is it selfish to not give money to panhandlers?

Be careful who you give money to..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSewCBL4_GQ"]FAKE HOMELESS MAN EXPOSED! - YouTube

 

Told youuuuuuu!!!! My old neighbor was faking homeless as a panhandler, and her condo is at least 2k per month.

 

Ohhhhh. Snap.
Fucked up.

 

Fuck bums. I tell them to get a job

 

I usually give food, if they ask for it. If they ask for money, I ask them if they're hungry and I'll give them food. I've come across the people who really need it more often than not. I've come across people who were willing to work for the extra food or a few dollars and I've come across people who are clearly too sick to do anything, so yeah, food, is usually what I've given.

If I see the same person doing the same thing day in and day out, of course I'm suspicious and I'm not likely to help anyone with a bad attitude, but I think it's much harder to make a lot of money panhandling than people seem to think. I seriously doubt most of these people are ripping anyone off.

 

i have plenty of "extra" money, but it's not for fucking panhandlers. they can suck it.


no need to justify it because you don't have enough extra money. even if you do, it's probably because you have a job...other than harassing people to give you money.

i'm gonna use that line next time they want to "ask me a question"

"sure....unless it's about money"

 

Even if he did apply for the job you were so helpfully pointing out, did you ever think maybe the kid didn't have a phone where he could receive the call for an interview or didn't even have a place to shower before the interview?

Or that maybe he had mental problems that interfered with his ability to stack the blocks right and make himself seem like someone anyone would want to hire?

Have you ever really talked with some of these people? And no I don't mean just the ones that look nice enough for you to approach,
I mean the old stinky bearded bums, the scabby teens and twenty somethings in their 'fuck-off' punk tee shirts, the crack whores, the bag ladys...

And I mean really talk to them as a human beings with no judgements..
Well I have... quite a few actually (I spent several years as a street musician in more than one Western Megalopolis in the mid 90's)

When you take the time to make a connection, put yourself on the level, treat them like a friend...you find that they will begin to talk about their past, like most of us do when we make a new friend, they will tell you ( albeit sometimes indirectly) of their talents and interests, their past or present hopes and dreams, and sometimes of abusive and severely dysfunctional family's, loss of very close loved ones, illness, injury and other tragedy from which they may have not fully recovered..

But the biggest thing I noticed is often they will tell you of some time in their life when they were doing something productive and valuable, something they were proud of, an activity, a sport, a job, a spouse... a time in their life when the felt loved, accepted and a part of society.

Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE wants to be a productive and accepted part of society. It's in our fucking DNA, in our nature as social human beings!

People can get 'down and out' in more ways than one, economic status is no hedge against the same kind of depression that put that smelly guy on the street, you just don't see them because they don't have to beg for money. And in todays world lemme tell ya it don't take much... The ones that have said fuck it...they are damaged souls, their psyches are damaged by any number or combination of factors.

Even dismissing all that been said, we live in a fucked up rat-race, the more you become aware of it the more disturbing and depressing it is.
We are just a bunch of post-modern domesticated animals here in this fractured and complex society, it's a fact of life some of us will be fucked up

Some take the rat-race well...



...and others do not.

 

No offense gong, but that is a very idealistic and unrealistic viewpoint. Have you ever lived in urban areas?

Most of them are pieces of shit that have drug problems and think the world should support it. So they fuck people over, rob and steal, turn tricks, hustle, etc until they can't anymore then they are on the street. That's the last stop, or for the weaker ones it's the first stop.

Some are legit crazy without drug induced psychosis, but it's hard to tell who is who and there is no helping them for real anyway when you are trying to survive yourself.

The world ain't a nice place, you make it or you don't.

 

I agree gongshaman. Maybe that is why I have the perspective i have as well...I have talked to a lot of these people as well. I also did the street musician thing for a little while and some backpacking and such...meeting different types of people up close and personal, I've learned a lot. I also used to run a business where a lot of these people would come in and ask to help at the end of the night for some food or a few dollars.

I'm not saying there aren't people who aren't taking advantage, but there are lots of people who just had some really bad luck, or they're in a temporary bad spot...whatever it is, I see no reason to be angry with people because they're asking for help...

 

I think it depends where you live. I've lived in dc which admittedly, had more of the truly downtrodden or insane people who were legit helpless. But they still annoyed me because of the sheer numbers. They're like roaches. Then florida, where the bums are either crackheads, junkies, alcoholics, or all of the above.

 

Ok first to the OP. They hang out in front of family dollar because if they were in front of barneys they would be escorted away before they sat on the sidewalk.
i, like someone mentioned am much more likely to give beer than money but i have on occasion. When im confronted entering a store i just say i am using my card i have no cash. If they asked for an apple i would buy them one...thats never happened its always just cash and one time a candybar.
as for gong. You give a scolding tone for someone trying to help. Was she supposed to stop in the middle of a highway to have a conversation. Maybe she had someplace to be. Like she was on her way to work. Did you ever ask her that?
i heard a comedian one time say a bum asked him for money and said he had none. The comedian said then your at zero your doing better than me. I have 20k dollars in debt for a school loan.

 

Do you know what a megalopolis is? I was a street musician in the heart of San Diego, Phoenix, Denver,and Seattle.
I don't expect you To have one ounce of compassion or understanding anyway. You are a fucking prick and everyone here knows it

 

Don't worry. I'd give you money so you can buy a beer.

 

Because a large chunk of homeless people are homeless because of mental illness and couldn't hold a job no matter how badly they wanted one.

 

Yeah my uncle was homeless, mentally ill and an alcoholic, family couldn't take him in because he was too disruptive, I don't think he ever had a job but he didn't really need one. He inherited a lot of money from my grandmother. He didn't ever beg for money but he also didn't have the life skills necessary to rent an apartment or do anything but live in a tent and get drunk. My mom eventually convinced him to go into a long term care home but he seemed happier in his tent.

The first five years of my life he lived with my grandmother and I stayed with them every day. He was bat shit crazy but he also fed me, changed my diapers, played and talked to me for hours every day.

Anyway, I think about him everytime I see a homeless person and anytime I hear people make callous and dehumanizing remarks about the homeless.

 

That depends how good looking the panhandler is.

 

I give them whenever I have, and I don't regret it.

 

I give them fashion advice. :biggrin:

 

Everyone has different circumstances. Some people are born with a head start, others are not. I wouldn't have the life I have right now if it weren't for all the people who have influenced and/or helped me along the way. I give, but I am still at a point where I don't give enough. I guess I'm still too attached.

 

No, I just ignore them and keep walking

Or just stand there with my earbuds in listening to music and not even respond to them at all