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Wow, redjul. Yes, I was surprised they were there, I thought Cary was pretty strict about that (though it may be outside of their town limits). One stood directly in front of my car (though the light was red), and I just shook my head 'no'.
I often see folks at the I-40/Hwy 54 intersections, and as much as I want to help...
I knew some people who always carried cracker packs with them and handed those out - though it sounds like any interaction might be a bad idea (from some of the posts here!).
The intersection of 54 and Cary Parkway is Morrisville.
The panhandlers at 40 and Harrison are indeed annoying. I never take the far left lane for that very reason.
I am not about to roll my window down to a stranger off the highway, even if I did want to give them money.
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It would all stop if people would simply stop paying them for begging! It makes me mad to see people roll down their window down and hand these people money. They are there every day, they COULD get a real tax paying job if they had to.
Here's how you fix them. Eat a can or two of beans and drink a six pack of beer. Let it ferment and when they state they are out of gas offer to fill them up!! They might never forget your face and avoid approaching you next time. ;-)
Sounds like drug addicts approaching all of you. I'd never give gas to anyone like that. Exception is I have bought a coffee for someone, and I did help someone pay for a meal. I know they were drug addicts (my whole current area is) and were hungry, in my neighborhood and I do have a heart. But I won't give money or gas or anything like that.
The general rule to panhandles is there is no general rule. Just like you, everyone has a unique situation to how they ended up where they are. Some are vets, some were once gainfully employed, and yes some are hustlers. All of them however are human beings.
I find this to often be a lie. Claiming to be a vet is a VERY effective way to tug on peoples' heartstrings. And it's one of the biggest lies told daily in this country.
The panhandlers who work the off ramps daily, are hustlers. They DROVE a car to that location. Many of them seem to have no problem showing up each day in a different set of clothes, backpack full of food and drinks, cigarettes, etc.
Where I recently moved from, at the main intersection in the small town, there was a group of approx. 14-year-old girls standing off to the side, where people needed to stop at the stoplight. These were girls dressed in their softball uniforms begging for money for their team so they could travel to some away games, as indicated by their signs.
When I stopped for the red light, rather than standing their with their signs, one girl came up and knocked on my passenger window. When I rolled it down, she asked if I would like to "donate" to help them pay for travel, lodging, and food for their away games. I smiled and said, "no thanks, not today". As I rolled up the window, I heard her say "azzhole". I rolled the window back down and asked her "what did you say?". At that point, she high-tailed it back to her adult "leader".
Now, these are fully-capable girls who could have had a carwash, bake sale, etc., but their adult leaders thought it would be better (I guess?) to stand on a streetcorner and beg. And I'm not talking just being there if someone wanted to donate--I'm talking about knocking on car windows and cursing. . . .
Everybody's got their hands out. Sorry for my cynicism, but. . . . wow. . .
The general rule to panhandles is there is no general rule. Just like you, everyone has a unique situation to how they ended up where they are. Some are vets, some were once gainfully employed, and yes some are hustlers. All of them however are human beings.
I've got scamophobia. Will accounting be publicly transparent so we can see exactly how sales proceeds from t-shirts are helping to keep bums off street corners?
I find this to often be a lie. Claiming to be a vet is a VERY effective way to tug on peoples' heartstrings. And it's one of the biggest lies told daily in this country. .
Although you may have found people who lied about being a vet, study shown that 12% of the homeless population are veterans.
I find this to often be a lie. Claiming to be a vet is a VERY effective way to tug on peoples' heartstrings. And it's one of the biggest lies told daily in this country.
The panhandlers who work the off ramps daily, are hustlers. They DROVE a car to that location. Many of them seem to have no problem showing up each day in a different set of clothes, backpack full of food and drinks, cigarettes, etc.
I agree!! Though I'm a vet myself I can't speak for all vets and am sure there may be a handful in that situation but most vets will go out and work an honest job regardless of how low paying. Myself and other vet friends/co-workers had to take that low road and work multiple jobs to make ends meet at one point of our lives because many would not hire us without "civilian" experience but that was temporary and didn't dissuade us from progressing. Again most likely majority of those claiming to be vets are not.
As far as panhandlers working highways, major roads and right near churches are not more than hustlers. Believe me I've been fortunate enough to get to know some unfortunate economically challenged who are too ashamed to stand in public venues / streets to beg no less holding up a sign on a major road baring their face with the possibility of someone they know recognizing them. I'm originally from a big city and have traveled many big cities & towns nationwide where drug addicts and unrecoverable desperate alcoholics are simply seeking the next fix. I've offered help in getting them a meal or something to drink but most just want the money. One day on a subway many years ago I recall being with my wife where a homeless drunk was sleeping. Then at one point appeared a gentleman who worked with an organization handing brown bags to the homeless. Well the homeless guy reluctantly accepted the bag. A few moments later opened the bag and pulled out all the contents being a sandwich, snacks and drink. He got upset, without opening any of the contents threw everything back in the bag and at the next stop flung the bag out of the train. He pulled out his little bottle of booze taking a squigg and walked off.
So all of this hustling appears to becoming more prevalent as the population here grows. Expect to see more of it.
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