Panhandler not so needy!

[blas]

Last Saturday my guy and I were driving to Wal-Mart. We exited off the highway and got in the left turn lane at a red light.

There was a pandhandler sitting in the median with a cardboard sign that said "Will work for food!".

Funny thing is...

The panhandler had a full backpack of God knows what on the ground next to him, and was SMOKING A CIGARETTE as he held up that sign!

You don't see panhandlers in this part of Wisconsin very often. I rarely if ever see any (other than that "professor" doing his begger project that one summer).

Sorry, but it made me irate. If he wanted to make his "poor homeless" routine seem a bit more genuine, he should have gotten rid of the cigarette.

[Boozy]

By the time I started university at the age of 17, I was already good and addicted to cigarettes.

Every time I ran out of money and had to make the decision between smokes and food, I picked smokes. Its a bugger of an addiction.

However - I never asked anyone for money to support my habit.

[blas]

I admit since I've been pretty much pennyless since my ex roomie screwed me over and I got the new apartment, I've made dumb decisions like buying Ramen and Mac and Cheese in bulk so that I can still afford a carton of ciggs every 2 weeks....

But to beg for money when you clearly can still afford ciggs? Pffft is all I can say.

[Ljt09863]

blas, what part of wisconsin do you live in again? here, in Kenosha, we have them all over downtown. and none of them need it. they beg for money to come into our store and buy cigars, and coffee.

[blas]

Without giving too much away, I live about an hour or so away from LaCrosse and about an hour and a half away from the Twin Cities. Imagine the state of Wisconsin as the Indian head, and I live below and a a smidgeun to right of the "nose".

I have a cousin who lives in Kenosha.

But just like I said, they are a rarity around here. Once I thought I saw a panhandler on the highway by Wal-Mart, but that turned out to be a college professor doing an experiment.

[NightAngel]

They are everywhere here- literally. When I first moved here I felt a bit bad for them and would occasionally give them food (never money though). Then I found out there was a shelter nearby where they could go stay for free, eat for free, all medical/dental free, clothes for free- EVERYTHING FREE!

So, whenever one of them would come up and ask me for money, cigs, whatever I'd direct them to the shelter. This is ALWAYS how the conversation goes:

Me: "You could go to the shelter over on *address* they'll give you a place to stay, clothes, food, doctor, whatever free."

Panhandler: "Are they gonna make me look for a job?"

Me: "Yes."

PH: "No... I won't go there then... you got a smoke?"

Me: "Not for you."

I don't even bother telling them about the shelter anymore I just tell them no and occasionally run them off the property if they're pushy.

[EmiOfBrie]

if they had enough money to buy a marker to make the sign with, they had enough money for a meal. That's the way I see it. At most convienience stores around my area you can get a small sandwich and bottled water for the price of a wide magic marker.

[ZumZum]

Why make assumptions? They could have found the marker. They could have bummed the cigarette. Or, they could have dumpster dived and were smoking a cigarette they found. I have seen it happen.

[unholypet]

There are plenty of men/women out here and the surrounding states that have high paying jobs... and bum in some ratty clothes they never wash.

One man was reported to the cops for sitting outside a Pizza Hut (and getting money/left-overs) after harassing some couple. Cops come in, find over $300 on his person.

[wagegoth]

Yeah, a lot of them are doing pretty well. They live off the grid, don't pay taxes, and indulge their addictions/habits. If you pay attention, most of them are male and apparently physically able to work, but they've found that they prefer bumming money to working, which also lets them be drunks or addicts. People with children, unless they're stone addicts, are much more likely to go to shelters and stand in line for food, rather than begging.

There was a Sherlock Holmes story, The Man with the Twisted Lip, about a man who, after losing his job, had taken up disguising himself as a handicapped beggar, and managed to support his family. I've heard from people in my area about seeing the bums they see every day depositing money in ATMs.

A lot of these people simply can't or won't follow society's rules. They don't want to answer to anyone, including a boss, so they drift through life, using people. That said, I occasionally give money to them, if they follow certain rules: they don't bug me, they don't harass me and they're making an effort (a guy standing in the sun in 90+ degree weather is probably desperate for whatever he wants, so I'll give him a couple of bucks).

There were these guys, near one of my first husband's jobs, who were American Indians. The people working in the building called them "The Tribe." They were always drunk, but never rude or annoying, and they didn't piss out in the street. Some people, my husband included, used to give them a few bucks. A lot of you would probably say it was a waste of money, but maybe the givers had white man's guilt, or maybe they decided that if they were going to give money, they'd give it to the least annoying bums.

Right now, I work in a very wealthy city, and the cops have made a point of rousting the annoying bums. If they leave people alone and don't bug anybody, the cops leave them alone. They start openly begging and accosting people, they disappear after a few days. They tend to hang out near my building, because there's one of the European automatic free toilets about a block away.

There are tons of bums in the SF area, because the weather is milder, welfare is easier, and the cops usually leave them alone unless they're threatening. It's something you, unfortunately, get used to.

[Heksubah]

Having been homeless several times (but never a panhandler), the bag might have been his belongings, plain and simple. As for the cigarettes, a lot of people give random items to homeless people to be nice. If they know you're a smoker, sometimes they toss you a spare pack. When I lived in a homeless shelter, a lot of the people there would pitch together and get cigarettes. It was a small luxury.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Wanna see something funny? Next time you see one of those guys with a sign that says "will work for food", pull up and offer to give him 8 bucks an hour to help you reshingle a roof tomorrow. Or something. Make something up, it won't matter.

Hilarity will ensue.

Note: Don't do this experiment if it bothers you to be told to fuck off by someone smelly.

[Sofar]

if they had enough money to buy a marker to make the sign with, they had enough money for a meal. That's the way I see it. At most convienience stores around my area you can get a small sandwich and bottled water for the price of a wide magic marker.

You gotta spend money to make money. Anyway, I say if you got some money weighing on your conscious, give to the local hospital.

[Becks]

if they had enough money to buy a marker to make the sign with, they had enough money for a meal. That's the way I see it. At most convienience stores around my area you can get a small sandwich and bottled water for the price of a wide magic marker.

And at convenience store prices!!!

I keep thinking of the episode of The Simpsons where Homer becomes a panhandler. Anyone else?

[tollbaby]

blas, what part of wisconsin do you live in again? here, in Kenosha, we have them all over downtown. and none of them need it. they beg for money to come into our store and buy cigars, and coffee.

I'll vouch for that, having been to Kenosha and having a panhandler actually toss my Canadian change back at me

Edited to add: I've lived on the streets, and at the worst of it, I did panhandle... I preferred busking though, but I was EXTREMELY shy about performing in public (still am). Made a CRAPLOAD of money busking, made next to nothing panhandling. After a few weeks of this, I discovered that the Salvation army served breakfast at their mission every morning, and mid-afternoon, the Union Mission for Men served a hot lunch, so at least I wasn't going hungry anymore. As soon as I was able to, I got a job, went back to college, and cleaned myself up. (I got evicted from my apartment, and my "boyfriend" at the time stole all my money and a few things that were worth money... I had nothing left, and no way to get another apartment... and nobody hires someone living on the streets). It was a real relief to be offered a bedroom because this guy needed a roommate for his 2nd year of university... he let me live there free the first month while I managed to get some clothes at the Sally Ann and got myself a job, and I pulled my own weight after that. Not all the bums you see on the street WANT to be there, but the best way to help is to donate to the shelters and charities that help them, not to give them your spare change (I can pretty much guarantee that 95% of it goes to booze or cigarettes).