TV's Vinnie: If you were homeless, and some teenagers offered you some food (and you have NO idea what they might have put in it), would YOU accept it?

I don't know where you got teenager. And the food I offer is sealed, sometimes just handed to me by marketing people standing outside the train station.

I did offer a guy an apple on the train once, said he hadn't eaten in three days. He declined, said he couldn't eat it because he had braces.

I know a trio of pan-handlers (through two degrees of separation) that work shifts on the same off-ramp and live seasonally in a make-shift camp in the woods behind a strip-mall.

They each work long enough to get a meal off the value menu at a nearby Burger King, buy a case of beer and a pack of smokes.

Lay offs and divorce seem to be the common denominator.

FarkinHostile: Fu(k panhandlers.

There, I said it.

That must have been difficult for you. Glad to see you're really pushing yourself these days.

You're doing it wrong.

shanteyman: So it's fine for him to take advantage of people's kindness because of his laziness?

What's so lazy about what he is doing ? He's an entreprenuer. He's using his FSM-given talents to the best of his ability to provide for himself. He's no different than the guy standing on the corner in the chicken suit pitching the local franchise. It's just that he looks like a bum instead of a "productive member of society".

If want to help the destitute and the poor give to your local charities , not to guys standing on the corner with signs in their hands.

When someone asks me for money so they can get something to eat I usually offer them something to eat like a breakfast bar, they usually don't want it.

I once had a guy turn down a crabcake sandwich when I offered it to him. Now, it's true it was from Philips Harborplace, but still ...

I would - except all the people running the charities earn more than I do. That doesn't seem like charity.

Some time way back I was pulling up to a red light when I noticed a young man standing off to the side of the road. It was lightly raining and he was wearing a hoodie while holding up a cardboard sign with something written on it. Behind him was a duffel bag full of what looked like drum sticks and an electric keyboard. As I got close enough to actually read the sign it said "Smile." When he noticed me looking he threw on a huge grin, pointed at his sign then started to do a jig.

/csb

The three words that tell me I'm about to be scammed:
"Excuse me, sir?"
Last week a guy at a gas station asked if I could help him fill up his tank. I always say I don't have cash in these situations. He then says he just needs gas. He came to Austin from Houston for a court date but doesn't have enough gas to get back home. I say I can't give him $40 worth of gas for him to get home. He said he needs just a little bit to get down the road. I ask him if he plans on doing this all the way back to Houston.
Here's the deal. A con man will con because that's what he does. It's a game. It's a way of life. Why pay for gas when you can get a mark to pay for you? Why get a job when you can sit on your ass and make $12/hour, untaxed?

FarkinHostile: [img.photobucket.com image 521x294]

I support that same view when dealing with politicians.

SpaceBison: 60 grand buys a lot of booze.

Not enough ....trust ME

Folks need to google "Shaky Lady Toronto" to find out about a real professional panhandler. One reporter estimated she was bringing in $2500 a week with her performance.

offmymeds: Brick-House: [4.bp.blogspot.com image 336x400]

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Im senseing a theme here.

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Slightly OT, but the homeless begging WITH THEIR DOG really bother me. If I were headed for homelessness myself, I would at least try to find someone else to take care of it.

/ doesn't help my mood that with my full-time work & current living situation (eg. apt w/ no yard), owning a dog wouldn't work out well

Reminds me of the old story regarding the guy in NY with a 'regular' white collar job who would panhandle on the side for additional income.

The officer told Speegle without a permit and an insurance policy he could not panhandle and gave him a warning to leave, but 20 minutes later the officer reported again seeing Speegle panhandle in the same spot.

Can't even beg without the government and insurance industry trying to get its cut.

(new window)

BronyMedic: And, in essence, this is what it's all about.

You don't give a shiat about the person you gave that dollar to. You just want to feel good about doing it.

That's kind of what everything is, when you really break it down. Everyone gets some sort of reward for everything they do, and that is why they do it. That said, some people get an emotional reward for helping someone out. Some people get an emotional reward for abusing others.

As far as panhandling, I've known a few panhandlers who were just your normal, drug-addicted homeless guys. I'm sure there are scammers out there, but the perception that panhandler = wealthy scammer is pretty ridiculous. The guys I knew wanted to be able to pay for their bad habits, afford a locker at a rec center, and have some extra to grab food when they couldn't find/beg stuff to eat for free.

I'm not saying they're stellar people who you should be giving your money to. I definitely weigh towards the 'support programs that support people' side of things. But don't confuse these occasional (and in this case, totally unconfirmed) claims with actual homelessness.

I've seen an elderly lady panhandle. She has a place,so I guess it supplements a limited income and gives her something to do.

trackerbri: Folks need to google "Shaky Lady Toronto" to find out about a real professional panhandler. One reporter estimated she was bringing in $2500 a week with her performance.

Came here to make sure the Shaky Lady angle was covered. She was a study in deception, that one.

Call Fox. I bet he has a refrigerator.

I don't know about 60k - but I'm 100% sure I could earn more money as a bum than I could working a minimum wage job at McDonalds.

I don't mean any offence when I say this - but I'm honestly amazed at people who bust their asses at low paying 'dead-end' type jobs. I was lucky in that I was born into an middle class family and got pushed into going to college and picked a well paying major and got a decent job. I don't work hard, I sit at my desk, type a bit, and earn more than this panhandler claims to earn - and I get health benefits and stuff.

Granted, I probably live more cheaply than I need to - so maybe I have the lifestyle of the typical guy earning 50k? I don't know.

But even still - I feel like I'm only *this tiny bit* better off than people I know who have made it their goal in life to take advantage of every social program they can. I honestly feel like you'd be a fool to work hard for a minimum wage (or near minimum wage job) in the United States any more.

This topic is one of my favorite litmus tests. If you are emotionally invested in begrudging farking beggars the money given to them by other people then it's time to adjust your priorities.

Nutsac_Jim: Gunny Walker: Fark Rye For Many Whores: Gunny Walker: FTFA:The officer told Speegle without a permit and an insurance policy he could not panhanle...

Forcing to buy insurance? So, most Oklahomans are okay with panhandlercare but not Obamacare?

I took this to mean "panhandling insurance" which I have to admit doesn't confuse me any less.

But isn't the beef with Obamacare the forced purchase of insurance? Why is Panhandlercare's forced purchase of insurance any different?


Because you can choose to panhandle or not. Obamacare is a tax on life.

Muahaha.. you thought they were kidding when they said they wont stop until they can tax the air you breathe.

Soooooometimes
All I need is the nutsac that Jim wears
And to looooooove
You

Panhandlers are not "the homeless".
Two different groups with some overlap

thesloppy: This topic is one of my favorite litmus tests. If you are emotionally invested in begrudging farking beggars the money given to them by other people then it's time to adjust your priorities.

The important thing, though, is that you've managed to find a way to feel superior to both of them.

Whenever I am in NYC, the festering pustule that it is, I tend to buy fruit and snacks as i walk around. Usually I will offer the remainder of the berries, an apple or some kind of packaged snack to them when they ask for money. I have only been refused once, but I can't really blame a guy who doesn't want some mysterious strawberries from a stranger. I don't mind sharing what people need that i can afford to give.

On the other hand, I have known kids that traveled around the country panhandling and following festivals. These kids lived richly on panhandling, and would plan specific stops and towns to panhandle in. CSB: One of them calling himself Driftwood (I'm not making that up) had pants made entirely of crown royal bags, and he and his swarthy band would often end up in some small rural town where they would hold signs like "give change and we will leave." He said they just stop in different towns each loop around the country, and that is why they smoked way better weed than I did.

TuteTibiImperes: I'm guessing the permit and insurance aren't for panhandling per se, but for some sort of general street vendor's license. If you set up a kiosk selling whatever in public you generally have to have liability insurance.

The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to get free health insurance, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread.

I average a thousand a week working under 20 hours. I am trying to devote another 20-30 hours a week to improving myself and developing other non-work sources of income.

I'm too lazy to panhandle.

Whats the difference between panhandling and Super-PAC fundraising?



Not a farking thing.

Let me see if I have this right. Forcing people to prove their citizenship with a an ID card that will cost 20 bucks at the most is minorities and poor peolpe and yet forcing someone to get a 200 dollar license and insurance to beg for money doesn't discriminate against minorities and poor peolple. So if the guy keeps doing it, they keep putting him in jail which will cost the tax payers more money. Gee, and everyone wants non-violent offenders such as drug dealers released from prison but, by golly, not them there a panhanly types.

In my area of North Carolina (Triangle) some of these beggars who stand at intersections make $300 on average a day. There was recent local news coverage that documented this,... including video clips of a 'beggar' driving off in a nice high-end new SUV at the end of their day.

If you do the math - $300 per day at 5 days per week at 50 weeks per year = $75,000 tax free. The panhandler in the article is an underperformer.

DrewCurtisJr: TV's Vinnie: If you were homeless, and some teenagers offered you some food (and you have NO idea what they might have put in it), would YOU accept it?

I don't know where you got teenager. And the food I offer is sealed, sometimes just handed to me by marketing people standing outside the train station.

I did offer a guy an apple on the train once, said he hadn't eaten in three days. He declined, said he couldn't eat it because he had braces.

The point is would you still take food from total strangers? There are some seriously evil people out there, and a lot of people seem to think it's OK to do things TO homeless people.

/Bet your offered apple had a razor blade in it

I always specify that when I give money to panhandlers that they should use it to get high. It's funny that even the most cracked out looking individuals say that they won't. And also have often refused food. That's only like, 50% of the time tho.

/I know sometime I get high with a little help from my friends...

shivashakti: If you can help, please do so.

I do. I donate to the local shelter. Handing out money directly is enabling someone's dysfunction.

Thorak: thesloppy: This topic is one of my favorite litmus tests. If you are emotionally invested in begrudging farking beggars the money given to them by other people then it's time to adjust your priorities.

The important thing, though, is that you've managed to find a way to feel superior to both of them.

I like to think it's more about not spending my limited time and energy being envious and suspicious of people begging in the street, rather than being superior, but your mileage may certainly vary and I'm sure there is some level of judgment involved.

What does panhandling insurance cover, and where would you even get it? As an insurance company, would you give coverage to someone so impaired that they're begging on the street?

I was able to get about $40-$50/hr by dressing nicely (suit and tie), and sitting on a busy sidewalk in San Diego with a sign, "Have job, have apartment, I just want more money." It was amazing how many people didn't seem to even see me or the sign, just the cup, and throw in cash. (Most of it was from people who were laughing, so I have no idea if that inflated my totals.)

I didn't do it much, just was curious if it would work. And it worked pretty damn well.

Then there's the sticker lady. She commutes from Hamilton to Toronto in a VW Jetta TDI, then sits outside the Eaton Centre giving people stickers and taking 'donations'. She lives in a three storey house in Hamilton apparently. Well, she did. I don't get downtown much anymore so I'm not sure if she's still running her business. Her husband was the leader of the Hare Krishnas in Toronto and she actually has a registered business that all the panhandling proceeds get declared under for tax purposes.

Forbidden Doughnut: offmymeds: Brick-House: [4.bp.blogspot.com image 336x400]

[timthethief.com image 500x666]

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Im senseing a theme here.

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Slightly OT, but the homeless begging WITH THEIR DOG really bother me. If I were headed for homelessness myself, I would at least try to find someone else to take care of it.

/ doesn't help my mood that with my full-time work & current living situation (eg. apt w/ no yard), owning a dog wouldn't work out well

THIS.

Good to see someone is on their toes.

Let me say that there is a big difference between some "professional" beggars (scammers that make great money & don't waste it all) that stand at high traffic intersections, and the begging bums found wandering in downtown districts (mainly alcohol & drug abusers that blow every dime they collect - and don't make much).

My favorite beggar story comes from my time working as a software contractor in Marietta, Georgia. The work site was near a a McDonalds and a homeless shelter. Many days I walked to the McDonalds and many homeless would beg you for money on the way. One evening, a guy (who obviously had some abuse problems) came up to me begging on the way to McDonalds. He was very persistent but I was not about to give him cash and I told him if he came to McDees with me I would buy him a meal (He claimed he was so hungry). At McDonalds I bought him the meal, he grabbed it and ran out the door at full speed with it. I'm like what the heck. I got my meal & went out to see where he went. He was out on the corner trying to trade the meal to other junkies for drugs.

So much for direct charity....

To his credit, he does look like a sad story worth telling. Maybe he should try his luck with motivational speaking... or maybe as an TV evangelist?

Submitted First With a Better Headline: BronyMedic: And, in essence, this is what it's all about.

You don't give a shiat about the person you gave that dollar to. You just want to feel good about doing it.

That's kind of what everything is, when you really break it down. Everyone gets some sort of reward for everything they do, and that is why they do it. That said, some people get an emotional reward for helping someone out. Some people get an emotional reward for abusing others.

As far as panhandling, I've known a few panhandlers who were just your normal, drug-addicted homeless guys. I'm sure there are scammers out there, but the perception that panhandler = wealthy scammer is pretty ridiculous. The guys I knew wanted to be able to pay for their bad habits, afford a locker at a rec center, and have some extra to grab food when they couldn't find/beg stuff to eat for free.

I'm not saying they're stellar people who you should be giving your money to. I definitely weigh towards the 'support programs that support people' side of things. But don't confuse these occasional (and in this case, totally unconfirmed) claims with actual homelessness.

I'm not really trying to do that, and if I came off as that way, I'm sorry. Panhandlers are usually not homeless. A few truly are, but what you are really looking at here - especially in major tourist cities - are organized groups of scam artists. Atlanta, in particular, is a great example of this. Went to a conference there, and was actually approached by someone who showed me 'release papers' and demanded to take me on a tour of the city for money, 'or else'. He followed us for two blocks after I told him to fark off. This crap was so bad in Memphis that the city actually enacted laws against panhandling.

gadian: Supes: All I ever give panhandlers is the occasional granola bar when they say they're hungry and need to buy food. It's healthy, wrapped, clean food. And you'd be surprised how often that is rejected.

Because that is not at all condescending. Here, take this skinny little granola bar that won't do anything to fill your stomach because I don't trust you with money.

What's condescending about giving somebody food when they're standing there with a sign telling you how hungry they are?

TV's Vinnie: The point is would you still take food from total strangers? There are some seriously evil people out there, and a lot of people seem to think it's OK to do things TO homeless people.


If it was truly starving of course I would, especially if it was sealed. How is this different than getting food from a food pantry, people could donate tampered food. But since food tampering is extremely rare if I was homeless and hungry the extremely rare chance of someone giving me some tampered food would be one of the the last things I'd worry about.


/Bet your offered apple had a razor blade in it

It's called fortified with iron.

Brick-House: [4.bp.blogspot.com image 336x400]

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Im senseing a theme here.

That your political views are dictated by the signs of the somewhat destitute?

Gunny Walker: Fark Rye For Many Whores: Gunny Walker: FTFA:The officer told Speegle without a permit and an insurance policy he could not panhanle...

Forcing to buy insurance? So, most Oklahomans are okay with panhandlercare but not Obamacare?

I took this to mean "panhandling insurance" which I have to admit doesn't confuse me any less.

But isn't the beef with Obamacare the forced purchase of insurance? Why is Panhandlercare's forced purchase of insurance any different?

Are we talking a form of liability insurance? Because there's a huge difference between healthcare coverage and liability insurance. Much like the difference between required insurance for a vehicle mandated by the state and healthcare coverage. The vehicle insurance in most states is limited to liability only, ya know. In case you're at fault when you hit someone.

Panhandlers are the scum of the Earth. They fall into two majority categories. There are the panhandlers who use panhandling as a way of financing their drug and alcohol problems. And then there are the panhandlers who simply don't want to work and would rather stand near an intersection in some ratty clothes and collect handouts. I've heard people say that some of them are actually hard working people that are down on their luck but they are a very, very, very small minority.

The problems they cause are numerous: 1) They make the entire neighborhood or the business they panhandle in front of look like total shiat. Nobody wants to leave Starbucks with their Americano and blueberry scone and see some toothless crackhead with a sign picking scabs off of his head. 2) They abuse drugs and leave the refuse laying around wherever they want. Finding a bloody syringe on your property is less than exciting. 3) They make and leave a mess everywhere they go. Examples include littering, trampling landscaping, defecating on private property, lighting unsafe fires etc. 4) Many of them are petty criminals. They have no qualms about stealing anything not locked down such as: propane tanks for barbecues, trailer hitches off of trucks, hood ornaments off of cars, anything in a vehicle toolbox etc. 5) They abuse any and all public restrooms to the point that many business stop offering them. Ever had to use the restroom and had some bum camping in the stall or washing hobo juice out of his hair in the sink? And the list goes on...

It kills me that anybody in their right mind would give these leeches money or food. Giving them money is tantamount to buying them crack. Giving them food is enabling them to spend their food money on crack, or allowing them to skip walking across town to get their free meal by misguided volunteers who don't realize they are simply enabling drug abuse and vagrancy - so they have more time to panhandle for money to buy crack or heroid.

Don't give panhandlers money or food. Think about it. You aren't helping anybody. In fact, your doing quite the opposite.

indarwinsshadow: Remind me of the story "Blind Willie" in Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King.

This is what I came here to say.

In short, the story details a guy who goes to "work" in NYC. But what he really does is goes to an office he rents, and goes in to the ceiling and grabs all this stuff so he can change into what appears to be a blinded Vietnam War vet. He then proceeds to collect a ridiculous amount of money every day.

He then takes his little chest (where the change is always in a hidden compartment) to a charity, where he gives them all the change. He takes the bills for himself.

All the while, he gets so wrapped up in his character that he really does go blind for the duration.

For the record I'm a huge King fan. And that was a great story.