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I never carry cash anyway, nor do I go downtown. Once a guy asked me for money and I honestly had none, and he got mad at me. Kind of creeped me out. But the other two times were legit.
I had a friend who was approached by a homeless guy and instead of giving him money, bought him a sandwich for subway, sat down and ate with him.
No poor people in my neighborhood - even my maid drives an Escalade!
When I travel (which I do frequently) I always give them money unless I smell alcohol. A five spot here and there to some poor sould helps him more than it does me. I have more than most, and see no issue with spreading it around the way I see fit. I wish Obama would leave the charity up to me!
i'm just wondering i gave some guy at the wendys drive thru a dollar one day... and another night i was at the same wendys and the guy came up behind me and slaped me on my shoulder and said whats up buddy!! and i almost went thru the roof of my truck.. it scarred the crap outa me it was so unexpected...and now every time the guy sees me he bugs me for money..i do not give them money anymore.
LOL.. well I worked in NYC and lived in the burbs. When I was a teenager and then first started working I would feel bad when someone would panhandle and so I would ..
But I quickly realized I couldn't do that everyday to every panhandler and after awhile I grew that "just look forward, don't look at them" NYC way.
Here's a funny story my dad told me. He commuted on hte LIRR for over 30 years. One day he was in the train station and a gentleman dressed in office attire (suite and tie) with a briefcase came up to him and told him that he lost his montly pass and couldn't find his wallet (mugged perhaps?) and he had no idea how he was going to get home to xx town? My dad, seeing that the guy was just a regular working Joe like himself, gave him the fair for the train. . (LIRR Train is NOT neccesarily a $1 fair like the subway). The man was so grateful.. and thanked him.. Dad said.. no problem.
LOL... next day.. he saw that same man in that same suite doing the same thing to someone else... That guy made a full time job of it I guess.. and at $7 a pop not too bad...
I don't always have money, but I'm not opposed to giving money to them. However, I had to brush a guy off, he said he needed gas money to get back home, that he was a teacher at the college, etc., etc. Had no money at the time. A few days later, he comes up to me while I'm on my lunch break (2 in the morning...) and gives me the SAME story, only this time, he's more discombobulated...seeming confused, mixed up.
Running out of gas on two separate occasions within a week? Not bloody likely! If only he'd remembered who I was...
That's a pretty common scam to get drug money. They need gas money which makes you give them more than you might if you thought you were buying them a hamburger.
Asking for food money gets you enough for a cheap bottle of whisky but other drugs take more money.
A better way to help the homeless when they're panhandling is to give them healthy food instead of money OR direct them (and even donate to) a local shelter or food pantry.
Giving to the homeless shelter is the best way. You can donate a whole bag of groceries that feed a lot more, plus the shelter offers them a place to stay for the night and encouragement to get off the streets, a sense of community too, spiritual help which can be more important than physical. Often you volunteer your time, help out preparing and serving the meals, cleaning up.
A lot of important distinctions there. I've lived in or paid extended visit to Chicago, DC, Miami, Seattle, and Vancouver, BC. In places like those, you would end up generosity poor if you helped every person who begged for a helping hand. That's why I stuck to pocket change after getting savvy (sort of a lottery that only sober, friendly characters can play), then slowly became even more callous/defensive toward people whose demeanors made me uneasy. There are a lot of people out there who abuse good faith in a myriad of ways.
A lot of times the best thing to do is what some savvy folks mentioned, and that's taking care of the business transaction for the person you're helping (be it food or a ticket). It's really sad how many people turn this down. Of course, always make sure that transaction has a lot of witnesses (who will actually care to help; e.g., security, business owners), 'cause bad people will start eying your wallet if you try to use a machine to help them, even if you're in what turns out to be an indifferent crowd.
Location: The Chatterdome in La La Land, CaliFUNia
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As a female who is by herself catching the bus, I'm always leery of panhandlers. I'm nervous about them catching me off guard while I'm busy pulling money out of my purse to give to them. I also do not trust them to use the money for food. I was considering carrying snack items on me to give to panhandlers but I no longer encounter them as my bus routes have changed.
I'd prefer it if people like you would just walk by.
Funny... I'd prefer if certain people (I'm not going to make assumptions lumping you into a group) would not try to mug me just for being a nice guy without the coordination to fight back.
I'm a pretty pacifistic guy, but once I was mugged, the idea of preventing it sounded a lot more appealing than basking in my own self-righteous version of faith in humanity (not an assumption, you made that pretty clear).
I've got enough faith in humanity that I won't ever "just walk by" a courteous person who respects the boundaries of that context, but I've got enough good sense to not get fooled twice.
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Of course, always make sure that transaction has a lot of witnesses (who will actually care to help; e.g., security, business owners), 'cause bad people will start eying your wallet if you try to use a machine to help them, even if you're in what turns out to be an indifferent crowd.
