These people get paid to do it. They work for somebody else.

I would take the money and run, not hand it over to somebody else who gets a cut then writes me a check.

Joe the panhandler?

That is a damned good idea - making them get a license.

There are a fair number of pro panhandlers in C-bus. I wonder if we do that too, and I never heard about it.

/help is on the way
//if you give some change today

Uakronkid: These people get paid to do it. They work for somebody else.

I would take the money and run, not hand it over to somebody else who gets a cut then writes me a check.

Thats the business model in India. Beggers have a union of sorts that they have to pay dues to...

Or so I've been told.

Sup? Spare some change brah?

TFA: I would require not only a high-traffic area but also a place where I could stand on the driver's side of the car. That's easy in England; not so easy here.

FAIL

Is that a full time job, or can I do it on the weekend and evenings to help make ends meet?

/from the midwest
//don't like pushy pan handlers
///am a complete asshole to them

gnobesav: TFA: I would require not only a high-traffic area but also a place where I could stand on the driver's side of the car. That's easy in England; not so easy here.

FAIL

In parts of Peru, during red lights, people run out to the middle of the road to sell bibles, fruit, and other stuff. Sometimes they just wait out in the middle of the road for traffic to stop too.

gnobesav: TFA: I would require not only a high-traffic area but also a place where I could stand on the driver's side of the car. That's easy in England; not so easy here.

FAIL

Epic fail actually, they drive on the other side of the street meaning the driver is on the inside still.

gnobesav: TFA: I would require not only a high-traffic area but also a place where I could stand on the driver's side of the car. That's easy in England; not so easy here.

FAIL

I came here to say that. Carry on.

Not that I hate discussing the subject, nor do I claim to be a true blue TF'er, in the fact that I would claim to read every article ever, but do we really need to green light this article every 3 weeks? Yes, it's not the same article, but it's the same subject, with the same story. Guy pretends to be poor, rakes in at least $15/hr of untaxed pay, someone follows him home to his 1-8 kids and wife and reports it as news. submit to Fark. Profit.

/all I really want is panhandler/hobo fights.

Hay .... Can you spare some loose change?
I can hear the farkin' loose change, DON'T TELL ME YOU DON'T HAVE ANY !!!
Hay man come back here, I just need a buck .....it's for baby food
Really!!!!!


Nice gun,....... you work out don't you?
I think i see a friend right over there. Have a nice day.

*sound of running foot steps*

TFA: I would require not only a high-traffic area but also a place where I could stand on the driver's side of the car. That's easy in England; not so easy here.

I'm trying to figure out whether that's a joke or not. Given the tone of the article, it's possible, but I don't know.

$40 k? They must not be motivated enough since the ones around here can do better than that.

Of course they're not 'registered' or anything fancy like that.

My favorite is the one who does the "Blind Veteran" routine. Either he's a fake or there's a dude in the suburbs where I live who looks *exactly* like him, who ain't blind and drives an accura.

/never gives him any money

ne2d: TFA: I would require not only a high-traffic area but also a place where I could stand on the driver's side of the car. That's easy in England; not so easy here.

I'm trying to figure out whether that's a joke or not. Given the tone of the article, it's possible, but I don't know.

not just that, but it's not like a lot of streets don't have medians and islands near stoplights anyway. It's not difficult at all to be on the driver's side.

"It's a known fact that a good ho can make up to $15,000 a week."

/"Be somebody! Be a ho!"

40K? Peanuts. There was a legendary panhandling midget in Dallas that wrote the book. He'd clear 2-3K A WEEK and blow it every weekend in Bossier City on the ponies and craps. I talked with him once...he was really cool, but busy ya know...every car meant money...

The stories and urban myths about panhandlers, bums and various other do*chebags making actual wages by being walking garbage need to stop. They don't make that type of money, they don;t take care of themselves with what they "earn." Stop perpetuating these stupid rumors that if you drop out of school and "just live your life" you'll make it. They hold people like Beck as their idols well their is one Beck for 10,000 bums that have their shopping carts, "MardiGras 88" hats and camo pants. Once again, stop trying to make a point that you can make a living off of being a scumbag.

LeChevalier: The stories and urban myths about panhandlers, bums and various other do*chebags making actual wages by being walking garbage need to stop. They don't make that type of money, they don;t take care of themselves with what they "earn." Stop perpetuating these stupid rumors that if you drop out of school and "just live your life" you'll make it. They hold people like Beck as their idols well their is one Beck for 10,000 bums that have their shopping carts, "MardiGras 88" hats and camo pants. Once again, stop trying to make a point that you can make a living off of being a scumbag.



Here ya go Debbie, thanks for squashing the dreams of so many who aspire to greater heights...

My wife and I were just talking about this, since I found out today that Big Blue (IBM) is cutting my job, effective next friday.

tiezane: My wife and I were just talking about this, since I found out today that Big Blue (IBM) is cutting my job, effective next friday.

Dude! Man, my heart truly goes out. Been there....23 years with TI and all of a sudden, my job is not needed. Bastages....Keeping a good thought for you...

Funny thing is I bet even panhandlers are affected by a recession. I bet their recession rates drop 'em down to 25K a year. Still beats a McJob.

Approves.

Lt. Cheese Weasel: Here ya go Debbie, thanks for squashing the dreams of so many who aspire to greater heights...

Well, you know, it gets aggravating especially when you hear these morons telling everyone things like this at gettogethers and saying it like they "know it to be true." "Oh, I know a guy..." No, you don't so stop saying it, it's not true. The same bums I see everyday are not pulling in 40 grand. It just can't be possible that they are earning that type of money from sitting on a curb with a hat or bothering people walking out of Costco.

tiezane
My wife and I were just talking about this, since I found out today that Big Blue (IBM) is cutting my job, effective next friday.

Spend $100 on a really good sleeping bag, go for compactability and water resistance. The most reliable food dumpsters are behind pizza places (avoid meat) and bread bakeries. Shoplifting is almost foolproof if you're not greedy and you buy something as a decoy. Don't go to your sleeping spot until after dark and make sure you wake up before dawn.

Or, use your status as an educated white-collar professional American to get a new job where you're underemployed but still richer than 90% of people in the world.

Best panhandler sign:

"Bet you $1 you'll read my sign."

HeY Buddy, MY daughter's IN A ambulance In Georgia, CAN i get thIRTY five CENts for some WINGS??

/damn, outsmarted again

LeChevalier: Lt. Cheese Weasel: Here ya go Debbie, thanks for squashing the dreams of so many who aspire to greater heights...

Well, you know, it gets aggravating especially when you hear these morons telling everyone things like this at gettogethers and saying it like they "know it to be true." "Oh, I know a guy..." No, you don't so stop saying it, it's not true. The same bums I see everyday are not pulling in 40 grand. It just can't be possible that they are earning that type of money from sitting on a curb with a hat or bothering people walking out of Costco.

Your sarcasm meter, fix it.

Gee, and I busted my ass for 34 years to become a journeyman in my field and all I needed to do to be a "professional" is fill out some forms, put a tag on my clothing and mooch money.

When I was backpacking across the country back in 1992, I got to LA and while I was waiting for my friend to pick me up from the train station, some guy walks out of a restaurant and hands me 3 dollars. I took it of course but I barely managed to keep from laughing in his face.

I had one approach me a few years back in a supermarket parking lot. He needed money to buy gas so he could get home. I gave him a couple of bucks, and he didn't go away. He just stood there, waiting. I gave him a kind of questioning look, and he said, "Don't I get a hug?"

Another apocryphal fairy tale like the one about homeless people on skid row - who are there because it's easy and they like it.

I blew this one out of the water in a department meeting where some idiot, who saw me give a money to a woman with kids, at a stoplight, told everybody how funny it was that I didn't realize I had been scammed. The time was in Winter, near Christmas.

I had just received a crisp new $100.00 dollar bill - a reward for saving a months worth of work with a simple backup procedure no one thought was needed.

I pulled the bill out and held it up; I said "this goes to any person at this table who will go down to skid row (Broadway, in San Diego) and spend the night there."

You can take one small bottle of water and a blanket; you will wear the clothes I give you. You can't go to a shelter and you take no money! Panhandle if you like - if it's so easy.

I'll be coming by to check on you - it will be worth it to see how long you stay.

Suddenly all eyes in red faces, were looking elsewhere - anywhere - and there were no takers.

Try it yourselves folks; it's easy money right?

I was a virtual beggar for 10 years in Ultima Online, so I'm getting a virtual kick out of these replies.

Also my first greenlight. Apologies to those who've seen the article type a billion times, it was the permit angle that caught my attention.

Eugene in San Diego: You can't go to a shelter

Why not? Also, can I try to get a job while I'm there?

wildcardjack: Approves.

"MILLENNIUM HAND AND SHRIMP!"

In Bloomington, IN, I saw a man holding one of the generic signs while his SO was at the side of their road sitting on their luggage.

Their 6-piece matching luggage...

/I don't think they did too well that day...

dkk37: gnobesav: TFA: I would require not only a high-traffic area but also a place where I could stand on the driver's side of the car. That's easy in England; not so easy here.

FAIL

Epic fail actually, they drive on the other side of the street meaning the driver is on the inside still.

I guess they don't have one way streets where you're from(or in England as you pointed out).

This guy could have at least tried to look like a panhandler. He was planning on giving the money to charity, he could have at least really TRIED to raise money. What a douche.

Thank you for that inspiring story Eugene in San Diego! You certainly are someone to look up to! Know what would be even more edgy? If you gave away all your belongings to the poor! After all, you don't really need all those luxuries, you can easily exist with 3 hots and a cot! Give the rest away or you are an unfeeling monster.

If/when begging pays more than a full-time job, doesn't that tell you something about the state of wages in this country?

Ultraviolet Catastrophe: gnobesav: TFA: I would require not only a high-traffic area but also a place where I could stand on the driver's side of the car. That's easy in England; not so easy here.

FAIL

I came here to say that. Carry on.

Author is a farker. He's got to be.

I think it was a troll worthy of Danlpoon's wit. You guys were an easy haul.

You need a permit to beg for money, do you also need a permit to be homeless, how about destitute, or demoralized?

I find joy in waving bills then rolling up the window at the last minute. farkin rodents.

can i do it from my cubicle while farking?

There is a panhandler who lives over in my gfs neighborhood. Houses are about 150k there, which is slightly over mean for the state.

I could do it easily except

1. I would suck at it.
2. BORING!!! good god how old it would get

Kenny B: Best sob story. Brownsville ,TX. A Mexican guy at the hotel was carrying a broken fanbelt. He said his truck was broke down & needed a new fan belt to get where he was going but couldn't afford a new one. I gave him $5.
Later in the week I saw the same guy wandering around with the same broken fanbelt in his hand.
The guy was good.


if you offer to buy them an actual fanbelt and they scoff, they're fake. if you offer to call non-emergency service or a tow truck and they scoff, they're fake.

don't let them get in your car. that includes the females.

there are some panhandlers that really need the money, but too many of them are con-artists and/or drug addicts.

I only give money to homeless people willing to put on a show...play a 3 string guitar really badly...rap without rhyming...using a long cardboard wrapping paper tube as a didgeridoo...or if your story about how you need to get back to your car that is broke down is particularly interesting.