If a homeless person begs you for change, what do you do?

[Deleted]

I don't carry money.

[Zannis]

I live in New York City, and I can run into anywhere from 1 to 5 homeless people on any given subway ride. Sometimes, I'll give any loose change I have, or a single at most if I have any, but most times, I ignore them and carry on. Too many to give to each without strapping myself. I don't have a lot of money.

[Independent voter]

I usually give them a dollar. I know most use it to buy alcohol or drugs but just in case they are hungry or need bus fare or something.

[Low Hanging Fruit]

Rarely carry cash these days. This probably makes the slipping coins into the cup game a lot harder these days.

[Puupi]

I just say "no" and keep walking. Like I did yesterday, twice... damn you Romanian beggers...

[nathaliecorz30]

Only few with kindhearted are here on earth..just sayin

[Deleted]

No change from me. We have a very comprehensive welfare network, and if they don't want to get involved with the municipality (for whatever reason), there's a program where homeless sells a news magazine with focus on homeless issues, and for every copy the homeless sells, he/she gets to keep a portion of the money. I support the latter two (via taxes and buying the magazine) as opposed to just giving them money straight up.

[Yunru]

Didnt we have this tread already not so long ago? Spike tread if i remember right. And also one with becoming homeless.

[ParanoiD84]

We have so many in sweden, sometimes i give them a ciggarette or a coin. There is also alot off fake beggars and you dont want to give them shit.

[Independent voter]

Rarely carry cash these days. This probably makes the slipping coins into the cup game a lot harder these days.

We need homeless card swipers! Visa, MasterCard or American Express?

[drwelfare]

Last one I just told "Nope" and walked off

[Deleted]

I live in a highly socialistic country with huge welfare system, we don't have poor people... Okay, with that stupid joke out of the way, I usually don't have change (I use credit card almost exclusively) so I will tell him or her that I don't have any. If I do, in some rare occasion, have spare change I tend to give them some.

[Shiny212]

Ignore them. Beggars in my country are usually immigrants doing it because it earns good money, you can see them playing with their phones and drinking coffee while sitting on the sidewalk trying to find some gullible fool to take pity on them. Begging shouldn't be a "job".

[Yunru]

I don't give money to beggers.

Thing is these guys aren't by themselves. Beggers have pimps just like hookers, who take most of the money they receive. So by giving money to beggers, you are actually giving money to the pimps who really don't need money to survive.

Those are gypsy beggars. Normal beggars spend everything on drugs and alcohol.


Those type are worse....

[Uriel]

In Hamburg it is best to ignor them, even moreso if they seem slawic. That's because there is a Mafia here who imports crippled people to beg for money, but their masters collect the money from them. It's like prostitution, but in a more mean way. If you give them any money you just support their oppressors.

There are also many imposters who aren't homeless or injured at all.

I only give money if I want it, not because I've been ask for. And I only give the money to people who seem like they won't waste that money on any alcohol.

EDIT: Yeah like those guys in the video above

[rinleezwins]

If someone approaches me like that and simply asks for change, I say I have none and walk away. However, I value honesty and if a homeless man approaches me saying he is 50 cents short for a bottle of wine, I will help him out if I am not currently broke.

Most homeless men are most likely going to spend what they gather on alcohol, so I'd just rather help the honest one.

[Revi]

Depends entirely on the beggar. I never give to the hoards of Romani beggars that come here, but if it's a local person who doesn't show signs of drug/alcohol addiction I'd give what I can afford.

[Triginhil]

If they have some sort of handicap i'll offer to buy them food, water/soda. if they look perfectly capable of getting a job I just tell them I don't have any cash on me.

[Deleted]

Dude asked me if i could give him a pound for a cup of tea, he seemed half frozen to death so i said yeah, fuck it.

I hope he did buy that tea, and not a hit of drugs.

[La]

I don't mind giving a homeless person a bit of money, I do, however, enjoy telling panhandlers to go fuck themselves.

And wow, I didn't realize how 'corrupt' beggars and homeless people can be. I see guys going around collecting bottles and doing certain stuff that I'm pretty sure they're an actual homeless person. Maybe it's just where I live, but I never just see one on the side of the street for all to see begging for money and is a pimp beggar. Then again, I don't know if I'd be able to tell, but I'd imagine I'd notice a difference. I usually see certain ones around anyway.

Maybe even the homeless in Canada are too nice.