Not that hungry.

[Grumpy]

I read somewhere that W.C. Fields' response to people asking for money was "Sorry, all my money is tied up in currency."

[iradney]

Yesterday I was chatting outside the office with one of the smokers. A little girl came RIGHT UP INTO MY PERSONAL SPACE (she was actually leaning on my arm) and demanded money. I said no, she persisted. At this point I was so uncomfortable with her breaking my bubble, I told her f*** off. She moved a few feet away, stood with another group of kids and glared at me. *shrug* I honestly don't care.

Walking on the way to the Coast Office, I pass one beggar regularly. During lunch, I go buy a fruit from the fruit stand and give it to him instead of money, and he always takes it gratefully. Poor dude only has one leg, so he can't really find work

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Walking on the way to the Coast Office, I pass one beggar regularly. During lunch, I go buy a fruit from the fruit stand and give it to him instead of money, and he always takes it gratefully. Poor dude only has one leg, so he can't really find work

It's nice that you give food, and I would do the same. However, just because he has one leg does not mean he can't find work.

I work with a guy who has lost both legs below the knee. He's a manager.

I knew a guy when I worked at Blue Cross that was in a wheelchair, which he drove with his MOUTH. That guy made more money that I will ever see.

At that same job, I often got sent down to pull microfische (yeah, I just dated myself) for my department. Microfische was staffed entirely by the physically and mentally handicapped. The manager was wheelchair bound (not the same person). Most of the "mentally slow" folk down there, aside from being a fun, friendly lot, could run rings around me pulling fische.

My great aunt's husband, paralyzed on his left side from a stroke, who was also diabetic and had kidney dialasis three times a week, built his own ramp to his house so he wouldn't have to climb stairs.

I could probably go on, but I think I've made my point.

One leg? My aunt's husband pisses on that guy. He might not be able to work for whatever reason, but I assure you it ain't cuz he's missing a leg. In fact, unless I'm mistaken, businesses often get a perk from the government for hiring the handicapped.

[Imogene]

The weirdest 'homeless' story I ever got, I was standing outside the theater for Rocky, in a skirt, wasting time, and some guy pulls up to me in a van, rolls down his window, and asks me for money for gas, since he's almost out.
"Er, no, what little money I have is going toward food and gas for MY car."
And he drives off.
And circles the lot to cuss at me on his next circuit. He was wasting money, because I didn't buy his sob story. I didn't stick around for him to come around again, I went inside to wait and chat it up with the other regulars.

[mharbourgirl]

Question: ever seen a beggar that looks too... clean to be on the streets? saw one with an IPOD, and a homeless sign common and ipod?

Something similar... Barrington Street and Spring Garden Road in Halifax are filled with panhandlers. And apparently there are organized groups of panhandlers, as I discovered. For a long time I regularly saw this guy, pretty young, sitting on a corner with his legs stuck out in front of him like he couldn't walk and he had a different sob story every time I passed him. Then one morning I got to Tim's early enough that he wasn't there yet, and I'm sucking down caffeinated goodness when I see a van pull up to the corner and out hops 'disabled' guy, spreads out his raggedy blanket and parks himself for the day. When I left and had to pass him, he started in on his sob story and I just cut in and told him "Yeah, if I hadn't just seen you hop out of a van, I might buy that. Piss off and go get a job that'll give you some dignity, at the very least." He wasn't too happy with me for calling him on his deception.

On the other hand, once I had a young guy stop me and ask for $5 so he could stay at the YMCA and get a shower and a bed for the night. Even showed me a receipt from a previous stay to prove his story. I stayed to talk with him for a bit 'cause I'm a softy in SOME respects, and it turns out he really was having a run of shitty luck with some family bullshit. I gave him the number for the temp agency I was working for at the time when he mentioned he was trying to get work, and then I had to catch my bus and never saw him again. A month later, though, I had confirmation that at least part of his story was true. On my paycheck a small bonus appeared, and it turns out that the agency had a program where if you referred someone, and they signed up, you'd get, oh $25 when they went out on their first job. And the bonus was from that kid who remembered my name and used it to get a job. It's nice to know that sometimes my feelings are spot on.