He said (paraphrasing), "Hey man, spare some change?" I said "sure" and gave him some change and he said "thanks man". I nodded
and walked away in the opposite direction of where he was walking. Then I heard over my shoulder, "Hey man, spare some change?" to another person and
I smiled.
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 cromulent357 |
I gave some change to a homeless guy today |
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Posts: 1759 05-18-07 10:40 AM Test Forum Mod |
Last Edited By: Kiaora 05-26-07 3:57 AM.
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Federiko EQ |
#1 | ||||
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Posts: 3251 05-18-07 10:52 AM You can never have too |
Standard.
Handing them a beer on your way back from the liquor store also gets positive results. |
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 Soygen |
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Posts: 7065 05-18-07 12:56 PM 100% Soybean |
They panhandle in the drivethrough lines at the food joints near my work. I tell them I have no money and then procede to order a delicious meal through the
telecom.
I'm not givin' you attitude. I just want another drink.
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Afmo |
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Posts: 2305 05-18-07 1:17 PM
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i needed change for the parking meter one day, and the store i was at wouldnt give change without a purchase, so i bought the 3 homeless guys out front
snickers bars. It was like christmas for em...
I don't ever give them money, but i'll give em a bag of chips or a soda or something if i'm goin in the store anyways. 
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Sepa |
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Posts: 898 05-18-07 2:49 PM While I was breastfeeding |
So in the weeks leading up to our move from Philly to DC we were spending alot of time on 95 driving between the two for house hunting and such.
During one of many trips we stopped at the rest stop just north of baltimore (the one that is just a bathroom building and some vending machines). Before we even got out of the car a guy stepped up to the drivers window (I was driving) and started motioning to Mike (in the passenger seat.) So I roll down the window and he says, "Excuse me, I noticed the 'high and tight' and wondered if you are in the Military." Mike says yes and the guy starts explaining this story about how he's in the Army and was on leave and his wallet was stolen (at the reststop?) and he's trying to get back to base and could we spare some change. Mike asked him something akin to a verbal gang handshake to satisfy the military claim and proceeds to give the guy some money. The guy walked away and headed towards another car to ask for more money. We didn't sweat it much but it just felt weird. Fast forward two months. We are headed from DC to south Jersey to visit family and we stop at Maryland house. As we pull into a parking spot we see a guy talking to some folks in a car parked just ahead of us. Sure enough, its the same guy. He looks at us, see's Mike and heads our way. Mike rolls the window down and the guy asks Mike if he's in the Military. Mike says, "Yeah and you asked us for money a few weeks ago at another rest stop." The guy starts backing away and says, "I was just going to ask for change for a $20." And he bails. I'm pretty much an easy target for folks that beg for money but I don't think I've ever witnessed anything like this. This guy was clean cut, clearly ex-military (though perhaps didn't seperate honorably?) and very able. I've always heard the stories of folks that choose to be homeless or the ones that choose to pan handle but this totally shocked me. 
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Soygen |
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Posts: 7065 05-18-07 3:06 PM 100% Soybean |
That guy is probably banking.
I'm not givin' you attitude. I just want another drink.
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vizco |
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Posts: 2950 05-18-07 3:18 PM Raid Peon |
Aside from the military part, which is kind of depressing regardless of how it came about, the fairly-clean-cut guy with a sob story is a pretty common begging
method.
One guy I saw often in Cambridge years ago said his car had broken down and he needed bus fare to get back to NH; he always had his little daughter with him for added *sob* factor.  Harmony of Souls : My Quiver All this science I don't understand; it's just my job five days a week. |
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Skrambold |
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Posts: 6 05-18-07 3:25 PM |
Not all bumbs are hurtin for money.
I used to work for Walgreens, and I cannot tell you how many times i've seen the local(and transient) bumbs pull out a stack, often more...then go outside and beg customers until we kicked them off our property. Also, a friend of one of my friends once fell on hard times, got involved in street life..etc..etc...and ended up bumbing on the Interstate Exits. Thankfully he got his shit together, but he did average ~$8-9/hr@ his bumbjob The longer and more intricate their story, the more full of crap they are. I usually just give them a cigarette... |
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Federiko EQ |
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Posts: 3251 05-18-07 3:27 PM You can never have too |
I was leaving a restaurant in the city when a skinny old guy walked up and asked for some money. I honestly didn't have cash on me so I said
'sorry' and started walking. He pleads and tells me he hasn't eaten in 2 days.
I feel bad because I'm a gigantic pussy so I hand him my girlfriend at the time's leftover chicken francaise that I was carrying to which he replies 'Is this chicken? Because I don't eat meat." ....
Last Edited By: Federiko EQ 05-18-07 3:31 PM.
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Soygen |
#9 | ||||
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Posts: 7065 05-18-07 3:43 PM 100% Soybean |
/\ Haha. You should have told him, "You might want to try eating meat...oh yeah...and getting a job too."
I'm not givin' you attitude. I just want another drink.
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Trike |
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Posts: 17595 05-18-07 5:23 PM
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i gave a bum money who said "hey do you have any change so i can buy a 40?" at least he was honest.
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Feydakin Rainsong |
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Posts: 5098 05-18-07 8:40 PM Wholly Shi'ite |
Soygen wrote: Yeah, there didn't happen to be a Ferrari in another part of that rest stop parking lot, did there?
There are some who call me... Tim.
I'm just saying that somewhere between Jesus dying on the Cross and a giant bunny hiding eggs there seems to be a gap of information. - Stan Marsh 
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sora55 |
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Posts: 1153 05-18-07 10:25 PM Froga wake up at |
lol this topic makes me remember the South Park episode with all the homeless guys
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Petoffen |
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Posts: 243 05-18-07 11:06 PM |
I wonder how much of the knee-jerk reaction I see from some to the poor to claim 'they're better off than you think' is just a warped psychological
defense, rather than having to make the effort to think about what can be done to help them, or to deal with the suffering.
Helping the poor is good. Doing it sensibly is good; complaining about the way to help is not an excuse not to help, though. Many years ago, I coined the name for an anti-poverty program of "Enablement". The idea is to invest a lot more in the poor to get them productive, substance abuse treatment/clothing/housing/training/job placement/etc., in a program that ends up being win-win on a net basis. Hopefully, eventually a political leader will adopt those policies, and a long-term reduction in poverty can happen.
Arch Mage, Master of Elements, Collector of Robes
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Grimand |
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Posts: 551 05-18-07 11:09 PM |
I actually made a vow that I will give all the money I have on me to a person in need if I see them. The shameful side effect has been that I rarely ever carry
cash anymore, heh. A few 'bums' have hit the jackpot though.
Newly arrived...hideously gnawed
The Budge-Nuzzard Nuzzardous Podcast RSS feed for the iTunes challenged |
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Soygen |
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Posts: 7065 05-19-07 2:22 AM 100% Soybean |
Feydakin Rainsong wrote: I'm guessing you're being sarcastic(I know...that's like saying "I'm guessing you like to suck dick"), but seriously. You sit and
beg like a piece of useless dogshit at a highway rest-stop all day. I bet you make a shitload of money, all thing considered.
I'm not givin' you attitude. I just want another drink.
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Trike |
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Posts: 17595 05-19-07 2:53 AM
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Petoffen wrote: Fuck that. There are plenty of labor ready places these lazy ass people can go to. People who are panhandling are mostly scammers who know they can get money out of people like you. There is a difference between people truely in poverty and these pieces of shit who hold up a sign saying something that probably isn't even true. Panhandling needs to be made illegal. I think we should trade our bums for illegal aliens from Mexico. At least they are willing to work for a living.
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Likezoz Tittays |
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Posts: 284 05-19-07 7:36 AM Community Member |
If I saw this I'd sign this dude up for Karate for life. On a side note, I saw a bum one time holding a sign that said need money for food. I went across the street and bought him a Big Mac, and the asshole refused and said he really wanted beer money, so I stood there and made him watch me eat the Big Mac. Likezoz
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Morkenlar |
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Posts: 1882 05-19-07 10:37 AM |
Helping the poor is good.Just giving them stuff isn't necesarily helping, though. I remember my dad hired a guy that came to the church begging for help with his situation. The guy never showed up at the job site. Musta been busy off scamming another church.
Mork
"A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul" |
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Grimand |
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Posts: 551 05-19-07 4:21 PM |
There's a documentary called Dark Days that is an astounding story of the 'homeless' living in the subway tunnels of NYC. Nearly as amazing as the
movie itself is how it was made. The film-maker really never intended to make a film, he was just befriending the people, getting to know them, taking pictures
etc, and eventually realized after living with them for months that he needed to put it on film. The crew for the movie is actually the homeless people that he
paid to help out. It's a fascinating film.
Newly arrived...hideously gnawed
The Budge-Nuzzard Nuzzardous Podcast RSS feed for the iTunes challenged |
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Federiko EQ |
#20 | ||||
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Posts: 3251 05-19-07 6:44 PM You can never have too |
Grimand wrote: Great great documentary.
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Urlithani |
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Posts: 368 05-19-07 6:59 PM |
I don't give money to the homeless anymore since the time the homeless guy in front of me at Dunkin Donuts pulled out a wad of cash bigger than a weeks pay
BEFORE taxes.
I also don't because they're usually lying. They ask for money to buy food. If you go buy them food, they don't want it. I did buckle once and I was glad I did. I was asked for money to buy food walking out of Pollo Tropical. I told him I don't have any cash but if he's hungry he can have my meal. He thanked me and finished half of it before I made it back to the car. |
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Ozymaendaiaez |
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Posts: 17 05-19-07 9:27 PM |
Oh crap. I see a guy toting around that "ninjas killed my father" sign almost every day... He hangs out in downtown Seattle in the Denny / Fairview
area. I thought he was just more imaginative than the rest of the panhandlers, but a quick image search on Google shows dozens of panhandlers with the same
sign. So much for originality :P
Ozy |
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Trike |
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Posts: 17595 05-19-07 9:50 PM
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i just saw this sign "wife had better lawyer"
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Petoffen |
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Posts: 243 05-20-07 5:54 PM |
Well, Trike, you disagreed an awful lot for not disagreeing all that much on the substance - other than your unsupported claim that "panhandlers are
mostly scammers". The suggestions I made would actually steer many more of them into productive work - and yet you disagree because you want them to work.
You sound confused to me. For what it's worth, I want the Mexicans to prosper as well - in Mexico, in the long term.
This is why I prefer wealth based on things other than exploiting others. The exploiting others thing works pretty well - look at the nations built on slave labor, with resources taken from colonized countries in the past - but it has the sad price of the masses somewhere being kept in miserable conditions. In fact, it's now getting worse in many ways - one expert recently made a comment that the economic conditions have changed to where it's cheaper for many people to lose their lives, and that this will lead to economic policies in third world countries increasing the fatilities from poverty, insofar as economic issues are given priority over any value to life, which seems to be most of the time.
Arch Mage, Master of Elements, Collector of Robes
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Trike |
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Posts: 17595 05-20-07 6:14 PM
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Unsupported claim? I'm not going to research it and post statistics as I don't really care that much. Google that quote and read for yourself. Or just
re-read this thread about peoples experience's.
If you really want to know, about 7 years ago I gave some money on Thanksgiving to this beggar I saw a few times on the freeway ramp in Bellevue, WA. Not a week later I saw her walking from that spot with another beggar to their Audi. I'm sure there are a few legit hobo's, but I stand by my unsupported claim. Finally, your suggestion would only steer the ones who actually want to be productive and work. The others (danger unsupported claim incoming) , a majority, would just scam off that system too. |
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Soygen |
#26 | ||||
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Posts: 7065 05-20-07 6:28 PM 100% Soybean |
Trike, did you ever stop and think that maybe, just maybe, those hobos were living out of that Audi, with nothing but their pan-handling change to support
their caviar and champagne bill!
I'm not givin' you attitude. I just want another drink.
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Trike |
#27 | ||||
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Posts: 17595 05-21-07 1:33 AM
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Golly, I didn't :(
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Chabisu |
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Posts: 933 05-21-07 2:13 AM |
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AEIOU
