is it selfish to not give money to panhandlers?

Too many reps in a 24hr period, but I'm coming back to rep when I can!

 

I think many are confused here.

The post quoted above,,, for example.
Those last two are homeless, the post asks about giving to panhandlers. Panhandlers are not usually homeless by accident as the homeless are. Panhandlers are usually energetic people on city hiking trips looking for free money. They hang out at malls and store fronts bumming smokes and money for a living. many of them on bikes to speed up their advances on people in parking lots, some with a guitar sitting at doorways.
Now those in the let two pics look like homeless people or as some would call them Bums... They had a shitty deck of cards thrown at them. Panhandlers on the other hand usually chose to walk the streets, many of them living in shared homes, on welfare and doing it as a choice.
I mentioned my friend earlier who did the panhandling thing with her hubby, earlier in this thread I think. They walked for money for a couple years and made well. Then decided to settle down again and get back into their old jobs they did before. She said it was an awesome experience but it had to end because they traveled on foot mostly in cities and slept in places for the homeless while on their travels and it did get tiring after a while.

 

Ding ding ding. Glad someone gets it.

 

I see what you mean. I was thinking of the people who are in a bad situation not by choice.

 

I'm not confused. I don't give money to slick panhandlers, I do give to down and out homeless people. However, I've seen so many people treat homeless people like shit just for being homeless or mentally ill or whatever other reason someone can come up with for feeling above another human being.

 

All I'm saying is don't be so quick to condem. Our society has created these things. They are us.

Do not glorify the achievers
So the people will not squabble
Do not treasure goods that are hard to obtain
So the people will not become thieves
Do not show the desired things
So their hearts will not be confused
Thus the governance of the sage:
Empties their hearts
Fills their bellies
Weakens their ambitions
Strengthens their bones
Let the people have no cunning and no greed
So those who scheme will not dare to meddle
Act without contrivance
And nothing will be beyond control
~Lao tsu

​

 

I usually don't give $$, last time I did I watched the guy sit and really struggle over getting food or beer, he chose beer.

A few years ago while doing the whole Girl Scout cookie routine with my daughter in front of a store, we noticed this one young girl and her boyfriend would come and charge their phone with the outside outlets. While one was charging the phone the other would ask for $$. One day the girl was there by herself and my daughter talked to her a little and was upset because she was a very nice girl, only 19 and homeless.
So I talked to her and had her go into the store and pick up $25-$30 worth of food and then I went and paid for it.
We talked some more and I told her we could give some things if they needed them. She said sure, so we we going to meet back at the store later that day.

So my wife and I got a couple of sleeping bags we had, a tent, cooler, and assorted personal hygiene items, food, stuff. all packed into a military ruck-sack.

They never showed to get the stuff, and we looked in the park they were staying at, no luck. My daughter made me check twice a day for two weeks, but we never saw them again.

Felt rather bad about it, the one thing that impressed me the most about that girl was she just had a look of bewildered fear that was hard to ignore and not want to help.

 

When I was livng in the Bronx thier were so many- -I never felt any guilt. However, if they had a good act,,I would always throw them a little cash-

ie>>"Dude going from car to car along the train YELLING "Whats the best nation in the world??"-- "A Donation!!"- -funny- gave him a few bucks **

 

I always will and have given to the homeless.
We had a couple homeless here sitting in an ally and some assholes brought cans half full of paint they likely took from someones yard and toss the contents at these homeless people.
They were caught later and charged. I was glad to see cameras will bring justice home, even for the homeless.
They weren't panhandling, they were hiding from the weather.

 

In the town I live in, we very very rarely have anybody panhandling. For some time when I was in high school, there were a couple of panhandlers who hung out a few blocks from the high school. I don't know who they thought was going to give them money, maybe teachers, but high school kids sure weren't carrying around tons of money.

I work now in a town about 12 miles from here and it's almost a culture shock dealing with the bums who hang out around the restaurant. There's a really nice, somewhat pricey (well, for this area anyway) Mexican restaurant that shares a parking lot with us, so I guess that's why they hang around. They're not bad or really all that aggressive, though, and the ones who are there for money tend to try to do it honestly. One guy I work with said some guy tried to sell him a jacket for $5 a few weeks ago, and a guy tried to sell the day shift cashier a flashlight for $2. If one of them ever approaches me and I have a little extra cash, I'm just gonna give them a little and let them keep whatever they're trying to sell, because they're at least trying to make an honest "living."

We've got a couple of guys who come into the restaurant after lunch sometimes to see if we have any leftover pizza on the lunch buffet. There's also a lady who comes and collects the leftover pizza to donate it to people who are also hungry. So I've just set it up as a "first come, first serve" sort of basis. If there is enough pizza to split between them and the lady, then I do it, but sometimes they get a little bitchy about not getting it all and how I'm giving some of it to a lady in a Lincoln, like it's any of their business. I don't know, I don't like wasting that food and I'm always happy to make sure it gets used for a good purpose, but when I start getting attitude popped at me because of how I decided to dole out the leftovers, it pisses me off.

 

You mention selling stuff and so doing it honestly,,, lets hope those things are not stolen items,,, the flashlight,,, well maybe he bought a few at a dollar store but the coat,,, I sure would hate to be walking down the road with it on and someone asking me how I got their jacket. It's an odd item to be selling for panhandling.
Panhandlers used to sell items like gadgets but now mostly they just run around asking for money or play music at grocery stores parking lots, restaurants, bus stops and beer stores, here anyway. And bum smokes, I never see them sell anything.

 

You're not even allowed to busk in my city, let alone panhandle. Can't live in your car either. It's basically illegal to be homeless in my city.

 

Not all buskers , if that's the right word, are homeless or even trying to get money, some have jobs and just want to get their music out there.

There is a blind Chinese man who plays violin in the wal mart parking lot in my town. He is homeless and he's also playing with the goal of earning money which most people have no problem giving him because he plays beautifully. I used to work nearby and I would drive to wal mart and park near him and eat in the car just to hear him play. He was cool.

 

^^^ And to that blind chinese guy I would also give money, its them who are after cars in parking lots or bumming smokes and money at door ways who you can see are as able as yourself that I wouldn't give a dime to.
I had one guy tell me his back was hurt and he couldn't work, later he was bolting to the far side of the parking lot on a bike as I was leaving the store,,, Of course I wasn't fooled in the first place but I know many buy his story because he has the look on his face to match his story.
Many here have decided they will buy them a sandwich instead and if they are eating their offered lunch most would walk by, what we saw in our town is sandwiches on the ground by lamp posts or walls where they stood or sat earlier. Many here are taking it in their own hands by saying no or "I will buy you a sandwich or some food", many getting a no thanks because food don't buy drugs and booze. It became that much of a problem here that the news was suddenly heavy with incidences involving aggression by them so we are fighting back because the city won't. Our local forums have loads of threads on this subject.
A few years ago we had issues with "squeegee kids" as we called them. They would take up a corner area near an intersection with a bucket of water and a squeegee to clean windshields for a buck. Problem was the water was dirty, they began fighting over corners with each other and some would wash your windshield even if you said no thanks... Some don't want their car touched by people they don't know and muddy water. The kids thought if they did it anyway you would feel obligated to pay them a buck. Don't hear of them much anymore because the city did crack down on them when it was apparent there was a huge safety issue at light sections because some cars had a green to go on and were stopped by someone still washing the windshields not watching for the greens. We used to hear the police scanners often busy with cops chasing them away.
Buskers, we have some but they tend to gather in the city parks and do acts that entertain and that's how it should be. Have given them money because they are an act in the right place, making parks fun to go to. Our city even makes sure to hold events for them throughout the summers here that are advertised to the public. Last summer we saw some play music, some dancing acts and even a guy doing magic tricks. I spent a day last summer in the park as a date with a nice man just before I met BF and we tossed bits of money to them the whole day. It probably cost us both a good chunk but it was loads of fun. The city even had food venders going on. Sounds like it went so well the past few years and will continue, bigger and better.

 

my friend was in nyc and he was in his car when i guy ran up to him with a cd player boombox (this was back when they were going for hundreds of dollars) he runs up to the car says i will sell you this for $15. my friend says yeah gives him the money and the guy continues to run off.
easily could have been a homeless guy or just a random street thug. but no surprise that you see down and out people selling random things.

 

I guess maybe I just try really hard to not assume they stole whatever they are trying to sell. But you might be right, anything of much value would probably alert the cops, so it wouldn't be too far of a stretch to think they're just selling crappy stolen things for cheap. As far as someone asking you how you got their jacket...it'd be an awkward situation, sure, but unless it was a reaaaalllly nice jacket (which I'm guessing it wasn't), it's not likely they're going to waste their time. But like I said, I wouldn't actually purchase anything off them, likely just throw a couple bucks of my tip money their way. But the idea bothers me a little because I'm afraid it'll be like feeding a stray cat and then they'll bug me ALL the time. And I definitely do NOT have extra money to share all the time.

 

I wish the panhandlers would come out in full force. It would get the strip bars hot.

 

Christ.Spare me some change.

 

obama took all the change

 

If you ever feel the need to give to a panhandler always give to one who is not working your area of work or home. That way if you run into them shopping or something then so beit. Not good to have them constantly in your face because you gotta go to work or home. They will bug for more and put you on the streets, they don't care