PANHANDLING = Please Share Why You Support It (Baltimore: crime, live in)

[Woodlands]

Originally Posted by cdmoore125

I carry food and will provide it if I have any. No money. Amazing how many people ask me outside a McDonalds, I offer my own food, and they sheepishly back off.

Sheepishly? Lol.....Unfortunatly some may be the black sheep of their family and trying to get other things............*Bah Bah Black Sheep have you any Blow? Yes Sir Yes Sir.. two grinders full*

[fibonacci]

Don't ever give to panhandlers , it is like feeding the pigeons. People would contantly give money to that one panhandler with no arms and no legs that looked like he was in bad shape. The Sun, however, did a piece on him and revealed that he was heroin addict. There's a panhandler at almost every light on the way to work, if I gave them all $1 everyday I'd be giving away thousands per year. There's also another lady that's been begging in the same areas right on the border of butcher's hill and upper fells for the past five years now. I fail to see how if someone has such an awful situation that they couldn't at least work at Walmart or McDonalds for starters over the course of 5 years to prevent from constantly being h ngry. Drugs are probably almost always involved. No way I'm going to give them a dime for their habit. Give to charities instead.

[BlakeJones]

Originally Posted by Robert20170

I worked for a temp agency, and the training manager use to pass her business card out to every pan handler she saw and told them that if they truly wanted work she would find them something. In all the years she passed out cards she never received one phone call.

Most of these people are scam artists. They are more than likely already on government assistance and know the system inside and out. They are more apt to take your money and buy beer and drugs (can't use food stamps on those two items) than buy food. Giving them money only encourages their behavior. I would beg you to please stop giving them hand outs for their own good.

Originally Posted by fibonacci

Don't ever give to panhandlers , it is like feeding the pigeons. People would contantly give money to that one panhandler with no arms and no legs that looked like he was in bad shape. The Sun, however, did a piece on him and revealed that he was heroin addict. There's a panhandler at almost every light on the way to work, if I gave them all $1 everyday I'd be giving away thousands per year. There's also another lady that's been begging in the same areas right on the border of butcher's hill and upper fells for the past five years now. I fail to see how if someone has such an awful situation that they couldn't at least work at Walmart or McDonalds for starters over the course of 5 years to prevent from constantly being h ngry. Drugs are probably almost always involved. No way I'm going to give them a dime for their habit. Give to charities instead.

Absolutely right on the money. If you want to help these people out, make a donation to a shelter or soup kitchen. Otherwise your dollar is going straight into the pocket of the person's drug dealer or to the guy at the liquor store counter.

And a significant number of these panhandlers are not homeless invalids, they do it as a job which earns them a lot more than minimum wage and obviously they don't report their income so they evade taxes on it too. An aggressive or convincing panhandler can easily take in $25 to $50 per hour

[afdinatl]

Most are scams. They have courses in Nyc to teach people how to panhandle. Keep giving away your money if you want

[nurider2002]

Thanks for the replies. Didn't really hear from more than one person who actually gives money but I guess it will remain a mystery.

[Woodlands]

Originally Posted by nurider2002

I know this has been addressed in years past but my experience in the last year has been that the number of young "healthy appearing" panhandlers has more than doubled. I work in Woodlawn and see at least 2 at every traffic light daily. I am just curious, when you see someone who does not "appear" to be disabled in any way (and yes, I know not all disabilities are visable to the eye) what are your thoughts when giving them money? I'm not looking for responses from folks like myself who do NOT give money. I want to understand why folks give money to those who appear able to work. To be clear, I think that panhandling is a bad choice for someone who is capable of earning a living just about any other way. The act of begging does nothing for someone's self worth, nothing to challenge their mind, body, spirit, or anything else positive in my mind. I do sympathize with those who are honesty disabled due to chronic mental illness or physical disability but tend to still not hand them money, but prefer to give to one of the organizations that I know does good work for homeless folks. But the fact tha I see so many of the same individuals on the corners from early morning to late afternoon, month after month tells me they are obviously making more than a few dollars. So tell me, when you see a young healthy appearing person with a homeless sign on the corner, why do you give them money? I appreciate the candid responses.

You are right... I have seen more and more young people that are pan handling.. and these arent the little squeegy kids on President Street either.. These folks remind me of hippies or MICA students and I have seen them on Northern Parkway up around Belvedere Square or Roland Park in addition to downtown.. They all seem very "happy" and pleasant waving as they approach.. Both Males and Females..I have often thought they were rich kids slumming or doing some project for a psyche class.. The only place where I have seen more young "healthy" looking folks pan handling has been in Seattle and Portland.

[173airborne vet]

You people all need to get a life. I see a panhandler I give money to for working for me. He is a legit veteran who has mental issues and can't get help because the government ****s our vets. Yea I get pissed when some ******* walks up to me in a parking lot and bothers me and my wife but the people standing with signs aren't bothering anyone SO WHAT if they are drug addicts they could be BREAKING INTO your home or harming you which is what they will do if they can no longer panhandle. Even cops on the street will tell you that. Mind your own business of if someone wants to give them money let them. I would encourage you not to give them money whoever said that I would encourage you to suck my dick

[BlakeJones]

It's your perogative to be a sucker

[Calvert Hall '62]

Originally Posted by 173airborne vet

SO WHAT if they are drug addicts they could be BREAKING INTO your home or harming you which is what they will do if they can no longer panhandle.

Yeah, that's the ticket. Pander to the panhandling dirtbags lest they try to harm you.

[james777]

Quote:
Originally Posted by 173airborne vet View Post
SO WHAT if they are drug addicts they could be BREAKING INTO your home or harming you which is what they will do if they can no longer panhandle.

Originally Posted by Calvert Hall '62

Yeah, that's the ticket. Pander to the panhandling dirtbags lest they try to harm you.

Well, in that case we should keep them panhandling because if they break into my home or harm me I will put them six feet under.

As far as whether they should allow panhandling, my concern is for the safety of the panhandlers in traffic. At intersections downtown and in the Johns Hopkins Hospital area, slow walking panhandlers walking amongst the traffic not only slow down the traffic, but have a lot of close calls with being hit by vehicles.