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I think of them as professional fundraisers. IF they choose to be homeless and solicit funds, who am I to judge? I don't give them money unless they give something in return. There's a guy who tells great jokes on a placard- he gets money from me. There's a guy who plays the guitar (badly!)- he gets money from me.
Thank you lady for your continued support of our friendly neighborhood drug addicts, drug dealers, alcoholics, thieves, etc. It's wonderful to see all you're doing to really benefit the our community! It's folks like you who encourage the homeless to keep begging (which eventually turns into more aggressive harrassment if Austin doesn't wise up); and keep the drug dealers in business... make sure that homes continue to be robbed, cars continue to be broken into, etc. The vagrants tell their friends how 'easy' Austin is.. and they all keep coming in droves. I especially love it when I'm on the Greenbelt and I see makeshift tents in the woods.. and piles of trash strewn about (mostly beer bottles), underwear, porn mags, syringes, and human feces along the trail. Yes,, you just keep on giving them money and keep rewarding them for their behavior. Thanks a lot.
I think of them as professional fundraisers. IF they choose to be homeless and solicit funds, who am I to judge? I don't give them money unless they give something in return. There's a guy who tells great jokes on a placard- he gets money from me. There's a guy who plays the guitar (badly!)- he gets money from me.
Think of them as drug addicts and alcoholics who won't go to homeless shelters because they can't get money to "get their stuff".
Thank you lady for your continued support of our friendly neighborhood drug addicts, drug dealers, alcoholics, thieves, etc. It's wonderful to see all you're doing to really benefit the our community! It's folks like you who encourage the homeless to keep begging (which eventually turns into more aggressive harrassment if Austin doesn't wise up); and keep the drug dealers in business... make sure that homes continue to be robbed, cars continue to be broken into, etc. The vagrants tell their friends how 'easy' Austin is.. and they all keep coming in droves. I especially love it when I'm on the Greenbelt and I see makeshift tents in the woods.. and piles of trash strewn about (mostly beer bottles), underwear, porn mags, syringes, and human feces along the trail. Yes,, you just keep on giving them money and keep rewarding them for their behavior. Thanks a lot.
I am not a particularly big fan of mimimomx3, nor she of me. But who are you to tell her she can't do anything she wants with her money?
I think the problems you are stating are exagerrated. Even if they are not, how is that the fault of mimimomx3? Call the police if you see this behavior. They will start patrolling and the situations that are truly illegal will subside. It is a HUGE leap to say "All the problems I observe on a greenbelt are a direct result of people giving money to panhandlers." You don't even KNOW if those lovely people using the greenbelt as a toilet are actually panhandlers. They might just be run of the mill insane. Either way, complaining about mimimom rather than calling the cops seems VERY silly on your part.
Some of the people who panhandle are legitimately in need, some are scammers, and neither of them are your buisness. If you don't want to give them money because you are convinced it is going to be used to fund addiction and crime, then don't. You don't have too. And if Mimimomx3 wants to give them money, she can.
Are we not adults here? How easy is it to bully you that homeless people are actually a problem for you? My god, what do you do when the mormons come to your door? Or those damn girl scouts pushing their delicious cookies in front of SAMS. Grow a spine people. "I can't stand up for myself, so let's make it illegal for people to ask me something." Right on, that sounds like a good idea.
I personally choose not to give money to panhandlers for a variety of reasons. And if one of them got aggressive with me, I would be aggressive back, or I would walk/drive away. What is wrong with us as people? A bum makes us feel uncomfortable so we want to take away their consititutional right to be a bum? I have dealt with NYC panhandlers, and trust me, they are aggressive. They will cuss you out if you don't give them money. But what is the alternative? Shipping all the homeless people to some other state? Like Guilliani did in NYC? "They make me feel bad.....cry", is not an appropriate reason to remove someones rights, including their right to be shiftless lay-a-bouts begging for change.
Reading thru this thread made me laugh. People who usually go on and on post after post about how conservative principles will save America and how small government is the answer to America's problems, they are the first ones to go "Why doesn't the city council do something about this! I am offended looking at the homeless!! Ship them off!! Make it illegal to be down on your luck!!"
You live in a metropolitan area. You get the benefits of theaters, and sporting events, and concerts, and restaurants, and outdoor parks. In exchange you deal with traffic, noise pollution, high home prices, and yes the homeless. They have just as much right to be in Austin as you and I do.
And saying "thanks a whole bunch mimimomx3 for personally continuing the homeless problem" is sort of silly. There has been poverty since the beggining of time. The bible mentions the impoverished as far back as 6000 years ago. The Hammurabi code has stipulations for the poor. Poverty is a HUMAN CONDITION. It will always exist, whether or not you give money to panhandlers or not. Even if we made panhandling illegal, worthless people would find another way to scam money. That is what they do. They are much more clever than you give them credit for. And they can adjust their strategies much faster than we can legisltate against them.
In fact, you should THANK mimimomx3 for giving money to certain panhandlers. The reason panhandlers get aggressive in the first place is because they are competing for a limited pool of "donations". If everyone stopped giving money, they wouldn't magically go away, they would get REALLY aggressive to compete.
Oh Texans, you make me so sad to be a native son sometimes. "Gays make me uncomfortable! Take away their rights! Homeless peope make me uncomfortable! Take away their rights!! What? My HOA wants me to park in my garage??? BIG GOVERNMENT BIG GOVERNMENT!! Big Brother is coming to take away my constitutional rights to park in the street!!!"
Last edited by JayBrown80; 10-07-2010 at 08:51 AM..
Agreed! A city like Austin is a prime spot to panhandle- economy and weather are good, lots of idealistic college kids, no cops to hassle you. Every major exit in South Austin, especially around any shopping, has a "cast". I see the same 'homeless' folks rotating the various corners. They talk on their cell phones (when I can barely afford mine) and exploit whatever edge they have over the competition. I saw a group of gals using their pregnant friends to elicit sympathy with 'food for the baby' signs. The worst guy, however, is the one who uses his dog (usually at the 290/Lamar interchange). The poor thing has to pace with him back and forth on a hot sidewalk and he makes it wave at drivers.
You are right that most are not really 'homeless' and they do not use the money to climb out of the hole. They get enough to go buy alcohol, drugs, and fastfood (in that order) and go back for more. If you offer to give them food and lodging for honest, hard work they will not take you up on it.
The best scam I caught was this: A nice looking gal flagged us down at night next to a broken down car, saidshe was desperate for cash for the towtruck since they did not take checks and she had no credit card. My poor naive little 9 yr old daughter felt sorry for this nice lady and gave her all her own money ($18. that she had saved in her little purse) since I had no cash on me. The lady was so thankful and insisted on taking down our name and address to mail the money back to us (I declined of course). A few weeks later, we got off on the same exit and there she was again, leaning into another unsuspecting womans car with the same story. I pulled over and she came running up, happy to see so much concern over her "broken down car". She did not even remember us when I confronted her. When she realized she was busted she ran back to her car and backed up all the way down the exit and took off. But it was a good gig while it lasted there for her. I am sure she has just relocated her con on another corner.
To really help, we should only donate to the legitimate non profits and charities who can help the truly homeless that need it and want to make their lives better, and not feed the demand of the corner ****** (because you know what they say about supply and demand- it will just get bigger).
Some of the people who panhandle are legitimately in need, some are scammers, and neither of them are your buisness.
They block my way or get in my face, it BECOMES my business. They have the right to be a bum/drug addict/alcoholic/you-name-it.....but they should NOT have the right to impede my progress to wherever I may be going.
They are thick here (NM) in town, and I HATE to come out of Walmart and have them bug me when I'm trying to put my groceries up. I was ready to knee one of them in the groin when they would not let me be.
If they want to sit on the sidewalk or some other place with their tin cup, they have that right. But when it comes to getting agressive with people, there should be a line drawn somewhere.
Last edited by Cathy4017; 10-07-2010 at 11:14 AM..
They block my way or get in my face, it BECOMES my business. They have the right to be a bum/drug addict/alcoholic/you-name-it.....but they should NOT have the right to impede my progress to wherever I may be going. .
Who said they have the right to impede your progress wherever you are going? Can you please point out who said that? You used a quote from my post, but I didn't say that at all, so surely you can't mean me. Unless you are one of those people that just have an axe to grind, therefore you don't actually read posts before you comment on them? Surely you are not one of those?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cathy4017
They are thick here (NM) in town, and I HATE to come out of Walmart and have them bug me when I'm trying to put my groceries up. I was ready to knee one of them in the groin when they would not let me be.
If they want to sit on the sidewalk or some other place with their tin cup, they have that right. But when it comes to getting agressive with people, there should be a line drawn somewhere.
The line being calling the police, just as you would with anyone who got aggressive and impeded you. As I said above.
If someone robs you at gun point, or tries to grab you, or won't let you go when you tell them to leave you alone, or is making threatening remarks, or keeps on following you when you have asked them to stop, or enters your establishment when you have asked them to leave or or or or or.....you call the cops, simple.
You don't legislate and say these people aren't allowed to exist, which is what many ppl on this thread are saying. And if you had bothered to read my post, you would know that is what I was speaking against, namely the legislative destruction of peoples rights because other people don't want to "man up" and say "leave me alone".
I can't help but think that if this was the salvation army stopping you outside of a store and being aggressive about "donations" that your first instinct WOULD NOT be to "knee them in the groin". To me, that reveals a lot more about you than you might want us to know. Basically you are saying "if a homeless person is aggressive with me, then I am going to physically assault them". I feel sorry for anyone that cuts you off in traffic. What do you do to them? Pull out a pistol and open fire?
There are a lot of aggressive people in the world, is everyone going to get the knee from you? Why wouldn't your first instinct be to say "If you don't leave me alone, I am calling the cops"?
I think a lot of people, maybe even you, have this superior feeling to the homeless. Surely they are beneath you, right? That is why our first reaction to them is contempt and thoughts of violence? And it never occurs to us to be firm, like you would be with Mormons at your door, and saying "I am not interested".
There are a lot of horror stories about panhandlers being bandied about these boards, and none of them end with "And I reported them to the authorities". I find that to be curious. Is everyone exxagerating, or is it normal behavior to let aggressive predators accost some other poor slob and you doing nothing to stop it?
I can't help but think that if this was a church group, or the salvation army stopping you outside of a store and being aggressive about "donations" that your first instinct would be to "knee them in the groin". To me, that reveals a lot more about you than you might want us to know. Basically you are saying "if a homeless person is aggressive with me, then I am going to physically assault them".
There are a lot of aggressive people in the world, is everyone going to get the knee from you? Why wouldn't your first instinct be to say "If you don't leave me alone, I am calling the cops"?
I think this was a bit of hyperbole on the part of the poster. Of the many times that I've been approached by panhandlers in NYC or Philly, they usually back down immediately with a sharp glance or a few well chosen words. There's no reason to have it escalate past that point. I fully understand that many people who panhandle are substance abusers of one sort or another but others are seriously mentally ill and may need to be treated with just a bit of kindness. Come to think of it, kindness would probably go a long way with the substance abusers as well since theirs is not a easy life. It's amazing how compassion can de-escalate a tricky situation.
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