signs is to offer to take them to a homeless shelter where they can get lots of help. Almost invariably these people will turn down your offer. Why? They aren't there for food or shelter, they want money for booze and drugs. If you doubt this then think about this ... why would they stand on a street corner begging when all they have to do is to go to a shelter?

If you must give them something then go buy them some food and deliver it to them. Otherwise, chances are that you are simply enabling an addict ...

We all see them, or have done.

I have never seen a homeless person in New Zealand.

I tend to toss gold coins ($1 and $2) at anyone who is collecting money - so if I *did* happen to see one, then I'd cough up as usual.

We had a gig in an empty bar so I told a couple bums down the street if they came in and partied I'd buy them some beers. Place was packed by the end of the night, who knew that crackheads could do the mash?

wow, huuuge thread at fark on the precise same topic:

http://forums.fark.com/cgi/fark/comment ... nk=1554090

some funny bum signs posted with pic goodness if u scroll down.

Around here, nearly every homeless shelter has vacancies. There is food, water, showers, places to sleep etc available to every person on the "streets."

The only reason for them not to be in there is they have to be clean and sober to get help.

If they really want handouts, they'll quit, at least for a week, and go get the free stuff they're all aloud to get whenever they want. If they can't do that then anything I give them is just going to crack anyway.

I read the whole Fark thread (up to 2005-06-30 03:51:23 PM ZeroCorpse)...

I can't believe so many people just give money out to people like that. Help fund the homeless shelters, food banks, etc. or actually get to know someone and give them the help they need (give them a ride somewhere, buy them a blanket, get them a room, buy them dinner, etc.) Helping them stay high isn't good for anyone.

Phoenix Red wrote:The only reason for them not to be in there is they have to be clean and sober to get help.

Lothar wrote:Helping them stay high isn't good for anyone.

Precisely my point ... Give them money and you are enabling them. BTW: Don't be a jerk and use this point to avoid helping them at all.

Recently I was walking out to my car from Starbucks, when a homeless person approached me asking for money. Without thinking I reached into my pocket and gave him a few bucks.

When I got into my car I slapped myself across the face.

I have a standing order never to give money to the homeless, a little because I'm cheap, but mostly because I care very little for others.

However I'm easily manipulated, and when these poor bastards approach me I can't ever say no.

Recently I was in the coffee shop I'm in now, when a man and his adorable little girl (about 7 years old) walked in, and went from table to table selling girl scout cookies. Noone could resist the little girl, but when she came up to me I proved my worth and shoo'd her away.

I am man.

"how much fer the leetle girl?"

i hate the ones are clearly not homeless, and are just plain ★■◆●ing lazy. Me and my friends were threaten with a knife becuase we woulnd't give these guys change for their booze. scum.

Whenever I have a large empty carboard box I give it to the homless so they have a place to call home.

homeless people around here seem to be homeless because they want to be. i sometimes come across alcoholics wanting money for drinks - but they have homes.
homeless people are pretty rare - i guess the government takes care of em with housing.

sometimes when i was outside the police station someone would ask me for money. one even asked for money to buy a drink (after explaining his sad story).

when i was in melbourne last at some pub, some dirty hagged chick asked me for money to buy a tram pass to get home. i told her no, she gave me the most horrid look.
later when i was thinking straighter i realised i could have just given her MY tram pass, since i didn't need it to get home as i'd met up with ppl. *forehead slap* it would have been the perfect thing to do, and i'm dead curious what she would have done - i mean maybe she actually DID need a tram pass!
but i doubt it.

No I don't.

saw a guy once at a freeway onramp where the bums usually stand sitting in a lawn chair under an umbrella with a drink in his hand, and his sign said "why lie I need to make my Acura payment"
I do not give $$ to bums. I watched them do a shift change one day, one left his post and climbed into a Brand new Volvo. I'll buy a bum a meal and I have done so, but I will NEVER give them cash

Food, if it looks like they really need it. Never money.

There was some kid begging, and he had a dog. Poor dog didn't look too good, so I bought a small hoagie and fed it to the dog. Nothing for the kid, he should have stayed home, probably his fault (judging by the way he dressed, and the piercings). Screw people, but animals are innocent.

The more I've gotten to actually know homeless / poor people, the more I've realized how complex and difficult their situations really are. Sometimes giving money wouldn't even help. And I've also realized that there are all kinds of people--just like at any other walk in life. Being poor doesn't necessarily make one virtuous or vile. Everyone's human.

I know a guy living in a group home, who had a good life and completely destroyed it with drugs; been clean for about a year and a half, works as a furniture mover, is rebuilding.

I know a guy who has some mental problems, can't keep anywhere he lives very clean, can't really manage his money well--thinks like a 12-year-old. He's a sweet guy, but I'm not sure he could ever live without a lot of help--he's just not... not wired to be responsible. Got his girlfriend pregnant a while ago; they're due in August--he's extremely excited and trying to do what he can to make a home and a family.

I know a woman who's been persistently screwed by every guy she's ever been with; just got a restraining order against a truly psycho ex-husband and finally has a nice place to stay. When she was first evicted, she was terrified and dependant; over the last year and a half I've watched her gradually become tough and independant. She's just now recovering from being under a huge amount of stress and would like to work, but even with government help she couldn't possibly afford the child care. Wants to start a home business.

Those are just the people I count as friends. Knowing them and their friends has brought us into contact with a lot of other people--everyone from the totally insane guy who poops in public to the aspiring psychologist with dreams and plans she just can't quite achieve yet. Sometimes people don't take care of themselves because they just don't care; sometimes they're actually nuts. Sometimes they've just never had anyone expect them to or show them how.

Hard to say what people need. Money isn't it a lot of the time--and that's a temptation I have to fight. Sometimes I meet someone who's struggling like mad to meet a $300 rent, and I think... that's nothing to me. I give almost twice that much away every month. It's so tempting to just say, "Here, you get my charity money for the month"... but that isn't what the person wants or needs. She's trying to become self-sufficient; she doesn't want a free ride. (And good for her!) You do what you can, really--not out of pity, just out of friendship. Out of the same love that drives me to teach people on the 'net, really. It's all the same: never pity, always charity in friendship.

Sometimes people need to be taught how to live--by example, by advice, by simple friendship. Sometimes people need help. We've driven people to the hospital because the ambulence wasn't coming for a while (or at all). We've helped people move because... well... otherwise they were going to be out on the sidewalk; they literally had no recourse. We've helped people manage their money. We've read contracts for people who don't have the analytical ability to understand the implications of the fine print.

[Ranty tangent] (Now there's something I've seen a lot that really gets my blood boiling: a company gouging a homeless/mentally not healthy person for $100 a month through fine print and complicated agreements. Everybody hates the fine print and the gotchas, but for most of us it's an annoyance that's part of doing business. But when we're talking about someone who honestly doesn't have the mental resources to understand the agreement, and who is being gouged for half his monthly income, and is going to have a hard time buying food because of it... it crosses a major line. More than once we've read and explained contracts to people; we've called and yelled at companies about it and/or covered the cost of the accidentally incurred charges. There's one on my list right now, actually--a storage place that wants to charge this lady $300 for their incompetence, and she hasn't really got the resources to fight it. $300. The things she could freaking do if she had $300 sitting around. Tom is planning to go yell at them some time soon...)
[/Ranty Tangent]

Poverty sucks, no doubt about it. But it's more complicated than just money. Generally, there seem to be ample resources available--between the government and private charities--for people to get what they need. And there are a lot of charities that specialize in helping people with certain problems--for which I'm glad, because I sure as heck don't know what to do.

Knowing that, I don't give money to people with signs on street corners. If someone was truly in trouble, even just walking into the nearest church (of any denomination) would get them a whole lot more real help than standing on a street corner (though it may also get them a good kick in the rump if it's what they need...). And that says nothing of the resources available at honest-to-goodness charities, government aid, etc. There are a lot of options for people who need help. Anyone who thinks street begging is their best option has got to have problems that money won't solve, and (like Lothar said) probably has problems that money would aggrivate. I do sometimes talk to them and try to see where they're at, but often I don't even do that. I've seen a lot of insane and dangerous people.

I do, however, give money to street musicians, if they're any good. That's not really charity, though... that's the fact that I like street music. And one guy I saw recently had a sign that said, "Need Fuel For Lear Jet." He probably would have gotten my quarter if I hadn't been a couple lanes over in traffic... I would have justified it as street theatre or something.

there are a few homeless around where i live. one guy is actually quite popular. he lives under the I75 Northbound on-ramp bridge. his name is Jeff.

once i pulled over on US 19-41 saw him, and he needed shoes badly. so i gave him a $20. two days i saw him again with new shoes on! i pulled over and told him that im glad he bought those shoes, and he said, thank you for the money to get them.



usualy you give homeless people money and they squander it on booze and sometimes drugs......Jeff however...used his for a good reason. usualy if i see Jeff, ill give him my spare change or a couple 1's or couple 5's if i have them laying around in my car or in my pocket. hes a good guy, he got left out when a fire nearly killed him in his sleep and had no insurance at all. he needs a haircut badly, so when i get the time im going to give him a ride to a barbershop.

Very good drakona.

The most frustrating thing is the people that play the sympathy angle. The street urchins that actually are doing ok for themselves but try to work peopleâ??s guilt to get freebies. I believe they are the majority. They ruin it for the truly needy. Itâ??s like the lowest form of humanity... to pretend, to manipulate.

I almost died when I was 15 from starvation and to watch these scumbags work their magic everyday makes me want to attack. I don't.

It may seem heartless, but refusing to give money is like the best thing you can do.

The only ones that somewhat bother me are the *false advertising* ones. Here in Denver we have two guys with pretty clever acts. One dresses as a priest and the other as a fireman (sorta) and uses a bucket for *donations* as firemen sometimes do. I'm sure both guys make a killing on a good day. That said, it's just effective packaging, something that would get these guys promotions were they in a corporate environment so one can't really get too indignant over their schticks. The beggars that really irritate are those that send their wife/kid out to panhandle while they sit nearby in the shade, knowing folks will be more generous to women and children.

heh, dont remind me of the popular picture on the net of "true advertising"


Need money for booze, sex and drugs.....

Hey at least im not Bullshiznitting you

I only give to people who approach me when I'm out of my car such as at a gas station. I usually give them some but not all of my spare change. They in return, give me the gift of not being stabbed or cut or whatever is going on behind those crazy eyes. I think it's an even exchange.

I never give money to panhandlers...I am philosophically opposed to giving away my hard-earned money to ANYONE other than a properly constituted charity.

Here in South Florida, it seems that a lot of the homless types are peddling newspapers in the median. This is great as it provides them with a legitimate income (yeah, I bet they pay taxes and everything). Out-and-out panhandlers are fairly rare during the summer... however in season they become a plague. I grew up in the burbs on the West Coast (San Jose/Almaden area), so the large population of homeless here during the winter is definately wierd to me.

My typical response to the homeless is to offer them a job. It's a safe bet, I know they're going to refuse, and if they don't... well we can always use labor. If they're even brave enough (or illiterate enough) to come up and talk to me that is... See, I work for a roofing company, and my truck has identifying magnetic signs on it. All the true bums down here learned their lesson during the rebuilding from Hurricane Andrew in the 90's. It's become a part of the Homeless folk wisdom to avoid roofers, as roofing is hot, dirty, demanding WORK