# Dear Homeless Person: Show respect when I give you spare change! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 21, 2010, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-homeless-person-show-respect-when-i-give-you-spare-change/557841 "2010-10-21T00:29:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-homeless-person-show-respect-when-i-give-you-spare-change/557841/121 "2010-10-21T17:12:27Z")
What does a homeless person need with a gumball or parking, dumbass? You’re so full of shit. ---
**Author:** ![fuzzypickles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9d8465/32.png) [@fuzzypickles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuzzypickles)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-homeless-person-show-respect-when-i-give-you-spare-change/557841/122 "2010-10-21T17:13:46Z")
> [@villa](#): > > Isn’t crack about $5-$15 a rock? Kind of the same price range as a sandwich, especially if he is going to treat himself to a soda and maybe some kettle chips on the side. I’m not privy to the street price of drugs anymore, but that sounds about right. That’s not the same price as a cheap sandwich, though – every fast food joint has a loss-leading “Dollar Menu” which can get you a decent meal for surprisingly little. Heck, 99 cents will buy you _two_ Jack-in-the-Box tacos, which isn’t a bad meal! ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-homeless-person-show-respect-when-i-give-you-spare-change/557841/123 "2010-10-21T17:15:20Z")
> [@fuzzypickles](#): > > He should be thankful that I even looked in his general direction and acknowledged him as a human being. No shit because that plus a couple of dollars could get him some food. > [@](#): > > Wow…I mean, wow…this one sentence PROVES that you have NO clue what you are talking about. Allow me to fight your obvious ignorance: Drug addicts trade food for drugs all the time. This is singularly the funniest thing I have read on the dope. Those dealers just love to give away drugs for old, cold burgers. Hell, I bet the Columbians have vaults of them like Scrooge McDuck. ETA: You’re a shitstain. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-homeless-person-show-respect-when-i-give-you-spare-change/557841/124 "2010-10-21T17:16:01Z")
And most drug dealers have a loss leading “get your first rock free” program. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-homeless-person-show-respect-when-i-give-you-spare-change/557841/125 "2010-10-21T17:17:10Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > What does a homeless person need with a gumball or parking, dumbass? > > You’re so full of shit. Well parking could be where they put their car they live in. In which case **fuzzypickles** was providing them with ground rent on a place for their home. He truly is a generous soul! ---
**Author:** ![fuzzypickles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9d8465/32.png) [@fuzzypickles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuzzypickles)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-homeless-person-show-respect-when-i-give-you-spare-change/557841/126 "2010-10-21T17:22:16Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > My point is if he IS mentally ill, then you can’t really expect him the guy to act with “common courtesy”, or whatever. And even if it WAS his own fault – doesn’t mean YOU have to be a dick. And if he’s homeless, he’s not exactly in the position of being ABLE to look for treatment. And depending on the severity of his condition, he might not be capable of realizing he needs help in the first place, buttplug. It’s not my place to coddle his mental illness. _Especially_ if he’s chosen not to help himself, and followed the easy path of drug addiction instead. Maybe in your bleeding-heart liberal fantasy world, everybody should give sympathy to crazy people and drug addicts, but not in the real world. Seriously, **Guin** …have you _ever_ dealt with drug-addicted, mentally ill people in your life, ever? Let alone on a daily basis? Because if you have, you wouldn’t be spewing forth such fuzzy, pithy, unrealistic statements. Try coming down to the trenches someday…it will alter your pleasant, huggy world in ways you can’t possibly imagine. > [@Guinastasia](#): > > What does a homeless person need with a gumball or parking, dumbass? You’re missing the point of my analogy, jerk. Maybe MY one quarter won’t buy him much, but I’m just one of millions. My quarter is one less quarter towards his goal of panhandling enough money which WILL buy him a small cheeseburger & coffee from the McDonalds Value Menu; but NOT enough to get him close to a dimebag of crack. Get it? ---
**Author:** ![fuzzypickles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9d8465/32.png) [@fuzzypickles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuzzypickles)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-homeless-person-show-respect-when-i-give-you-spare-change/557841/127 "2010-10-21T17:25:10Z")
> [@Walmarticus](#): > > You obviously don’t wear the shadow well. 'Tis true…but at least I sleep rather soundly. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-homeless-person-show-respect-when-i-give-you-spare-change/557841/128 "2010-10-21T17:26:00Z")
> [@fuzzypickles](#): > > It’s not my place to coddle his mental illness. and it’s not his place to coddle your sense of entitlement. You think you deserve respect? I see nothing to respect in this thread. Boo-fucking-hoo, he didn’t give you the reaction you wanted when you offered unasked for charity. Get over yourself you fucking moron. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-homeless-person-show-respect-when-i-give-you-spare-change/557841/129 "2010-10-21T17:28:44Z")
> [@Dogzilla](#): > > Right. Because there’s only one “hobo” in all of LA, so if the “hobo” wasn’t in the same place the OP left him, the burger definitely would have gone to waste. There is no way the OP couldn’t swing a dead cat and hit another “hobo” with it and give THAT person the burger. I’d imagine at the very next major intersection, or at the bottom of the freeway entrance ramp, the OP could have stuck his arm out the car window with a burger in a bag and when he pulled his arm back in… he could probably find another hobo without looking too hard or going out of his way at all. The OP is pitting “THE” hobo, not “A” hobo. Sheesh, don’t you even read these things. This is about Fuzzy and his bum. The fact that there are other bums around is irrelevant, Fuzzy has history with this particular bum, the important bum. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-homeless-person-show-respect-when-i-give-you-spare-change/557841/130 "2010-10-21T17:44:26Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > The OP is pitting “THE” hobo, not “A” hobo. Sheesh, don’t you even read these things. > > This is about Fuzzy and his bum. The fact that there are other bums around is irrelevant, Fuzzy has history with this particular bum, the important bum. He’s a bum among bums, if you will. Sort of an “every-bum” who symbolizes bums everywhere with the gestalt of bummitude. I like saying bum. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-homeless-person-show-respect-when-i-give-you-spare-change/557841/131 "2010-10-21T17:44:46Z")
> [@Mince](#): > > I don’t know, of course, but why do I have a suspicion that you are affiliated with the OP? I can’t imagine. Can we get back to using “hobo”? It’s so… quaint. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-homeless-person-show-respect-when-i-give-you-spare-change/557841/132 "2010-10-21T17:47:10Z")
> [@fuzzypickles](#): > > Oh, get off it already. A quarter is NOT completely worthless. I can buy 15 minutes of parking on Ventura Boulevard for a quarter. I can buy a gumball with a quarter. Two quarters will pay for a retro arcade video game, and 3 to 4 quarters is plenty enough for a cup of coffee at McDonalds or Burger King or any other non-Starbucks establishment. You get off it. It’s clear that yes, all money has value. A penny has value. Heck, if a person throws a bum just one penny every minute, the bum’ll be making minimum wage! It doesn’t mean that a person throwing a penny to a bum isn’t being a dick. > [@](#): > > You are exactly right – for me, giving away a quarter cost me nothing, relatively speaking. For a truly needy homeless person, a quarter IS worth something – quite a lot, in fact! Yeah, one quarter ain’t much, but I’m just one passerby out of millions. It only takes a few people like me to give this guy enough money for a dirt cheap meal or even a bottle of hooch. OTOH, if he’s only interested in getting high, then yeah, one stinking quarter ain’t gonna get him closer to his next crystal meth fix. First of all, your idea that the only reason the homeless guy rejected your quarter is because he wants to buy presumably expensive crystal meth is laughable, and every time you repeat it it sounds more ridiculous. I’m not saying you’re wrong about his intentions, but you’re wrong to base your opinion on how he treated your ‘charity’. Secondly, your perspective on the value of your gift to the guy is clearly wrong, or it would have been accepted. What you’re trying to argue here is, “a quarter is of no value to me. I gave it to a bum for whom it also seemed to hold no value. That bum is wrong about what the quarter should be worth to him, based on what I assume I know about him and his needs.” Well, based on his response, maybe you have learned that a quarter isn’t worth as much as you thought. Yes, in aggregate a whole mess of quarters is valuable. For you a single quarter is worth nothing. Even if it can buy you a gumball. Gumballs are worth nothing. > [@](#): > > Why go that far? I’m not seeking a friend. I don’t know the guy from Adam, and like others have said in my support, the amount of money I gave him was based entirely on (1) the most I could “throw away” without feeling like I’m throwing money away, and (2) it will help him if he’s truly needy for food, but NOT help him support his drug habit, at least not enough to feel like I’m enabling his disease. Because **a)**, it would be more polite, and **b)**, your premise #2 is completely wrong and unfounded. What it comes down to is that the main reason a person would turn down a quarter is because rejecting it feels better than accepting it. Whether or not you intended to be, you were rude, and it was worth a quarter to this guy to show you that you were rude. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-homeless-person-show-respect-when-i-give-you-spare-change/557841/133 "2010-10-21T17:56:13Z")
> [@fuzzypickles](#): > > That’s not the same price as a cheap sandwich, though – every fast food joint has a loss-leading “Dollar Menu” which can get you a decent meal for surprisingly little. > [@fuzzypickles](#): > > Umm…because it’s more than I can easily afford? Heck, the main reason I went to Fatburger is because I had filled out one of their punchcards (“Buy 8 Burgers, Get the Next One Free!”) so I only paid for the skinny fries & coke. I’m feeling the pinch of the Great Depression II just like everyone else, thank you very much – nor am I charitable enough to sacrifice $5.99 on some guy I’ve never met. I’m willing to “donate” a free meal to a friend or relative who needs it, but not a total stranger, homeless or not. Huh. ---
**Author:** ![Redpill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58956e/32.png) [@Redpill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Redpill)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-homeless-person-show-respect-when-i-give-you-spare-change/557841/134 "2010-10-21T17:56:24Z")
The bum values a quarter less than what OP does. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-homeless-person-show-respect-when-i-give-you-spare-change/557841/135 "2010-10-21T17:58:33Z")
I’m with the OP on this. The hobo should have said thank you, tucked that quarter away in his bindle, and then regaled the other hobos with the story of the rich man who needed directions when he was heating his can of stew up over the barrel fire later that night down at the rail yard. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-homeless-person-show-respect-when-i-give-you-spare-change/557841/136 "2010-10-21T18:12:16Z")
In the Doctor Who episode about this occurrence, the Daleks turned all the unappreciative hobos into pigmen labourers. ---
**Author:** ![fuzzypickles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9d8465/32.png) [@fuzzypickles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuzzypickles)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-homeless-person-show-respect-when-i-give-you-spare-change/557841/137 "2010-10-21T18:39:28Z")
> [@yojimbo](#): > > Boo-fucking-hoo, he didn’t give you the reaction you wanted when you offered unasked for charity. Excuse me, you have a reading disorder? I’ve already said that he asked me THREE TIMES for spare change…what I gave him was NOT “unasked for”, like you presume. > [@yojimbo](#): > > …and it’s not his place to coddle your sense of entitlement. You think you deserve respect? I see nothing to respect in this thread. Oh, I’m with you…it is perfectly within his rights as a human being to act disdainful. And it’s perfectly within my own rights to, based on that encounter, spit in the face of the next bum I see. Cause and effect, you see? My opinion of the homeless was very low before I met him, I’ll admit that, but at least I was willing to ignore my bias that one time…and whaddaya know, I was rebuffed. So now my opinion of those types of human refuse is even lower than before, if such a thing is possible. But hey, that’s the downside of living in a free, capitalist society…there will always be drug-addicted freeloaders stinking up the outside world, and it’s considered morally objectionable to establish pogroms or eugenics to cleanse our streets of these useless meat-shaped blobs. It’s a shame, and not very logical, but I don’t make social rules. Maybe, someday, that will change – but I’m not holding my breath. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-homeless-person-show-respect-when-i-give-you-spare-change/557841/138 "2010-10-21T18:49:36Z")
Did the clueless OP ever stop to think that the "bum’ might have been abused by quarters as a child? ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-homeless-person-show-respect-when-i-give-you-spare-change/557841/139 "2010-10-21T18:50:45Z")
> [@fuzzypickles](#): > > My opinion of the homeless was very low before I met him, I’ll admit that, but at least I was willing to ignore my bias that one time…and whaddaya know, I was rebuffed. So now my opinion of those types of human refuse is even lower than before, if such a thing is possible. Once you’ve ridden the rails for a while and listened to their stories and harmonica recitals, you’ll realize how wrong you are. They value freedom and camaraderie, always willing to lend a helping hand in fingerless gloves or gummy-mouthed smile. They are truly princes among men, the noble hobos. ---
**Author:** ![fuzzypickles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9d8465/32.png) [@fuzzypickles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuzzypickles)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-homeless-person-show-respect-when-i-give-you-spare-change/557841/140 "2010-10-21T18:51:17Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > Well, based on his response, maybe you have learned that a quarter isn’t worth as much as you thought. Damn straight…like I said, it’s Brentwood. Clearly, the unwritten rules of panhandling are different down there. :rolleyes: > [@Eonwe](#): > > Yes, in aggregate a whole mess of quarters is valuable. For you a single quarter is worth nothing. Even if it can buy you a gumball. Gumballs are worth nothing. How is a gumball worth nothing? But the rest of your statement is true – which puzzles me as to the obvious disconnect in the rest of your argument. > [@Eonwe](#): > > What it comes down to is that the main reason a person would turn down a quarter is because rejecting it feels better than accepting it. Whether or not you intended to be, you were rude, and it was worth a quarter to this guy to show you that you were rude. Well, I piss on his sensitive emotions. If he thinks he’s entitled to more than a quarter, despite wearing ratty clothes and absolute lack of personal hygiene, then he is clearly living in a deluded fantasy world (irregardless of drug use) and deserves to be mocked and kicked and hassled by police like the worthless piece of refuse he is. Who knows…maybe, next time I see him, I _will_ give him a penny. Just to show what I really think of him and those like him. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-homeless-person-show-respect-when-i-give-you-spare-change/557841.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-homeless-person-show-respect-when-i-give-you-spare-change/557841.md?page=8)