# Do you give cash to panhandlers? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 14, 2014, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-give-cash-to-panhandlers/693041 "2014-07-14T02:11:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Absinthe\_Anecdote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f6c823/32.png) [@Absinthe\_Anecdote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absinthe_Anecdote)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-give-cash-to-panhandlers/693041/121 "2014-07-16T20:29:09Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > [Bolding mine.] > > What a bleak existence. So, going back to the part about detox, do these people (who’ve lost everything and will probably die shortly) respond well to it? Is there any sort of success rate we could look at? Because I’m curious about how well they work. There isn’t a high success rate, most have been through trying to get clean multiple times, but some pull through. By the time they are out on Greene Street down near the bus terminal, up under the expressway, or out on MLK, most only have a couple of years left in them. There isn’t an initiative to pull people straight off the corner and into detox, as far as I know of, people have to want it. I know less about what happens in detox, but I know it isn’t a magic solution. I used to help out with a ministry that worked with addicts, we’d drive a van around on cold nights trying to get people to go to shelters so they didn’t freeze to death. Sometimes they would sponsor detox, but the majority of the work they did was helping people stay clean. I did some tutoring, and helped write with resumes, practice job interview skills, and helped with a winter coat drive. I’ve been a stranger from the group I used to help for a couple of years now, but it is still the same old story, in Baltimore. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-give-cash-to-panhandlers/693041/122 "2014-07-16T20:50:31Z")
> [@Absinthe\_Anecdote](#): > > I’m not talking about street performers or con artists, I’m talking about junkies. > > I have no idea what you are talking about, but it sounds like you are putting an incredible amount of spin on an issue just to take a jab at a part of the American political spectrum that you don’t like. > > And before you assume I’m a conservative, stop, please just stop. > > If you care to come to Baltimore, I’ll be glad to take you on a little tour of my city and show you the junkies on corners begging. We can even go visit some of the folks who try to get these people in detox programs, and you can hear it from them. > > It isn’t a lifestyle that you want to encourage someone to be successful at, which is an absurd thought. The sad truth of the matter is that by the time a person finds them self on a street corner begging for money, they’ve lost everything, or they are about to lose it all. > > Most of the people I see in Baltimore begging for money will probably be dead within a few years. Most never stop doing drugs when they get to that point, they die from it. > > These junkies desperately need help, but giving them cash will most likely kill them sooner or later. > > Help them by sponsoring detox programs, help them after they detox by donating clothes, help out with job training, be a mentor, but don’t give a junkie cash. > > You very well could be killing them with your hand outs of cash. Do you really want to finance someone’s overdose? I didn’t say a word about you, nor to you, nor specifically to any point you referenced. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, read the OP’s question. I answered it, and explained my answer from within my own sphere of observation and experience… ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-give-cash-to-panhandlers/693041/123 "2014-07-16T20:52:53Z")
Thanks for the answer, **Absinthe**. However, I unfortunately think your explanation makes the point I was driving at. Giving money to a charity, even an extremely worthwhile one, won’t necessarily help the panhandler right in front of you. Their existence is incredibly awful, they have no hope for any future, let alone a better one, and they don’t want to get clean because of reasons one and two. So, if the person giving them money has the intention of helping _in the moment_, I think that’s a valid way for _those people_ (like myself) to temporarily ease suffering. It’s a hard thing to confront, but not everyone can be helped. Some are just marking what’s left of their brief existence before they die. My hope in passing along a dollar is to make one minute less miserable. I donate time and what other little bit if cash I have to charities to help the ones that can make it. But thank you, for the work you did. I’ve never volunteered with addicts before, but I’ve loved helping seniors and abused women. It was gratifying to know that something you did actually made a difference. ---
**Author:** ![Absinthe\_Anecdote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f6c823/32.png) [@Absinthe\_Anecdote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absinthe_Anecdote)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-give-cash-to-panhandlers/693041/124 "2014-07-16T21:20:48Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > Thanks for the answer, **Absinthe**. However, I unfortunately think your explanation makes the point I was driving at. Giving money to a charity, even an extremely worthwhile one, won’t necessarily help the panhandler right in front of you. Their existence is incredibly awful, they have no hope for any future, let alone a better one, and they don’t want to get clean because of reasons one and two. So, if the person giving them money has the intention of helping _in the moment_, I think that’s a valid way for _those people_ (like myself) to temporarily ease suffering. > > It’s a hard thing to confront, but not everyone can be helped. Some are just marking what’s left of their brief existence before they die. My hope in passing along a dollar is to make one minute less miserable. I donate time and what other little bit if cash I have to charities to help the ones that can make it. > > But thank you, for the work you did. I’ve never volunteered with addicts before, but I’ve loved helping seniors and abused women. It was gratifying to know that something you did actually made a difference. I understand what you are saying in this post, but I disagree. I don’t think you are a bad person for having that kind of outlook on it, but I see that almost as a form of euthanasia. I can’t endorse something like that, despite how bleak it is for someone nearing the end of their rope, they still have a chance. ---
**Author:** ![Absinthe\_Anecdote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f6c823/32.png) [@Absinthe\_Anecdote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absinthe_Anecdote)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-give-cash-to-panhandlers/693041/125 "2014-07-16T21:22:11Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > I didn’t say a word about you, nor to you, nor specifically to any point you referenced. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, read the OP’s question. I answered it, and explained my answer from within my own sphere of observation and experience… @jtur88 Sorry dude, it is an issue that I get emotional about. Hope you forgive me for sounding harsh. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-give-cash-to-panhandlers/693041/126 "2014-07-16T23:19:12Z")
> [@Absinthe\_Anecdote](#): > > I understand what you are saying in this post, but I disagree. I don’t think you are a bad person for having that kind of outlook on it, but I see that almost as a form of euthanasia. > > I can’t endorse something like that, despite how bleak it is for someone nearing the end of their rope, they still have a chance. I appreciate that. I just hope that if my grandfather had been homeless there at the end, someone would’ve given him his candy fix instead of trying to save him – to no end. ☹ So, I guess we’re at the point where we’ll have to do that ‘agree to disagree’ business. Keep up the good fight. ---
**Author:** ![LouLou7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a87d85/32.png) [@LouLou7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouLou7)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-give-cash-to-panhandlers/693041/127 "2014-07-16T23:48:38Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Begging is a full-time job, they only one they can get, the pay is not that good, and it is probably harder work than most of you do. They are self-employed, which conservatives tell me is honorable for itself alone. Just like your job, those who are good at it make more. Actually, from the perspective of the panhandler, there are a lot of advantages to panhandling that those of us with regular jobs don’t have. I work in the emergency room of a large, urban hospital. As a social worker, I talk to most of the homeless/panhandler folks who come through. Because I’m curious about their experiences, I’ve asked a lot of questions about why and how they do what they do. Most of the folks I’ve talked to report that they can average around $20 an hour by holding a sign on a streetcorner. They work three to five hours per day, at times of their choosing. The more successful ones pick busy street corners and stand during morning and afternoon rush hours. Within a few hours they have collected somewhere between $70 to $100, and are through for the day. With that amount of money, a panhandler can buy a hotel room for the night, a fast food meal, a couple packs of cigarettes and as much cheap booze as they want. If someone is having an _off_ day, there are usually “buddies” around who will share their room and resources, and expect reciprocation when their off day arrives. The advantages to this sort of lifestyle is that a person with limited education or job skills can make decent money, pay no taxes on it, set his/her own schedule, and live a reasonably comfortable, if day-to-day, existence. From their perspective, it’s certainly better than punching a 40 hour a week clock for a minimum wage job. I make no judgements about the rightness or wrongness of such a lifestyle, but it’s easy to understand why it appeals to some people. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-give-cash-to-panhandlers/693041/128 "2014-07-16T23:50:11Z")
> [@Absinthe\_Anecdote](#): > > @jtur88 > > Sorry dude, it is an issue that I get emotional about. Hope you forgive me for sounding harsh. Not a problem. Glad I didn’t get really snarky. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-give-cash-to-panhandlers/693041/129 "2014-07-16T23:51:11Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Begging is a full-time job, hey only one they can get, the pay is not that good, and it is probably harder work than most of you do. Actually, I read somewhere that most panhandlers beg until they get “enough” money for the day and then they stop, so giving money to a panhandler is more likely to let them knock off early rather than making them any richer. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-give-cash-to-panhandlers/693041/130 "2014-07-17T01:45:20Z")
> [@LouLou7](#): > > Most of the folks I’ve talked to report that they can average around $20 an hour by holding a sign on a streetcorner. They work three to five hours per day, at times of their choosing. The more successful ones pick busy street corners and stand during morning and afternoon rush hours. Within a few hours they have collected somewhere between $70 to $100, and are through for the day. > > With that amount of money, a panhandler can buy a hotel room for the night, a fast food meal, a couple packs of cigarettes and as much cheap booze as they want. This is what stops me whenever I start considering giving them money. I’m on the way home from work and I should give some of the money I just made to someone who probably just made MORE? That’s what pisses me off about them approaching me too. It happened all the time even when it was a grown man watching me, a teenager at the time, taking my baby out of my shitty car at the grocery store, and then he’d come up and ask for money. I don’t care who you are, you should have more pride or decency or common sense or SOMETHING than to do that. At least target people who look like they might have extra money rather than asking teen moms to take money out of their grocery budget. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-give-cash-to-panhandlers/693041/131 "2014-07-17T04:16:24Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Jesus had the benefit of divinity and the ability to tell if the person asking him for stuff was lying or whatever and turn it into an appropriate Jesus-y lesson. Jesus also wasn’t really in the “direct disbursement of cash” business so much as performing miracles, healing the sick, giving out bread & fish and offering Son of God advice on how to change your ways. Lacking that sort of talent, I have to make my calls based on my own ability to figure out how to help best and I think that donating directly to charities who can multiply the spending power of my dollar to help many people is the best option. Not saying your approach is wrong. But I often do give and here is why: “Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you … so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” It’s not for them – it’s for ME. I’m fully aware that they’re probably going to piss the money away. God knows I make shitty use of a great portion of the good things He’s given me, and there’s no reason to expect Random Homeless Dude to do any better. But as I read it, the commandment to give is not based on the premise that by giving I will improve their life and make them better off … it’s based on the idea that it will improve ME and make me a better person. So, when I’m seeking to be spiritual, I give. Sometimes I’m not, and tell 'em to fuck off. ☹ $0.02. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-give-cash-to-panhandlers/693041.md?page=6)