A guy I work with hired one to do some yard work. He spent about 15 minutes picking up pine cones, then asked for his money, not food.
Is this the way this typically works?
I tried to once. I needed him to stand in line for me to buy some concert tickets. (all perfectly legal of course) I ofered him 25 bucks for him to do it. But he turned me down he seemed more intrested in just standing on the street corner begging for money. No wonder he’s homeless. :rolleyes:
I was under the impression that having a sign saying “Will work for food” was getting around anti-begging laws because you’re not literally asking people for money. They have no intention of working for food or cash. Nowadays though there are so many people just asking for money outright that it’s an impossible law to enforce, and I’m surprised that you even saw someone with such a sign!
Not sure that this qualifies, but when my mom needed help clearing the trash out of my grandfather’s place a few years ago, she stopped at a corner where a number of hispanic kids were hanging out. “Necescito tres hombres, porfavor. Hay trabajo[sup]*[/sup]”, and she had three strong young men to help her out.
They got $50 each, plus food and beer, and she had a willing and capable workforce for the day.
[sup]*[/sup]Dunno if this was gramatically correct, but it got her what she needed.
Not ‘work for food’ but the guy who comes by to collect the cans, helped my hubby and I replace the garage door and repair a whole bunch of termite damage in the addition. You’d be surprised at how much they know, if you take the time to get to know them.
No, but…
several months ago, I pulled into a gas station for fill my tank, and a fellow, who was sitting on a garbage can and I’d guess to be in his mid-twenties and dressed as if he were a landscape laborer, asked me for fifty cents. I refused but offered to PAY him fifty cents to pump my gas. (there was no hold-open latch on the pump-handle and I thought it a way to help him out without actually giving him a “handout”).
He refused.
Go figure!
My step-father (who is now deceased) used to do this all the time. The last one that I remember he had do some work for him scared my mom because he was so scruffy looking. My step-dad was a courier and drove around Houston a lot and there is one spot in particular that has a bunch of people who have the signs “will work for food”. Step-dad pulls up along the curb and asks one guy in particular for some carpentry help and he would pay him, don’t remember the exact amount though.
The guy worked his butt off for two days helping step-dad put in a window in the kitchen. Each evening after they were done working step-dad would drive him back and then came back the next morning to pick him up. The guy never gave him any trouble and was grateful for the work.
If I saw someone with a “Will Work for Food” sign, I would probably take that person with me to McDonalds or somewhere and get them a hamburger for free.
You never know, maybe some of then really need food.
Then again, my towns too small to have any homeless people so if I saw one here, that person would probably just be lying.
Not really a “will work for food” story but it involves someone holding “God bless” sign. I drove a vanpool and almost daily this gentleman would be standing at the freeway offramp. I began to notice that on the days he was standing along side the offramp, a bright red Chevy pickup was parked behind a gas station on the other side of the offramp. This was no ordinary pickup, huge tires, chrome roll bar, probably cost quite a bit. I would see a couple folks a day give him money but it would take a lot more than a panhandler could make to have a truck like that. One day I got to test my theory when I stopped for a red light at he was standing only a few feet from the van. I said in a voice loud enough for him to hear “Wonder who owns that red Chevy 4 by 4 being towed away.” He dropped his sign and took off running. After that on the days he was standing along side the offramp, his truck was parked at a Burger King within view of of begging spot.
Well,
At one point in time I was in a position to hire anybody I wanted to work in a major restaurant chain. I asked about 10 people with the “Will Work for Food” signs if they wanted a job. I offered to buy them a set of clothes (Shoes, socks and pants. The shirts came with the job) and make sure they had a place to get cleaned up before work. They all turned me down. Oh well, I tried.
Slee
From the homeless shelter that our parish supports my mother hired a guy to do yard and gardening work. He worked very hard and diligently, however he wasn’t very reliable. I think part of his problem was unreliable transportation, though.
StG
I remember something very similar! I spent nearly five years as a tow truck driver, most of that doing trespass tows in downtown Boston. Every day, on my commute to work, there was this guy with some kind of “give money for the homeless” sign at the offramp.
We did the trespass towing for the hotel across the street. The hotel called us to remove an unauthorized vehicle; our driver arrived on scene and backed up to a shiny, late-model conversion van. And then the “homeless” guy comes running over: “Hey, hey, that’s my car!”
I have seen people bringing food (usually Mcdonalds stuff) to these people. I think they would
do better if they changed their sign to read '…work for money"