Do you give money to panhandlers?

[vulgar_newcomer]

Depends. Complicated.
Yeah most want booze, but that doesn't mean they are not hungry its just that getting buzzed is more important than eating.
Not so much fun sitting outside after a short thunderstorm covered in steamy hot/humid sun with bug mosquito bites drowned in your sweat, & not getting a place to clean up. Besides even a rich drunk would rather drink first then eat even if hungry in a nice cool ritzy club house. A crack/coke head ain't gonna stop rather rich or poor. I know plenty of well off ones compared to homeless guys I see regularly.
I think if I was on the street I would prefer to forget that over the fear of where am I going to sleep, getting knocked on the head by someone, and scratching bug bites or wondering where I can clean my underwear.
Camping is cool if you got the tent, supplies, and a place to go to after a few days but camping to me isn't under a over pass or a wet stinking cardboard box on the edge of a interstate or creek.
Sometimes those homeless shelters are more dangerous then exit 5 a few miles out of town on the interestate. They got a lot of rules to.
But lately guys have been coming up to me with bullshit stories wanting 6 or 10 bills not whatever I got. That doesn't work.
I'm not defending hardcore shitty bums but its complicated. But be careful to judge the self medicating homeless person because you never know when you cold find out the wonders of the soup kitchen. Never say never.

 

[Swellegant]

Never. It is, I think, counterproductive. You might be helping the person get through the day, but you're just digging him deeper into the pit he's already wallowing in, a life where he is unaccountable and uncounted.

It doesn't matter if he's going to use the money to buy food or buy drugs, the truth is that there are a zillion support agencies out there waiting to help him, all he has to do is rejoin society and work on getting out of the situation he's in. I work for one of those agencies, and that is the major goal: to end the person's poverty and homelessness, not to enable him to live longer in it.

When you see a man hanging from a rope in a deep hole, you don't give him more rope, you try to pull him out. If he doesn't want to come, that's his business.

 

[Triple G]

No. They will just buy booze. I will buy them food or a meal. Or I will drive them to our local soup kitchen where a good meal is available 7 days a week.

Rarely will they accept a meal, but they sure cuss me out a lot. I keep trying as there are worthy, in need people who need help.

 

[jamie_01930]

Depends wether I have coin change on me. I throw pennies away, so what's wrong with giving some coin to a guy that's is down on his luck

 

[gsdx]

so what's wrong with giving some coin to a guy that's is down on his luck

It's very difficult to know who is 'down on his luck' or just too lazy to get out and find a job. It's particularly annoying to see beggars lighting up cigarettes from a package in his pocket or yapping on a cell phone.

Like I said earlier, I give only to buskers and never to beggars. I'm not homeless, and I don't have money to throw away, and I have often been penniless, but I have never, ever stood on a street corner and begged for money, no matter how desperate or hungry I might have been.

 

[scrapple]

I only give money to panhandlers if I get sex out of it.

 

[EasyRory]

I do give the real down-and-outs money, and it's not hard to tell which ones they are.

I'm grateful for having a few dollars more than I need and feel it's my obligation to share.

 

[BearBoi]

Never. I have to reasons;

1) There are so many fake panhandlers in my city it is not even funny. Ever year several stories appear highlighting major scammers. One of the most famous being the “Shaking Lady” who, as it turns out, lived in a condo and owned, among other things, big-screen TVs. Yes, plural.

2) I live in a city with one of the largest social support networks in the world. We pay millions to social workers and case-handlers. There is no reason any individual in this city should need a handout. There are shelters on every other corner, there are soup kitchens a mile long and charities as far as the eye can see.

 

[Jayden]

Once in san francisco there was a homeless woman doing a sock puppet show. She was so bad at it but she just did it and was having fun. I asked her what she liked to eat and I went and bought her lunch and something to drink.
She was just out there doing her lil show and you could see her mouth moving when she talked for the sock. But she made me smile so I just had to help her out.
And for the most part I will give what I can to them. But if they look like they are just looking for drug or drink money. Then I will just keep on walking.

 

[gsdx]

Once in san francisco there was a homeless woman doing a sock puppet show. She was so bad at it but she just did it and was having fun.

There was a guy here in Peterborough. For many years he would sit on the same bench on our main street near a main intersection. We called him 'Bongo Dave'. He would tap on a set of bongo drums with his fingers and thumbs. I say 'tap' because you couldn't hear him playing. There was no rhythm. It was merely 'tap tap tap'. An empty Maxwell House coffee tin would sit at his feet and people (including myself) would drop their spare coins in it. He didn't entertain, really. There was no music. He didn't speak except to say 'thank you'. There was simply Bongo Dave.

He died last year and the city made up a small plaque to attach to his bench in his memory.

 

[quasar]

Behaviour like that would get him arrested here in Peterborough. Local bylaws now prevent beggars from even asking for spare change. All they can do now is to sit there and hope someone drops a few coins in their container....

Same here in Peterborough UK. In fact I can't recall the last time I saw a beggar in the city centre.

We still allow buskers, BUT they have to have a permit from the City Council.

 

[BINOWGAYLATER]

yeah, its difficult to tell who's in need of the money - (hungry) and who 's trying to buy a pack of cigs or a bottle of cheap booze.

There are plenty of shelters around - and soup kitchens - so pride be damned - you're not going to go hungry - i don't think......
There is a guy , younger than me, that parks his butt at the busy entrance/exit to the supermarket where there is a light - and cars need to actually STOP very near him --
His sign says something about VIET NAM VETERAN -- Needs Help - or something - i barely read it - but I dont give him any change or anything I think he's one of those that is making a lot on that corner - while I have to work on my feet for 20-25 hours a week for my pennies --Nobody's giving me any money for my viet nam service - -and I'm not looking for any -- There are plenty f legit "mentally ill" people from many wars - and they're not asking the community to support them.

 

[theFallenGod]

Here in Toronto... it is so easy to get back on your feet. There are plenty of agencies to help you get a job, a place to live, clothes and meals, and get off the drugs.

If you are too lazy to do that and just want people to feel sorry for your lazy ass and you expect people who EARN their money to just give it to you so you can go get some listerine to down for a cheap easy buzz then you are in no way getting any money from me.

I worked for this. I have been down on my luck. But I have never stayed there. I always find a way to get back on my feet and be a productive member of society.

Buskers on the other hand. They deserve a little because they are entertaining.

 

[LoveIsNow]

Usually. Even if I suspect they just want a drink. It's hot as balls in Florida. I would want a drink, too, after a day out in the heat here.