Not a new topic, by any means, but one that I don’t see in my personal thread history.
Also, not sure if this should go here or IMHO, but I’ll start it here since it seems so mundane to me.
So today on my way home from work, I stopped at walmart to get a few things. out near the road, but in a spot where she could stand safely out of traffic, was a woman begging. Nothing new or unusual there. She had her small child with her, seated in one of those folding camping chairs, well back from the road. This was not an older woman or decrepit looking in any way. I’d guess late 30s or early 40s. Seemed well groomed and was dressed in what I’d perhaps ignorantly call Indian style clothes, as in a style that makes me think of people from India. She had a sign asking for work or help, family kids etc, the usual sort of stuff you see on such signs.
I stopped on my way out and gave her what cash I had left from my shopping, and received the expected thank you and god bless you, her hands clasped just at chest height as she slightly bowed while saying this.
Was she from India? I dunno. Did she really need to be out there begging? I dunno. For all I know she could have had a really nice car somewhere in the parking lot, a great husband with a really good paying job, a fabulous house and a million dollars in the bank. I still would have given her the money. I’ve come to a point, personally, where I sort of don’t really care what the details of the story are. Something is compelling someone to stand out on the street and beg. If I can, I’ll give them some money. Maybe I’m doing harm, my hope is I’m doing something helpful, but whatever is the circumstances causing that person to do that, it seems like maybe they need that $18 more than I do. I can spare that with no pain to me what so ever. ( to be clear I don’t only give spare change to random beggars, I donate to an organized charity regularly)
My question is, Do you give to people begging in the street? If so, does it matter to you what brought them to that? If not, do you do anything to help them out?
No. When i lived in NYC, and saw lots of beggars, i gave them food if i happened to have food on me. And i sometimes bought groceries for the guy who hung out in front of my local convenience store at the end of the month, asking for specific groceries for his kids. But i don’t like being accosted by beggars, and i feel like the more people give money, the more people will ask for it.
I dunno, maybe that’s wrong of me.
I do give to homeless shelters and soup kitchens and food pantries. I don’t want anyone to starve on the street. But I’d rather they ask someone other than me, so I give to those intermediaries.
No, I don’t think thats wrong of you. I don’t give to every person I see begging either. There is(upon reflection) usually something about a specific person that compells me to give them money. It’s a personal thing with me. Also it’s hard to be accosted while I’m going by in a car
No, it should be illegal. They should be picked up by the police and taken down to the Social Services Triage Center to see how they can be helped in order to not be begging. Would that we had SSTC’s in this country.
well, I would imagine if you were stopped, like at a light or something, then yeah, but where I was it was “pause at the exit” at best while leaving (until I came along and screwed it all up by stopping).
@NetTrekker, I shudder to think what “social services triage center” would mean around this town, even when the political clime is more forgiving than it is now.
The Rabbi hasn’t thought this through. What if the nine buy hard drugs with the money? What if that’s money you could otherwise donate to a charity that would save 100 lives?
I give sometimes. Mostly I give to our local pantry . When I was in Russia, there were these old pensioners who had wild flowers for sale. I hadn’t any cash at all, because it was Russia and we were told not to carry cash. This haunts me.
Many years ago at a gas station in east Little Rock, a man told me a long sad story about his sick children in Texas and if I could just give him five dollars for their medicine that would be so awesome. I truthfully told him I didn’t have five dollars to spare and fifty cents was the most I could possibly give him. I gave him fifty cents. He kept the fifty cents and then said to me in a rather rude tone, “F*** you, m*********er.” Ever since then, no one gets even a dime or a penny from me. If someone really looks hungry I will give them a little something to eat or drink if I have something handy, e.g, a banana, an apple, or a bottle of water.
Not to long ago, as I was entering the grocery store, a man asked me, “Mister, do you have any change?” I replied, “I have plenty of change but it was really nice of you to ask. Thank you for thinking about me.” He didn’t really have a response for that and just laughed a little.
I mentioned that when i lived in NYC, i offered beggars food, if i happened to have any. And i offered them nice food, like a fresh bagel or a couple of clementines or my leftover Chinese dinner.
About half of them accepted the food with evident pleasure. And the other half gave me dirty looks and moved away, to hit up people who hadn’t seen them turn down an offer of food.
I haven’t seen any squeegee-bearing panhandlers in a very long time. Do they still exist?
I don’t use the “They might buy drugs” excuse for not giving. Does anyone think that if nobody gave addicts money, they’d overcome the addiction? Or is the idea that addiction is merely a moral weakness we’re not going to encourage?
I also don’t care for the “I once had a bad experience with a panhandler, so now I don’t give” rationale. If you don’t want to give, don’t, but don’t use one bad experience as an excuse.
I donate to a local food bank. So much for my conscience. When I walk past panhandlers at intersections ( I don’t drive.), they often say hello but don’t ask for money. On rare occasions I’m approached by people who ask for money. Sometimes I give, sometimes I don’t. It depends on what I learn when chatting with them. And if the developmentally disabled guy in dirty clothes and cheap flip-flops was a con artist who bilked me out of a measly $3? He’s still got a worse life than I do.
I’ll usually give them money, as long as they’re not too pushy about how they ask, the ones that sit with a sign or just ask as I pass will usually get something but the ones that try to step in front of me demanding money will get nothing
He’s still got a worse life than I do.