Do you ignore panhandlers? Or do you give them some change?

[poser765]

If you carry cash in a city you are asking to be mugged.

Most pan handlers make $1000+ AUD a week, that's why they do it and welfare.

This. Pan Handlers are making a living. Granted it's not a productive for society sort of living but they are surviving. I don't have any problem with it. They are asking for money and people are giving it to them. Power to them! i will not give them money, not because I think what they are doing is disgusting, but because my ass is probably broker than they are.

[Nihilan]

There's this one intersection in the city i live in (San Diego, Ca) that has always had beggars plaguing it. There's a shopping center on one of the corners of this intersection. In this shopping center is a little pub where they all go to hang out and spend their "I'm Hungry, Please Help. God Bless." money. The fuckers.

But that isn't even the worst.

One day there were two of them out there (man and a woman) on opposite sides of the intersection with their signs talking about how poor and desperate they were... while talking on cellphones - to each other. I shit you not. They were facing each other across the intersection obviously talking, both had the signs propped up near them on the ground so they could collect money with their free hands. People were actually giving them money. I was more angry at the morons handing out the cash to these freeloaders than to the freeloaders themselves.

[Theodon]

I'll do the moden day equivalent and give them one of these;

[Tastyfish]

If you carry cash in a city you are asking to be mugged.

Most pan handlers make $1000+ AUD a week, that's why they do it and welfare.

Oh boy Lets not collide the Aus way with Bitter American Sentement. They do not blend well.
Money and Jobs are clearly different there.

let me just let you know that, I wish I had clients that make 926.50 USD a week begging. THEN on top of that welfare. ... Panhandlers, no.
Maybe a good street performer could but that is different then panhandlers.

If people where begging, and getting nearly a grand in USD a week, that would mean the middle class started to obtain so much wealth that it suddenly got generous on a huge scale, which is just not the case. People are becoming more selfish not more generious because money is tight, outside their own needs.

[Tastyfish]

One day there were two of them out there (man and a woman) on opposite sides of the intersection with their signs talking about how poor and desperate they were... while talking on cellphones - to each other. I shit you not. They were facing each other across the intersection obviously talking, both had the signs propped up near them on the ground so they could collect money with their free hands. People were actually giving them money. I was more angry at the morons handing out the cash to these freeloaders than to the freeloaders themselves.

You know what the crazy shit is? People on Welfare get phones, lines, and whatnot very cheaply out of pocket.
Some companies even donate phones, to look good.
I don't understand why you think last years tech wouldn't be on someone on the street?

Is it crazy that a crack whore would have a pre paid cell phone? No, it makes perfect sense.

[MattsOnlyHope]

When I lived in Queens NY I ignored them, there were too many times I'd see them pull out sidekicks back in the day and text people. Now that I'm living in Ohio I'll toss some change to some of them if I have it, most of the homeless here truly are homeless.

[Tastyfish]

it is quite common for them to make $300+ a day think of $1 a minute even at 50 cents a minute they make a huge wage compared to most workers.

Yet none of them are encouraged to hop on a plane to western aus and make 200k a year as a miner? Weird. Homeless people totally could do 10 on 4 off for that kind of cash.

Edit: lets say your numbers are exact.
Your middle class would have that much disposable income.. think about that. Not only that but there would have to be Concentrations of the poor panhandeling in cities, not in the burbs, so the wealth among people living in your cities would be SO great they would be able to support these people just by tossing change, one after another, every day, on the way to get coffee, then on top of that, Government subsidy.

[Ciddy]

I ignore them (they probably make more money than I do anyway), but I almost never see them where I live. It's more common to see random hitchhikers who just want a ride than panhandlers here. I also ignore those because I've heard too many stories about people who got mugged picking them up.

I can actually only think of one time I've seen one in person, and that was closer to Atlanta (I live on the north state line in GA). Said he was starving and needed money for food. My friend gave him an extra biscuit we had in a McDonald's bag, and he tossed it over his shoulder in disgust. So yeah.... "starving" my ass.

[Reeve]

You know what the crazy shit is? People on Welfare get phones, lines, and whatnot very cheaply out of pocket.
Some companies even donate phones, to look good.
I don't understand why you think last years tech wouldn't be on someone on the street?

Is it crazy that a crack whore would have a pre paid cell phone? No, it makes perfect sense.

Phones are hardly expensive luxury items. Hell, every damn person in sub-saharan Africa has a cell phone, even in villages with no electrical grid where people are having trouble getting food.

[Nihilan]

(Insert Jackie Chan meme here.)


The point is that they were sitting there chatting with each other across the intersection and people would simply drive up and give them money.

[poser765]

Yet none of them are encouraged to hop on a plane to western aus and make 200k a year as a miner? Weird. Homeless people totally could do 10 on 4 off for that kind of cash.

Edit: lets say your numbers are exact.
Your middle class would have that much disposable income.. think about that. Not only that but there would have to be Concentrations of the poor panhandeling in cities, not in the burbs, so the wealth among people living in your cities would be SO great they would be able to support these people just by tossing change, one after another, every day, on the way to get coffee, then on top of that, Government subsidy.

If someone is making a good living just sitting on the corner with a sign, why would they want to do something else?

[Reeve]

If someone is making a good living just sitting on the corner with a sign, why would they want to do something else?

You can too, why do you not?

I think the answer for most people is dignity, self respect, ambition.

[boyzma]

I do not give any of the panhandlers here money. If I see one with a dog that looks sad and I'm going to the store, I'll grab the dog something to eat and maybe the owner a pre-made sandwich.....but never money. The ones here are at the same corners day after day month after month...they make good money, but at the same time they are doing it to get their alcohol and drugs and I won't support that. They did an interview with one on the news and they admitted to living in a nice apartment and brought in on average 200-300 bucks a day. I agree with Reeve...these people have no dignity, ambition or self respect.

[Reeve]

I do not give any of the panhandlers here money. If I see one with a dog that looks sad and I'm going to the store, I'll grab the dog something to eat and maybe the owner a pre-made sandwich.....but never money. The ones here are at the same corners day after day month after month...they make good money, but at the same time they are doing it to get their alcohol and drugs and I won't support that. They did an interview with one on the news and they admitted to living in a nice apartment and brought in on average 200-300 bucks a day. I agree with Reeve...these people have no dignity, ambition or self respect.

To be fair, large numbers of them are also schizophrenic or have some other mental illness.

[zaphon]

I completely ignore them, as if they don't even exist. As the last thing I want to do is to encourage their behavior. I've had a few get in my face over the years because of this, but nothing a nice call to the police didn't fix (and in most cases I never saw them again, HAPPY DAYS).

[Deleted]

I ignore them, mainly for two reasons:
1) We have a very wide social safety net, where public assistance is readily available to people who need it. That includes psychiatric care. If people aren't willing to take the assistance offered to them via the taxes I pay, I don't see why I should give them cash instead.

2) The vast majority of panhandlers aren't from around here. In the last couple of years we've seen a steady rise in "imported" panhandlers, ie. mainly eastern europeans who come up for a couple of weeks, beg by day and sleep in the homeless shelters, and then go home having earned more than they would in a proper job at home.

[boyzma]

To be fair, large numbers of them are also schizophrenic or have some other mental illness.

This is true. I was down in your fair city a couple weeks ago...first visit and I was a bit "shocked" I guess. We came to an intersection where I thought city workers with orange vests were working...but I was wrong. I was told to roll up my window and lock the door...and a "worker" who ended up being a panhandler came up and began knocking on my window and made a grab at the mirror as we pulled away. I'm sure that is a minority there..at least I hope so.

[Belerophon]

There is a guy by my work we have called Dancin Dan since before I was in high school. He walks up and down the street with headphones on dancing his heart out. If people like it they roll down their car windows turn up their stereos and he gives them a solo for some cash. My wife works for a homeless shelter/food bank/clinic and there are so many assistance programs available. Problem is a lot of people don't want to participate in them as panhandling is easier.

[Twotonsteak]

I live near Philadelphia, PA. If I gave money to every panhandler I passed in Center City I'd be poorer than they are.

Normally I don't give money to them. If one seems truly in need (and not an obvious addict) I'll buy them a drink or some soft pretzels.

[Saxtorph]

Because it's so easy to find a job. I have a two Bachelor's degrees and I have been looking for work for well over a year.

Then you're being too selective. Or maybe you're just not a good candidate for unskilled labor. No matter what your rebuttal might be, your initial argument is lame.